Finding Peace in the Storm: Maple Heights Workshop Brings Faith and Mental Health Into the Same Room
Rev. Dr. Terry A. Webb will lead an Aug. 15 seminar at Christian Unity Baptist Church focused on anxiety, practical coping tools, and the role faith can play in emotional wellness.
MAPLE HEIGHTS, Ohio — For generations, the Black church has been a place where people have carried burdens they did not necessarily take into a therapist’s office.
Grief. Fear. Financial pressure. Family problems. Trauma. Anxiety.
Sometimes those burdens were taken to the altar. Sometimes to the pastor. Sometimes they simply went unspoken.
Research has documented that Black Americans have often turned to pastors, churches, family and faith communities for emotional support, including during mental health struggles. (PubMed)
On Saturday, Aug. 15, one Maple Heights pastor is deliberately bringing those worlds together.
Rev. Dr. Terry A. Webb, LPC, NCC, CCTP, pastor of Christian Unity Baptist Church and a licensed professional counselor, will host “Finding Peace in the Storm,” a seminar designed to help people better understand anxiety while learning practical and spiritual strategies for managing it.
The seminar begins at 11 a.m. at Christian Unity Baptist Church, 16811 Broadway Avenue in Maple Heights.
The idea behind it is straightforward: faith and mental health treatment do not have to compete with one another.
They can work together.
More Than “Just Stop Worrying”
Anxiety is easy to minimize when it belongs to somebody else.
People are told to calm down. Stop thinking about it. Be strong. Pray about it. Get over it.
But persistent anxiety can affect sleep, concentration, relationships, work and everyday functioning. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, based on 2024 National Health Interview Survey data, 12.1 percent of American adults regularly experience feelings of worry, nervousness or anxiety. (CDC)
Webb’s workshop is built around helping participants understand what anxiety actually looks like and what they can do when worry begins controlling the conversation inside their own heads.
In material he provided to Black Vanguard Media, Webb describes an approach that combines pastoral counseling with evidence-based mental health practices.
Among them is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, or CBT, which teaches people to recognize distorted or catastrophic thinking and examine those thoughts rather than automatically accepting them as truth.
That is not pop psychology. The National Institute of Mental Health describes CBT as a well-studied, research-supported psychotherapy commonly used in treating generalized anxiety disorder. (National Institute of Mental Health)
Webb then adds another dimension: faith.
His approach encourages people to challenge destructive thinking while also drawing on scripture, prayer, gratitude, community and the belief that every burden does not have to be carried alone.
That distinction matters.
The message is not therapy instead of faith.
It is also not faith instead of therapy.
It is refusing to pretend those are the only two choices.
Why Doing This in a Church Matters
A 2024 study published in Psychiatric Services examined mental health in a predominantly Black community surrounding a church. Researchers found that spirituality played an important role in coping and recovery, while mental health stigma continued to affect whether people sought help. Participants also expressed a need for church-based mental health programming. (PubMed)
That makes a seminar like Webb’s particularly significant.
People who might never attend something advertised as a psychiatric presentation may walk into their own church to talk about stress.
Someone reluctant to say, “I think I need counseling,” may be willing to say, “I’ve been worrying a lot lately.”
That conversation can become a bridge.
And bridges matter because access to treatment remains uneven. SAMHSA reported that in 2023, among adults with serious mental illness, 56.4 percent of Black adults received mental health treatment compared with 74.9 percent of White adults. (SAMHSA)
The church cannot solve that disparity by itself.
But it can help make seeking help less foreign.
The Checkup Before the Breakdown
That philosophy also fits a larger conversation Black Vanguard Media and The SOLUTION have been advancing through Check Up From the Neck Up — the idea that mental wellness should receive attention before somebody reaches a crisis.
The campaign asks a deceptively simple question:
Why is it normal to check your blood pressure, teeth, eyes and cholesterol, but uncomfortable to suggest checking on your mental health?
The SOLUTION’s discussion materials are designed around normalizing those conversations and helping ordinary people become bridges to information and professional support rather than trying to become therapists themselves.
That same prevention-focused approach has appeared throughout the campaign’s work with young people: recognize signs earlier, ask better questions and stop waiting for a breakdown before deciding something deserves attention.
Webb’s seminar puts that philosophy into practice.
Participants are expected to discuss techniques for calming the mind and body, reframing negative thoughts, building healthier daily routines, using faith during difficult moments and recognizing when anxiety has become more than ordinary worry.
Webb also emphasizes sleep, physical activity, nutrition and community as parts of emotional wellness. NIMH similarly notes that adequate sleep, exercise and stress-management practices can help reduce anxiety symptoms when used alongside appropriate care. (National Institute of Mental Health)
There is something especially timely about having that conversation inside a Black church.
For too long, asking for help has sometimes been interpreted as weakness.
Perhaps a healthier definition of strength is knowing when you do not have to carry everything yourself.
And perhaps finding peace in the storm does not always mean waiting for the storm to disappear.
Sometimes it means learning how to move through it.
EVENT INFORMATION
Finding Peace in the Storm: A Practical Guide to Managing Anxiety Through Faith
Saturday, August 15, 2026 at 11:00 a.m.
Christian Unity Baptist Church
16811 Broadway Avenue, Maple Heights, Ohio 44137
Presenter: Rev. Dr. Terry A. Webb, LPC, NCC, CCTP
Reservations: drterrywebb@gmail.com