Church Joins Jesus in His Work With New Mental Health-Care Ministry

Whatever wounds you carry and whatever hurts are weighing you down, you can always find healing in Jesus—that is the heart of Life Recovery, Prestonwood Baptist Church’s new addiction recovery and mental health care ministry.

Jack Graham, who has pastored Prestonwood for nearly 30 years, explained the church launched the ministry to help men, women and students recover from “emotional, physical, relational and spiritual wounds” which often result in mental illness, substance abuse and addiction.

“We have always been a church that has ministered to the hurting, but I felt God leading us to do more,” Graham said. “After much prayer, we launched Life Recovery to help members of our community overcome addiction and find emotional, physical, relational and spiritual health.

“The church should always be a place where those who are hurting can come and find healing and restoration. This calling is all the more urgent in light of how many people today are turning to drugs to soothe their pain and find answers for their deepest questions.”

Life Recovery will offer support groups, workshops, counseling, prayer and crisis care and intervention. Additionally, the ministry will recruit members of the Prestonwood community who have overcome mental illness and addiction and now desire to help others facing similar challenges.

Prestonwood also announced it will partner with the regional office of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to bring faith leaders together to combat the opioid epidemic.

“Life Recovery is grounded in the church as a body of people called to love one another,” said Michael Perron, who serves as minister of Life Recovery. “You may not be able to control what life throws at you, but in the church you can count on having a community of people who will be there no matter what you’re going through and will help you get through it.”

Perron, a former elite physical trainer and an ordained minister, himself overcame drug addiction and found strength and purpose in Jesus. He previously served on Prestonwood’s staff for 10 years before planting and leading a church near Dallas.

“When you think about it, every Christian’s story is about finding healing in Jesus,” Graham said. “Jesus came for the sick, not the healthy—the sinners, not the self-righteous. He is working to restore and heal people from the wounds they’re carrying, and we want to join him in this work.”