Between the “whispersofthe Devil” and “the revelationofthe Word”: Christian clergy’s mental health literacy and pastoral support for BME congregants

ABSTRACT

Understanding Christian clergy’s role in providing counseling and spiritual support to Black and minority ethnic (BME) groups offers promise for redressing the ethnicity-related health inequalities in mental health help-seeking and service utilization in the United Kingdom. This qualitative study (N = 10) investigated the pastoral practices, mental health literacy, and referral tendencies of Christian clergy serving BME congregants in Glasgow, Scotland. The qualitative content analysis revealed that the clergy held multiple and complex explanatory models of socioemotional problems, and espoused referrals to healthcare professionals to varying degrees. Clergy–practitioner collaborations can potentially become a crucial enabler of culturally sensitive and person-centered care, although several barriers persist.

KEYWORDS:

• Clergy
• BME
• mental health literacy
• pastoral

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.