Sitting in my Church pew, dressed in my Sunday best. I could play the part like an Academy Award-winning actor, with face all aglow. But inside panic and sadness flooded my being to a point of just wanting to run. When I unveiled my mask, the truth came pouring out; DEPRESSION and Anxiety. But how could that be? I’m here sitting in Church. Christians cannot feel what I’m feeling. Aren’t Christians supposed to be happy, joyous, and have perfect peace all the time? But I was broken, the pieces of my mind falling apart. If only someone saw through my facade; the stigma, the shame, the humiliation I would have to endure.

Sitting in the pews of many of our Churches today are people just like that, so never judge a book by its cover. People are searching for hope, acceptance and understanding.

You would think that the one safe place that a person suffering from a mental illness (such as depression) could find support, would be the Church. But sadly to say, that’s not always the case. Just as prejudice, stigma, ignorance, misunderstanding, and lack of knowledge is found in our society today, so it is found in our Churches.