Seminar offered support

WINNIPEG, MAN.

For Pat Spencer, a one-day retreat in Winnipeg was a welcome opportunity to meet people who, like her, live with depression. "It was a chance to see how we see ourselves and how God sees us," the mother of two young children said in a recent interview. "It's not something you usually talk about except with close family." Her husband Earl was there with her.

About 20 people attended the retreat, which was jointly sponsored by the Mental Health and Disabilities Program of Mennonite Central Committee Canada and a committee from the local community.

"The focus was on growth within--both spiritual and emotional--based on where people's lives are now," says Irma Janzen, director of the program. "We didn't want to focus on cures and the need for better circumstances."

Spencer, 39, has suffered bouts of severe depression since her teens. It's been a difficult time made bearable by the support of family and church. People from the church (Braeside Evangelical Mennonite) would bring meals when she couldn't cope. The children, now aged 4 and 7, sometimes went to stay with church members. Someone in the congregation knew how to access a government service that provides support when the family needs it.

"It's a bit easier now because things are in place," Spencer says. She urges people to learn more about depression and its effects. "If you don't know what you're dealing with, you can't help."

Over time, Spencer has come to believe that "God loves me maybe because of who I am." Acceptance by God of our frailties was an important theme of the retreat, held in early January.

People attending the retreat belong to peer support groups for people with mental illness and their families in Winnipeg. There are five in the city: at the Douglas Mennonite, First Mennonite, Braeside Evangelical Mennonite and Meadowood United Churches, plus an interchurch group that meets at MCC headquarters.
MCC Canada news release

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