The Symphonic Nature of Care: Why Pastors Still Matter in Mental Health

This week’s email is part one of a two-part series from Pastor Tim Lyzenga of Fellowship Reformed Church in Hudsonville, reflecting on the importance of soul care for those experiencing mental health challenges.

I am an avid reader of books. I often set aside large amounts of money when I know I will be attending a conference that has a bookstore. More often than not, you will find me reading one, two, or three books at a time. That's not a brag. It more speaks to changes in mood, need, or just attention deficit. What is always a wonderful experience is when two things I am reading suddenly overlap unexpectedly.

For example, last year I found myself reading G.K. Chesterton’s The Everlasting Man and Richard Feynman's Six Easy Pieces. Suddenly, both of them were talking about the created world. As a renowned secular physicist, Feynman marveled at the world and how it worked, but under the assumption that it could and would all be explained. Chesterton marveled at the world as a philosopher and found it to be vibrant proof of the wonders of God (Psalm 19:1; Romans 1:20). I felt sad for Feynman.

The Big Problem of Tone

Because of my current educational pursuits and opportunities to do book reviews for theological journals, much of my 2025 reading has been in the area of soul care and mental health. While I won't give you the names of the two books, I will tell you that I am currently reading one that was published this year, and the other is a collection of writings by a Puritan minister who lived just about 400 years ago. They are both on the same subject: mental health, or as our Puritan brother would call it, soul care.

The newer book follows what has become a common formula. There is the presentation of someone who had significant mental health issues, an exposition on how the church failed horribly to help this person, and the joy of modern therapy. Please understand that in no way is this a rant against modern therapy. My issue is that the tone set by the formula that is getting repeated over and over is that the church should offer hugs, prayers, and chicken casseroles, and leave the work of actually helping these people to the professionals. In other words, we, as ministers of the Word and Sacrament, have little to nothing to offer.

Also, as part of this formula, there is the same argument: “If you were having a heart attack, wouldn’t you go to a cardiologist, not your pastor?” The answer is, “Well, obviously.” So, of course, you should see a mental health clinician for issues of the brain. My answer to this line of reasoning is that it neglects the symphonic nature of a human being. That we are not just physical beings. We are not just relational beings. We are not just spiritual beings. We are not just emotional and intellectual beings. We are all these things at the same time (Mark 12:30; 1 Thessalonians 5:23). It's the reason we pastors make post-heart attack hospital visits. We arrive still not being cardiologists.

More to Do

So why, then, is it encouraged that we step away from mental health issues? The fact is, there are thousands of pages of wisdom written by dozens of faithful men over hundreds of years who loved and cared for and ministered to people who had schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, were clinically depressed, or had general anxiety disorder long before any of those terms existed. Their counsel was comforting, careful, and entirely biblically informed. Their theology ran deep as they considered how to encourage those who always seemed depressed (the answer was short, purposeful prayers) and how to teach those whose anxiety distracted them from time in God’s Word (simple and repeatable). They understood that books like Job, Psalms, and Lamentations contained autopsies on depression and that both Jesus and the Apostles spoke to the heart of anxiety with both reasoning and compassion.

Let me give you two big reasons why, as pastors, we need to be careful not to concede this area of soul care. The first is that one of the more common therapy practices today is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT). If you are unfamiliar, it works like this. Someone with a mental health condition is seen by a clinician and, in many cases, given a prescription. They are then encouraged to get therapy, usually CBT, because the research is overwhelming that patients do significantly better when  pairing medication with therapy. When a person sees a CBT therapist, a plan is developed to help this person do everything from becoming more organized to practical learning about actions and consequences. CBT helps people recognize and change harmful thought patterns. But because these thought patterns often involve questions of right and wrong, meaning and purpose, pastors still have an essential role (Romans 12:2; 2 Timothy 3:16-17).

The second reason is that there is almost universal agreement that with the right support system, many people will never need to see a clinician. This can be peer support with someone who has a shared lived experience, community support like what can be found in a Bible study group, and pastoral support. In a time when the system is overwhelmed, pastors and church leaders have an opportunity to step in and reduce the demand, making those who need the specialized care, which makes up a lot smaller portion of the population, able to find it. 

More to Offer

Years ago, I met with a hospital CEO, and he put it frankly: the number of ER visits has gone up substantially because of issues like people struggling with grief or people simply being lonely. In other words, issues that the church used to step in and address (James 1:27).

Many people can't afford to see a specialist, and many of those people don't need one. They just need a pastor or a fellow church member (Galatians 6:2).

My point here, brothers, is that much of the world is looking only at the failures of the church and its leaders in this area and telling us to step aside. Unfortunately, a lack of knowledge about the library of history that the church has in this area, and a dreadful fear of getting things wrong and causing more damage, have caused us to hesitate in this area.

Nobody is asking you to get an advanced degree in counseling or to be up to speed on clinical trends and issues. You have more to offer than prayers and casseroles. You can bring into mental health issues the same Scripture and theology you bring to those lying in a hospital bed after a stroke (Psalm 34:18).

The church has always been a hospital for the hurting (Luke 5:31-32). Let's not let fear or modern trends convince us to step out of the very rooms, hearts, and minds where God has called us to be (2 Timothy 1:7).

Tim Lyzenga has served as a pastor for 20 years in Michigan, West Virginia, Ohio, and Nebraska. He currently serves as the Pastor of Discipleship at Fellowship Church in Hudsonville and as an adjunct professor for Kuyper College. He has been married for 19 years, has four children, and is finally finishing his doctorate in counseling.