By Laurie A. Lattimore
Baptist Press

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (BP)-As soon as Virginia walks through the door of the old building renovated for a special church group, she is greeting everyone in the room.

"Good morning. God bless you. I love you," she says more than a dozen times on Sunday mornings.

Earnest is quick to lend his Bible to visitors without one. Linda and Vivian and Randy like answering Bible questions. Earnest likes to ask questions.

Roosevelt, a man in his 70s, half sings his praise to God when he closes the group in prayer, "Lord, you the man. I am calling on your name You walk with me. I'm your friend, you're my friend. You go with me to the end."

It's not an ordinary class. Some get up and pace during the Bible lesson. Some rock steady in their chairs. Some mumble to themselves. But all love God and know God loves them in spite of being consumers of a mental illness, those who have schizophrenia, for example, or depression or bi-polar disorder.

Jimmy Tilley, the leader of the class, who also suffers from depression, chronic anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, wouldn't want the group to act any other way. Tilley and his wife, Jane, started the combined Sunday school and worship time at First Baptist Church, Tuscaloosa, Ala., four years ago.

While numbers have dropped because many residents at Tuscaloosa's Indian Rivers mental health center were moved to group homes too far away for pickup, the class is nearly 30 strong every Sunday.

Jane Tilley and Betty Loman, an employee at Indian Rivers and also a consumer, shuttle between the center and transition homes to make sure as many mental illness consumers who want to have a chance to fellowship and praise God each week. The two women teach the Sunday school class, and Tilley leads a worship service following a 15 minute break for cookies, drinks and smokes.

"People are afraid of mental illness," Jane said. "They look at mental illness as a result of doing something wrong, and they don't know how to react."

Her husband knows the stigma firsthand. Jimmy worked for the Tuscaloosa News plus other publications in Dadeville and Andalusia, Ala., for many years before depression and anxiety set in 20 years ago. Through the help of medication, he maintains a normal lifestyle, which he spends educating the public about mental illness. Tilley and his wife will begin as special education consultants for the Tuscaloosa Baptist Association within the next few months. Tilley also publishes a quarterly newsletter for consumers of mental illness, "Consumer Connection."

Often churches are some of the worst offenders of perpetuating stereotypes and buying into the stigma, Tilley said.

"The stigma is so prevalent. And the sad thing is that church is usually the first place people want to go to find acceptance," he said, adding bluntly while his class meets at First Baptist, he believes some church members probably wish they weren't there.

Jane Tilley recalled when her husband was hospitalized, she alerted the church so members could visit him. No one came.

"Churches just don't know how to handle it - they don't know how to minister to the person or to their family," she said. "Here, we accept them where they are. They may mumble to themselves, but they can come up with the deepest answers."

Few Baptist churches offer some kind of outreach for mental illness consumers. Jim Hightower, minister of pastoral care at First Baptist Church, Huntsville, Ala., noted more churches should have education programs and even ministries because "every church has members who have a mental illness." At First Baptist, a 12-week education program for families of mental illness consumers is offered twice a year.

Jesse C. Stinson Jr. started the Sunday Club through South Highland Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Ala., about 10 years ago. Consumers of mental illness and their families get together for lunch and worship time.

Stinson, diagnosed with acute schizophrenia in 1964, realized during 10 months of institutionalization other people with mental illness had the same needs - to be listened to. He started a sharing group in the hospital at that time. The group eventually began meeting weekly at various restaurants and now meets at South Highland every Sunday from 6 to 8 p.m. The sharing group also meets at Hillcrest Hospital in Birmingham on Fridays from 6 to 8 p.m.

"We're not trying to make Presbyterians out of anybody, we just want to tell them about God," Stinson said, noting people of various faith backgrounds come to the Sunday Club.

But in spite of his church's support, Stinson said the stigma of mental illness has not gotten past his church or other churches yet.

"Churches have withheld love and attention and help, and I know that they know that. A lot of them think it is just a spiritual problem and we need to get right with God.

"I don't have any problem with working on spirituality, but that doesn't cure mental illness," Stinson said, adding having a mental illness is a medical problem just like having diabetes or any other disease. "It's just that the brain is the guilty party."

Stinson, just like Tilley, hopes eventually churches will let down the barriers that keep consumers of mental illness from feeling accepted, which will help society be more accepting as well.

"It would be nice to walk into church and say, 'Yes sir, I have a mental illness. I'm not bragging, and I don't want special attention. I just want to come here for comfort and support.'"

Sidebar:

They No Longer Keep Arm's Length
From Mental Illness Issues


By Yvonne Terry
Baptist Press


HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (BP)--When Peggi DeLeuil's son was diagnosed with schizophrenia, she didn't feel she could confide in anyone -- especially someone at church.

DeLeuil's son, David, had never shown any signs of mental illness until he was diagnosed at 15. He is now 34 and lives in a group home.

"It was very devastating," she said. "You just don't know what to do, especially from the financial aspect of getting help because insurance doesn't cover mental disorders. We could have put him through Harvard with the amount of money we have spent on his treatment."

DeLeuil, of Huntsville, Ala., said a church can be instrumental in easing the burden just through supporting the family with love, care and concern.

"One thing a church needs to do is to minister to the whole family," DeLeuil said. "It's not just the mentally ill person who suffers, but the entire family hurts as well. But no one brings you casseroles or puts you on the prayer list. The stigma of mental illness even in churches is tremendous.

"People know very little about mental illness or how to support families with children who are mentally ill. You don't want to label a child as mentally ill because it is a horrible experience for families. Many drop out of church because of embarrassment."

Mary Reeder, a member of First Baptist Church, Huntsville, and director of the Huntsville Alliance for the Mentally Ill, said the church should be at the forefront of educating its members about mental illness.

"We aren't taught about mental illness in schools or even at home," Reeder said. She likewise felt isolated from the church when her child was diagnosed as a consumer of a mental disorder. "It basically comes from television, movies and the media, but it is usually very inappropriate. Very seldom do you see a character (on TV) who is mentally ill and is shown contributing to society. Every person, without exception, who has recovered or is in a recovery program cites the main reason for their turning point was that someone showed a genuine respect for them. This is where the church can do something for the person."

Reeder, a longtime children's Sunday school teacher, lived a nightmare after learning her 12-year-old son was diagnosed with a mental illness. Today he is 39 and living in an apartment on disability.

"I could hardly teach because I felt guilty that maybe it was my fault that my child was mentally ill," she said. "I didn't want other people to think that I might be doing something to cause a child to be mentally ill. If a child started crying, I got a sick feeling in my heart."

Reeder eventually gave up teaching the class, and it wasn't until some time later she understood her son's illness was not her fault. She said he was sick often as a child and she knew "something was wrong" for a long time. She finally understood and accepted his illness when he was 14.

"A lot of people are never able to come to grips with their child's mental illness," Reeder said. "Many think it's their fault, but it's not. When you first learn about your child having a mental illness, you don't understand it either and you are learning about how to deal with it."

Reeder and DeLeuil are active in the Huntsville's AMI group and are instrumental in educating the community about mental illness through programs at schools, civic groups, churches or other organizations.

Jim Hightower, minister for pastoral care at First Baptist, Huntsville, said the key in changing people's attitudes in the church about mental illness is for laypeople who have experienced it in their own families to speak out about the disease. He suggested that congregations offer programs to give church members that opportunity.

"When you see someone with these disorders, it takes away a lot of the mystery that surrounds them," Hightower said. "They see the people are very normal, highly functional and deeply spiritual. It helps someone who needs it to say, 'I can get help.'"

Reeder said she believes congregations need to incorporate mentally ill persons into the mainstream of the church.

"Mental illness tends to break down people's ability to relate to other people," she said. "Exercise and love with a small amount of work may be as important to a mentally ill person as setting a broken leg. We have not provided a channel by where the brain can be rehabilitated. It takes longer than we have ever been aware of for the brain to heal or recuperate."

Both Reeder and DeLeuil have turned their tragedies into opportunities to help others not to have to face mental illness alone as they did.

"I did have spiritual doubts and kept asking, 'Why did this happen to me?'" DeLeuil said. "You do go through the grieving process, and it has been a spiritual journey for me. It has become almost a calling from God. He can use me to help other people. My mission is to work to help the mentally ill."

Reeder said she "would not have chosen it" and that she was "forced into my position. It's not that we are so good by doing what we are doing. My inclination was to distance myself from the issue -- until it happened to us, then I could no longer do that. I had to get involved."