Faith as a Mental Health Partner

For generations, churches have been more than places of worship. They’ve been gathering spaces, support systems, sources of strength in moments of uncertainty and crisis. In African American communities especially, faith institutions have long been trusted partners in health and healing, often filling gaps where systems fall short. 

Today’s episode explores what becomes possible when that trust is paired with intentional partnership across faith, community, and mental health systems. Our guest is the Reverend Dr. Daryl Horton of Mount Zion Baptist Church in East Austin, Texas. 

Churches as Critical Partners 

As mental health disparities continue to affect Texas communities at disproportionately high rates, churches can play a unique role as critical partners in addressing these disparities. Mount Zion Baptist Church has served its community for more than 150 years, and over that time has become a trusted anchor not only for spiritual life, but for health advocacy, and community well-being.  

“Churches can be a critical entryway to receiving mental health support,” says the Rev. Dr. Horton. “Your church is a trusted resource. It is a place where you feel that you can be transparent, that you can be open. And it’s also a place where you can find help.” 

In his own interactions with congregants, mental health conversations have arisen both in response to scriptural study as well through more direct pastoral care. 

“Sometimes we talk about individuals in the scriptures who seem like they could have had some mental health challenges. As we’re studying them, people can relate those experiences to their own lives, and we naturally transition to a mental health conversation,” says Rev. Dr. Horton. “Other times I’ve just had people come in to talk about the stresses and challenges of life. We talk about not only the resources within the church, but also about organizations and resources outside of the church that we could refer them to for help.”

Community Partnerships 

Mount Zion has a long history of partnering with academic and community organizations on health initiatives, and these partnerships have informed their understanding of what works and what doesn’t when institutions collaborate with faith communities. 

“We’ve learned that a community partner must be willing to come and to learn about the faith community. They must be willing to come in to visit with us, to be with us, to hang around us, to kind of see what the environment and the culture looks like,” says the Rev. Dr. Horton. “It’s not about us just getting data from us. It’s not about just using us for research. There really needs to be an honest effort to come and be supportive, to help us do some things that the church can’t do on their own.” 

For many years, Mt. Zion has had a strong partnership with the University of Texas at Austin, and the School of Nursing in particular. 

“The students come to spend time with us and get to know our young people, our seniors, or whatever respective group they’re coming to learn from. It works out well because we actually develop relationships and build a sense of trust with them.”

Village Wellness Support Program 

In 2024, with support from a Hogg Foundation grant, Mount Zion launched the Village Wellness Support Program, a holistic health ministry rooted in mind, body, spirit, and community.  

“When people come to the Village program, we sit down with them and ask them about their concerns and their challenges. We ask how they got to this place in their lives,” says the Rev. Dr. Horton. “We want to help the whole person.” 

Rather than replacing professional care, the Village program focuses on strengthening pathways to care. Church members serve as lay health workers, partnering with individuals seeking help and getting to know their stories. Then, with help from partners like the UT School of Nursing and the Hogg Foundation, lay health workers are able to connect them with health care providers who can meet their needs.  

“We offer them a companion, someone to be in relationship with – someone that walks with them through this part of their life,” says the Rev. Dr. Horton. “And we’re willing to walk with them for as long as they need us to walk with them. We see it as the church community coming together to surround them with a village of support. 

The Rev. Dr. Horton recalls a particularly impactful interaction that began when a family experiencing homelessness reached out to the Village for help with finding shelter. The Village’s relationship with the family didn’t end after meeting that immediate need, however. They continued to provide coordination and improve access in ways that enabled the family to reach more long-term stability with long-term housing, employment, and school enrollment.  

“It all began because they did not have a place to stay,” says the Rev. Dr. Horton. “At the same time, they were able to have their spiritual needs met here and find a sense of community and support that they needed.” 

Indeed, while churches are limited in the resources they can provide on their own, models of partnership like the Village demonstrate the wide-reaching potential of bringing together the strengths of faith, community, and mental health and systems. 

“With programs like the Village, you’re willing to surround people, to be patient with people, to walk with them on their journey, to try to understand what it’s like to walk in their shoes, and to be there with compassion and grace.”