Virginia Episcopalian Magazine Spring 2013 Issue | Page 24

Committee
Spotlight

Resource-Sharing: The Committee on Mental Health
Emily Cherry and the Committee on Mental Health
A new resource developed by the
diocesan Committee on Mental Health
provides a first-rate guide for churches
to reflect on issues surrounding suicide
and grieving – all while simultaneously
offering a first-rate model for other
groups to follow in resource-sharing.

“The Church and Suicide:
Compassion and Response” is an adult
education and discussion program DVD
including four module lectures offered
by experts in their fields, plus a detailed
facilitator’s guide providing speaker
bios, helpful questions and additional
recommendations for resources.

The DVD originated as an inperson conference that the Committee
on Mental Health offered in 2012 on
suicide prevention and response.
“The committee assembled the best
speakers we could find,” explained Dr.
Paul Ackerman, co-chair. “We were
warned in the beginning that there
would probably be resistance to people
coming to this,” he added, due to the
emotionally painful subject matter.
“And sure enough, there weren’t a
whole lot of people who came to it.”

Roadmap to Success: 10 Tips
Is your committee or group looking to
create a similar resource? The Committee
on Mental Health offers these 10 tips for
developing a learning module.
1.  rogram Purpose: Is the program for
P
continuing education, professional
development, a discussion forum?
2.  arget Audience: Who are you trying
T
to reach? Clergy, church leadership,
seminarians, EfM students, youth
ministers, young adults, teens, children,
seniors, congregations?

The problem is not an uncommon
one, as committees and groups in
the Diocese compete more and more
with their target audiences’ time and
attention spans. So the Committee
on Mental Health was determined to
find a solution – some way to deliver
their resources into more hands. “We
knew that we had something valuable,
but we needed to rework it,” said
Ackerman. Fortunately the committee
had the foresight to film the entirety of
the event, with the intention of keeping
the video for archival purposes. “We
faced the end of the year with some
money that we hadn’t spent on other
conferences, and we decided that
maybe, we could package it ourselves.”

So, the group got to work. Marleen

Access the Resource
You can view the different lessons of “The Church and Suicide: