First Congregational Church of Ramona is a WISE Congregation.
To be a WISE (Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, Engaged) Congregation in the United Church of Christ means intentionally cultivating a faith community where mental health is met with compassion, dignity, and understanding. Through the leadership of the Mental Health Network UCC, WISE congregations commit to breaking the silence and stigma surrounding mental health by creating spaces of belonging, affirming the full humanity and giftedness of those living with mental health challenges and disabilities, offering meaningful support to individuals and families, and actively engaging in education, advocacy, and partnership with the wider community. At its core, being WISE is about embodying the love of Christ in tangible ways—ensuring that no one walks alone and that every person is seen, valued, and embraced as a vital part of the body of Christ.
Approved by the Congregation at the Annual Meeting on January 25, 2026:
WISE Covenant for Mental Health
First Congregational Church of Ramona
“Live a Life of Love.”
In faithfulness to Jesus Christ, we—the congregation of First Congregational Church of Ramona—pledge to be a WISE (Welcoming, Inclusive, Supportive, Engaged) congregation for mental health.
We affirm that the God revealed in the crucified and risen Christ stands in solidarity with all who suffer. In Jesus Christ, the man of Nazareth, our crucified and risen Lord, God has come to us and shared our common lot. Therefore, no pain, struggle, or diagnosis can separate anyone from the love of God. Following Jesus, we seek not to turn away from suffering but to meet one another in it—bearing one another’s burdens, sharing in one another’s stories, and walking together toward life and hope.
We acknowledge that mental health challenges—such as anxiety, depression, eating disorders, suicide, OCD, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, Tourette Syndrome, ADHD, autism, Alzheimer’s Disease, dementia, grief, substance use disorders, and other mental health experiences—affect people in our congregation and in our wider community. We also affirm that disability, including mental, emotional, and physical disability, is part of the beautiful diversity of God’s people and therefore serves as a location of divine encounter. We reject stigma, shame, and silence, and instead commit to living a life of love by welcoming and standing with those who experience mental health challenges, disabilities, and those who support them.
Welcoming
We pledge to create a community where all people—especially those living with mental health challenges and disabilities—are received with the extravagant hospitality and unconditional love of Christ.
We will cultivate worship, language, and fellowship that cultivates deep belonging and honors the dignity of every person as a bearer of God’s image.
We will cultivate spaces where stories can be heard and be shared without fear of judgment, and where lament, struggle, and joy are held together in Christ.
Inclusive
We commit to recognizing and affirming the full humanity and giftedness of people with mental health challenges and disabilities, not as problems to be solved but as precious sources of divine revelation.
We pledge to ensure full participation in the life and leadership of this congregational church, trusting that God’s strength is revealed through human vulnerability.
We will regularly examine our own biases, theological assumptions, and cultural habits that exclude or marginalize those living with mental health struggles or disabilities.
Supportive
We pledge to walk with care and compassion together, as and with those affected by mental health challenges and disabilities.
We will make resources available to reduce stigma, provide information, and offer pathways to help and healing wherever they are needed.
We will support caregivers, families, and friends with love and attention, trusting in God’s presence with us in every season of life.
Engaged
We pledge to partner with other churches, organizations, practitioners, and ministries that work at the intersection of mental health, disability, and faith, joining our mission with theirs in shared advocacy and care.
We will regularly educate ourselves as a congregation—learning from those with lived experience and from the wisdom of the wider community.
We will work and serve in our community to promote practices that affirm the dignity and worth of all people.
A Theological Commitment
We root this covenant in the incarnation—the confession that God is revealed in Jesus Christ. On the cross, God became present to the depths of human pain. Suffering the death of Christ as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In the resurrection, God vindicated the crucified Christ and thus affirmed the irrevocable worth of every human life.
We root this covenant in the imago Dei—the confession that human beings are created in God’s image. Every human being is a location of the arrival of God and for encounter with God. We affirm that mental health challenges and disabilities do not diminish but reveal God’s image. Following the crucified Christ, we reject the lie that wholeness means the absence of weakness. Instead, we proclaim that God’s strength is revealed in and through human vulnerability.
To “live a life of love” means to live in the Way of Jesus Christ—standing with those the world excludes, listening with openness and curiosity to those whose voices have been ignored, and loving unconditionally.
