An Invitation

We want to invite you to share your stories as we share ours.

Several podcasts touch on mental health. Others bring up topics of faith. We offer a unique faith-based, peer-led perspective. This is a project that has been born out of our own need and a recognition of the needs of others. Revealing Voices shares emotionally honest stories of ways faith and mental healthcare can work together to promote healing. We also offer humor. We don’t take ourselves too seriously.

We encourage you to listen to our podcast and join in the dialogue on this website.

How We Began

We are two men with a firm faith who live with different types of bipolar disorder. We first met when Tony was launching his book, Delight in Disorder We had both fallen on hard times and agreed to meet weekly for prayer, walks, tears, and laughter. Out of these gatherings, a mission was conceived. We developed a faith-based, peer-led mental health support group called “Faithful Friends.” It is still growing strong after four years, without skipping a beat (or a week).

Now, a new mission has emerged…

Building Community

Many people with mental illness feel alienated from faith communities. Many faith communities fail to understand the value of mental health care. We have lived in both worlds and found both to promote healing. Prayer and pills. Worship and therapy. Bible study and support groups. Revealing Voices builds a community where people listen to and dialogue with others who have been impacted by mental illness and struggle with faith.

Risks & Challenges

As important as it is to share our struggles with mental health, prevailing stigma discourages us from revealing them. People both within and beyond faith communities often see mental illness as an excuse, not an explanation; a lack of faith, not a chemical imbalance; a crime, not a condition.

Revealing Voices is uniquely positioned to tackle this stigma. We have both revealed our diagnoses to friends, family, co-workers, and the community at large. At times, our disclosure has lacked good judgement, but we have matured in our discernment. We understand the need for wise discretion for when and how to talk about mental health issues.

With Revealing Comes Healing

Healing is the foundation for all our words – spoken and written. The ministry of Jesus promotes reconciliation and spiritual healing. The goal of mental health care is to promote emotional, social, and physical healing. Working together, the ministry of faith communities and the mission of mental health providers can foster a climate of understanding. We pray for a dialogue of compassionate listening and courageous transparency.