Clergy Reflections on Mental Health

  Mending (and Re-mending) Our Safety Nets                                                                       -- Kelly Sasser   Those of us committed to ministry with children and youth know that this work is both an awesome, sacred privilege and a terrifying responsibility.   We are called not only to help our young people with faith formation but also to provide care for their physical, mental, and social well-being as they move through vulnerable, sometimes turbulent years in their development.   At every point, we seek to provide ministries of care, nurture, protection, and support…embodying the words of Frederick Buechner, "Here is the world. Beautiful and terrible things will happen. Don't be afraid."   Alongside of families, neighbors, schools, teams, and other community organizations, we do our best to weave together safety nets for the youth among us, with each strand hopefully representing another asset for healthy development.   Some of the ways o