Wellbeing

High Street Baptist Church - Tring

Help page

If you are in need of support or urgent help, head over to our ‘Help’ page for a list of local services.

The 5 Ways to Wellbeing

Read on, or click on the image below to read more about ‘The 5 Ways to Wellbeing’.

Why wellbeing?

One in six of us will experience a common mental disorder during our life time. High Street Baptist Church values the whole person, including their mental wellbeing and we want to do something to support people and promote wellbeing. We echo the words of Ephesians 3:16 which say

‘I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with

power through his Spirit in your inner being.’

This page contains information about our own groups and wellbeing activity as well as information about how to maintain your wellbeing and links to further resources.

Kintsugi Hope

We are partnered with Kintsugi Hope. Click on the icon above to find out more about Kintsugi Hope and wellbeing groups.

5 Ways to Wellbeing

There are 5 ways to wellbeing that are proven to make a real difference to our mental health. They are promoted by the NHS as well as mental health organisations all over the world. Be active, Connect, Keep learning, Give, Take notice – are small actions which when incorporated into your daily life can make you feel good, and feeling good is an important part of being healthy.

Notice

Reminding yourself to ‘take notice’ can strengthen and broaden awareness. Take some time to enjoy the moment and the environment around you and be curious about what you see.

 

Be active

Exercise is proven to improve mental health. Moving every day is a good habit to get in to. Whether stretching in your chair, an extra walk up and down the stairs or a 10-mile hike, try to keep/add exercise in your daily routine.

Connect

Keep in touch with people. Social media is a good way to stay in touch, but don’t rely on it as the only way to stay connected. Social relationships are critical for promoting wellbeing. With this in mind, how will you keep connected?

Give

Individuals who report a greater interest in helping others are more likely to rate themselves as happy. Giving might be an act of kindness to a friend, neighbour, stranger or family. Consider what you can give this week.

Keep learning

Continued learning through life enhances self-esteem and encourages social interaction and a more active life. There are many ways of introducing learning into your life, from formal courses to watching a documentary. Why not learn something new today?

Wellbeing resources and other organisations

Renew Wellbeing

Renew Wellbeing helps churches open spaces of welcome and inclusion in partnership with mental health teams to improve mental and emotional wellbeing.

Renew spaces are simple cafe style spaces run by local churches where hobbies and activities are shared or co-produced. Each cafe space is attached to a quiet room or prayer space and also partners  with a mental health professional from the local council to ensure good inclusive practices.

Space to breath

Space to Breathe offers a variety of tools and resources for implemnting personally, in the workplace or in schools. The wellbeing tools are simple, designed to fit into everyday life.

Follow the link to find out more and sign up.

Mind and Soul Foundation

The Mind and Soul Foundation site contains many useful articles and resources. 

The Mind and Soul Foundation state, ‘We believe in a God who loves us AND cares about our emotional and mental health. Our faith and emotions are often kept separate. Mental health is rarely discussed in churches and Christian spirituality is seen as having little to offer the world of psychology. We want to bridge that gap.’

Hope Together

HOPE Together is a catalyst bringing churches together to transform communities in villages, towns and cities. In January 2021 they launched an 8-week wellbeing series. You can run the course with their videos and resources. The course is designed for all, but churches are in a unique place to lead communities on this holistic journey to physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.

Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries

Sanctuary Mental Health Ministries equips the Church to support mental health and wellbeing. They provide resources that meaningfully engage the topics of faith and mental health.  Content is developed in collaboration with theologians, psychologists, and people with lived experience of mental health challenges. The resources prepare communities of faith around the world to raise awareness, reduce stigma, support mental health, and promote mental wellbeing.

Time to Change

Time to Change is a campaigning organisation aiming to change the way people think and act about mental health problems. They have a number of toolkits including resources for churches.

Loss and HOPE

Loss and HOPE is a coalition of Christian organisations seeking to help the Church support those bereaved – currently equipping churches across the UK to run The Bereavement Journey for those grieving in our nation.

They are encouraging churches to run The Bereavement Journey, a six-session programme of films and discussion; a place where people can process their loss in groups with others who have experienced bereavement.

Spring Harvest at Home

Patrick Regan OBE is the founder and CEO of Kintsugi Hope, a charity which aims to create safe and supportive spaces for those struggling with emotional and mental health challenges. He is the author of several books adressing mental health.

At Spring Harvest at Home he presented three talks based on his latest book, Honesty Over Silence.

Baptists Together

Baptist Minister and psychotherapist Shaun Lambert led this webinar ‘Managing stress and anxiety’ on Wednesday 1 April at 1pm. During the talk he recommended the following resources:

Introducing Christian Mindfulness  by Richard H H Johnston
A Book of Sparks: A study in Christian MindFullness by Shaun Lambert
Mindfulness. A practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams.

Mental health reflections

The Church of England has produced 13 daily mental health reflections which take a biblical reflection each day and then include ‘have a go habits’ each day to boost wellbeing.

This resource has been specifically adapted for the current pandemic and is partially written by Ruth Rice from Renew Wellbeing.

The Big Church Read

Being busy is often seen as a sign of strength and admired by our society. However, busy-ness can cause us to move away from God and neglect our own wellbeing. ‘The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry’ offers guideance on ‘How to stay emotionally healthy and spiritually alive in the chaos of the modern world’. You can use the book as a group study using the videos and questions from the Big Church Read, access the videos and resources relating to John Mark Cormer’s book by clicking on the image.

Scripture Union

Scripture Union’s Mental Health and Wellbeing resources are intended to help you engage children and young people in supportive and helpful conversation around the challenges that a child or young person may be facing. Their Mental Health Suite has been endorsed by the Mental Health Foundation.

We hope you find the links and information on this page helpful. If you know of other resources which would be useful to share, please let us know at admin@tringbaptistchurch.co.uk.