Leadership Development

Deacon John Stewart has been named to serve a second term on the Task Force on Individuals with Mental Illness, an interim working group of the General Convention of the Episcopal Church. This task force has developed educational and informational resources that will soon be available to parishes, and they continue their work as they develop proposals to make Mental Health First Aid become a component of clergy formation, similar to the requirement for completing Safeguarding God’s Children and Race Relations Training.

Deacon Stewart, who for many years served at St. Matthias in Tuscaloosa, currently supports small parishes in the Black Belt, and continues his local work serving those with mental illness. John serves in Alabama’s National Alliance for Mental Illness (NAMI) and has served as the President of the Tuscaloosa NAMI Affiliate. With this organization, John serves primarily in the area supporting Crisis Intervention Training for Law Enforcement Officers. Deacon John Stewart received the 2022 Affiliate of the Year Award and has been awarded the President of the Year Award at the NAMI Alabama Annual Conference.