The Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention

by Rachael A. Keefe

"There's so much silence around suicide in the church that it is quite literally killing us." --Rachael Keefe

Would you know how to respond if the person sitting next to you in your pew was contemplating suicide? Every year, millions of people engage in suicidal activity, including those in our faith communities. Yet the Church remains largely silent around the topics of mental health, depression, and suicide prevention. How can you and your faith community be prepared to recognize and respond to those struggling for their very lives in your church?

In The Lifesaving Church, pastor Rachael Keefe shatters the taboo of suicide by sharing her own painful story of life-long depression and suicidality--and how her various faith communities responded, for better and for worse. Opening a window into her suicidal behaviors as a young person, Keefe helps us recognize the signs and struggles of those who suffer silently. Reminding us of the Church's call to be the Body of Christ for each other, Keefe empowers us to recognize the hurting in our communities and recover the lifesaving message of the Gospel-- forgiveness, acceptance and love--that helped her to heal.

With chapters on how to educate your church in suicide prevention, group study reflections around the common questions surrounding suicide, and specific resources, scriptures, and prayers for clergy, suicide loss survivors, and those struggling with suicidality, The Lifesaving Church is critical reading for faith communities seeking abundant life for all of its members.

Genres: Faith, Biography

102 pages, Paperback

Published May 1, 2018

Reviews

[Joey Resciniti · Rating 5 out of 5]

I want to be part of the body of Christ described in this book! I found this to be a powerful resource for responding to suicide as a faith community.

Many things stood out to me, but most of all this quote from p 55-56: “We, the church, have the power of the Holy Spirit in our midst... and we spend our time worrying about growing our numbers and balancing our budgets. These things cannot be more important than saving lives— one at a time, if need be.
Setting aside all issues of theology and doctrine, we, the church, need to be united in the effort to save people’s lives. Spiritual salvation is meaningless when people are killing themselves— either outright, or slowly with addictions, eating disorders, and self-harming behaviors.”

[Erika Sanborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is invaluable for anyone in ministry, spiritual health, or congregational care. In just about 100 pages, Keefe works through what churches can do in terms of prevention, as well as "post-vention" (i.e. what not to say at a funeral for someone who has died by suicide). Keefe accomplishes all of this through a patterned retelling of short autobiographical vignettes, paired with theological reflection and clinical response so as to inform what we can do, and how to begin forming our own theology around suicide, in a way that saves lives. This book is undervalued as the resource that it is.

[latinabooklover · Rating 4 out of 5]

We don’t talk about this enough! Keefe does a wonderful job tying in her personal life experiences with mental health and suicide to the church and Christianity. Without arguing the rights and wrongs of suicide necessarily, she is able to portray a 3D picture of what suicide looks like from the POV of both a professional clinical chaplain and a survivor of suicidal ideation herself. She gives plenty of practical tips, prayers, resources, and ideas for church communities and readers to work on getting better at preventing suicide - both personally and with others - in order to manifest God’s love. Highly recommend. The only thing I didn’t like was that it was somewhat repetitive at some points. Overall, though, I think this is a book every pastor, church, and congregation need to have.

[Rosanne V · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very vulnerable testimony

I have to say that this author's testimony is very appropriate for a time where churches are struggling to respond to the needs of the community in afdition to keeping its doors open, and at a time where mental health illness is rising.

For those going into ministry, this is certainly a good resource.

[Robert D. Cornwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

I expect we've all been affected by the suicide of someone we know, perhaps someone close to us, or perhaps we have contemplated or tried to commit suicide. Suicide and suicidality have stigmas attached to them, which create a whole host of problems. Nowhere is this more true than in the church. It might be an issue of theology or simply an unwillingness to address the situations taht lead to suicide. Additionally, most of us, clergy included are simply unprepared to address suicide and its aftermath.

Rachael Keefe's book is an attempt to help congregations become life saving communities. She comes to this topic from personal experience, making her to borrow from the title of Henri Nouwen's famous book, a "wounded healer." The book is brief, just over 100 pages, and it is autobiographical in nature. She tells own story, one that is filled with pain and angst, and yes attempts at suicide. In the midst of all of this she found support and sustenance in the church (as well as rejection). It is a painful story, that takes us into a dysfunctional family life and struggles to find her space in the church. At the same time she found herself called to ministry. Not all of her experiences were positive. There is much to that story.

A pastor within the United Church of Christ, she has spent time as a therapist and as a chaplain at a psychiatric hospital. Through all of this, as she struggled to find her way forward, it was the church, and more specifically a couple of clergy who stepped in and supported her through difficult times.

While the book is autobiographical, she reveals clues as to how churches might catch a vision of becoming safe spaces. She offers help as to how wew might respond to people experiencing mental health issues, especially depression. She also addresses the challenges posed by suicide, as there are two poles to be avoided. On the one hand, we must be careful not to condemn persons to hell for committing an unforgivable sin. At the same time, going the other direction and assuring people that the one who has committed suicide is now at peace with God could lead to copycat behavior. Thus, we must find that space in between, giving assurance of God's love without encouraging dangerous behavior.

While the bulk of the book is autobiographical, she concludes the book with seven appendices, that begin with a listing of the signs of suicide risk. This appencix is followed by a set of resources for clergy (including dos and don'ts for funerals), as well as a form so that lay persons can put down contact numbers related to suicide prevention. This appendix is followed by appendices that proved resources for those struggling with suicidality (phone numbers of organizations that assist in suicide prevention) and resources for suicide loss survivors (again organizations designed for this purpose. Finally, she offers two appendices that give scripture texts that emphasize hope and a set of prayers.

This is a small book, but it might be a good starting point for a conversation within congregations. One might get weary with the stories, but that is okay. They help us understand the challenges faced by persons experiencing depression and what she notes as psychache. The point is helping congregations becoming lifesaving communities.

[Em Bostic (Smith) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great and important little book! We had wonderful discussions in our book group, and the author was kind enough to meet with us last week and give more insight into her life and her work moving forward in this field.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is largely the author's memoir -- which is an understandable structure, though it didn't do a lot for me personally.

It's also a shorter book than I was expecting -- only 102 pages, including appendices -- but honestly there's not a lot there. It's important that churches be safe places for people to bring and disclose all of their identity and experiences. It's important that churches love and support people, even while simultaneously referring them to medical professionals/therapists for stuff that's outside the capacity of pastors and parishioners. It's important that we speak honestly in church settings about mental illness, abuse, etc. -- and not shame or shut out anyone who suffers or has suffered as a result of any of those things.

Keefe and I disagree somewhat on issues of bodily autonomy, and I wish it hadn't taken until Appendix B for her to fully tease out how to respond to people's questions about the theology of suicide. She feels strongly about not imposing your personal theology on people in crisis -- instead basically saying whatever is necessary to keep them alive. In Appendix B she delves more fully into the idea of a person's belief that suicide will damn them to hell as a protective factor keeping them alive (which, admittedly, she gets into that some in Chapter 7, "The Body of Christ Is a Lifesaver").