Lennoxville United to host special service for mental health
On Sunday, Oct. 27 Lennoxville United Church will hold a special service called You Are Not Alone: A Service for Mental Health. The purpose of the service is to learn about and reflect on the realities of mental illness.
According to Reverend Linda Buchanan, the service will be ecumenical and inter-religious.
“Everyone needs to be cared for, and CONT’D
CONT’D
everyone’s got a seat at the table,” she said.
“This is our first time trying,” explained Buchanan, hoping the service could become an annual event.
The idea first came about around May, and since then a 12-member team has been working on ideas of what to include in the service.
“I’m a big advocate for mental health,” commented Pam Wilson, helping organize the service, “We tried to figure out how we could do something.”
Wilson pointed out that people often shy away from the topic because there is still a lot of stigma associated with mental illness.
“If we don’t start doing things like this, it will never change,” Wilson said.
The planning team includes representatives from the congregation, the community and also Mental Health Estrie. Buchanan added that the offering collected at the service would be donated to Mental Health Estrie.
According to Buchanan, the service will follow a similar pattern to a regular Sunday, but with prayers designed to address mental health.
Special songs and anthems have been chosen for the service, and Buchanan said the Lennoxville United choir would be amplified by a number of guest voices from the community.
“We have to recognize we haven’t always been great,” admitted Buchanan, in the way the church has dealt with mental illness.
The message she would like to convey with the upcoming service is, “we are here, we see you, we want to support you in any way we can.”
Buchanan and Wilson said the service is meant to open a constructive and inclusive discussion about mental illness, to offer comfort to those who are struggling, and also to support those helping a loved one. “It touches everyone,” Wilson pointed out.
“You can’t just have a service like that,” added Buchanan, explaining there will be light refreshments served afterwards. “Probably the most important coffee hour of the year will be this one,” she said. The service will take place Sunday, Oct. 27 at 10 a.m. at Lennoxville United Church in Lennoxville.