Turn the Light On
Anita Phillips
Dr. Anita Phillips is a trauma therapist, minister, and media personality widely recognized as a thought leader at the intersection of mental health, faith, and culture. An Associate Professor in Dr. John Townsend’s Institute for Leadership & Counseling at Concordia University, Dr. Anita holds degrees from the University of Maryland and the Regent University School of Psychology & Counseling and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. Her New York Times best-seller, The Garden Within: Where the War with Your Emotions Ends and Your Most Powerful Life Begins, is transforming how we: understand emotions; link scripture to science; and define what it means to truly emulate Jesus.
What is the ministry challenge keeping you up at night?
The greatest challenge to advancing Jesus’ reputation in the world is still the way that Christians themselves actually view Jesus. In the west especially, we struggle to disentangle cultural demands from our perception of who Jesus is and how He would likely respond to contemporary issues.
What is the greatest hope for God’s work in 2023 you’re dreaming about?
Teaching people about how the Creator designed them to thrive by closing the (perceived) gap between scripture, psychology, and biology and presenting Jesus as the ultimate example of the emotional well-being we all desperately need to cultivate.
What is a non-ministry activity that brings you joy and energy?
Eating ice cream at the beach.
What are the top 1-3 essentials for the Church in America to address to reach those who are spiritually open, but not yet following Jesus?
1. Mental Distress/Illness – There are few, if any, felt needs piercing hearts more deeply than this one. Emotional well-being has reached historic lows. The new pandemic is defined by depression, anxiety, PTSD, and complicated grief. This is a moment to think about how addressing mental health through the lens of scripture can power evangelism, but it must be done carefully. The approach cannot be surface level as it has been in the past (e.g. quoting scriptures about joy or fear in ways that actually suppress emotional experiences and promote cultural narratives while obscuring Jesus).
2. Racism/Ethnocentrism -- Racial/Ethnic disunity and abuses both in the United States and around the world. It is always an undercurrent here in the United States. The Israel-Hamas war is bringing it back to the surface and the 2024 presidential election will likely reignite the intensity we saw in 2020. We need to be proactive rather than reactionary. We must be (or remain) willing to disrupt the church’s status quo in order to reach those who need to know Jesus.