The mental health caucus of EqUUal Access, a group of UU volunteers who support equality and access for UUs with disabilities, has created a resource called “Mental Health Issues and Recommendations,” for use by congregations.

The 30-page document, available free of charge online, was created to guide congregations in relating to people with mental disorders, including understanding their abilities, welcoming them into congregations, and advocating on their behalf.

The document was created following the shooting deaths at Newtown, Conn. in December 2012. EqUUal Access wanted to raise awareness, according to the document, “of the stigma placed on people who live with mental illness, the roles the UUA and UU ministers can play to confront the discrimination, the need for ministers to provide comfort and acceptance to those being marginalized, and the importance of the language UUs use about mental illness and those who live with it.”

The document is useful for adult education courses, sermon preparation, membership and hospitality committees, and discernment about inclusion.

More information on EqUUal Access’s mental health caucus is here.

About the Author

Don Skinner

Don Skinner is editor of InterConnections and a member of the Shawnee Mission UU Church in Lenexa, Kansas.

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