Park Avenue Baptist Church in Atlanta conducts

Park Avenue Baptist Church in Atlanta conducted an online mental health check-in for members. (Photo by Nik Shuliahin from Unsplash)

Park Avenue Baptist Church held an online mental health check-in for its members on Thursday, Dec. 15. The church provided a link on its Facebook page for interested individuals.

According to the church's Facebook post, it encouraged its members to leave a heart in the comments section with the corresponding color representing their feelings.

An orange heart means the person is feeling great, yellow means okay, purple indicates a struggle, green means having a hard time, and blue means needing support.

What prompted the initiative were the challenges and struggles brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic over the last three years, the church said.

"Between the loss of loved ones, jobs and schools being turned upside down and even dealing with the effects the virus had on our physical health, it has been a lot to take in," the post reads.

"We are all affected by this trauma and can become overwhelmed, anxious or struggle to cope. We want you to know that PABC is here for you," it added.

Those who need guidance and counseling may reach out to the church Pastors Darci and Henra and may schedule meetings on Park View's Facebook post or website.

Other Community Ministries

The Filling Station is a place to share experiences, uplift each other, and offer opinions about chronic illness, but it is not a medically-supervised group, per the ministries page.

The Filling Station meets monthly at PABC. For inquiries and schedules, interested individuals may email the church at fillingstations@gmail.com.

On the other hand, Clothing Closet is a ministry for those in need, while Art in the Image is for aspiring and professional artists who want to channel their creativity while creating a fellowship with one another, the page revealed.

The ministry will also help take the first steps toward discovering their language of creativity and engaging in devotional art making, the website said.

Rev. Darci Jaret

Darci Jaret is a priest, social entrepreneur, pastoral caregiver, and artist. Darci, a queer artist, and gender nonconforming person, felt a call to ministry after working for many years as an activist and artist, per Jaret’s biography.

In 2017, Jaret graduated with a Master of Divinity from Candler School of Theology, where she studied pastoral care through creative expression. According to the custom of Bezalel and Oholiab, the architects and artisans of the tabernacle, Darci was ordained to the art ministry at Park Avenue Baptist Church, the page said.

Jaret is the Minister Artist-in-Residence at Park Avenue Baptist Church, where they oversee "Re-Imagining Prayer," a creative community group, and the monthly Creative Outlet, an occasion that combines craft and religious themes, the site revealed.

The priest co-directs the "Created 2 Create" art ministry mentoring program, which directs artists and preachers toward original theological interpretations. Jaret created a pastoral care model that encourages imaginative story expression and aids individuals in speaking their stories in therapeutic and creative ways, the website bared.

Process Divine, a devotional subscription service that Jaret recently launched, allows users to make collage art weekly using photographs and scripture devotions. Process Divine inspires its users' creativity. Scripture, guidelines, directions, questions, and prompts are all used in addition to specifically curated visual content, as per Darci’s about page.