Counseling Steps

For by wise guidance, you can wage your war, and in an abundance of counselors, there is victory (Proverbs 24:6).

• It’s okay not to be okay but not okay to stay that way.
• Every disciple of Jesus encounters battles.
• With guidance, we can gain significant ground.
• Through our counseling ministry, we want to help people experience victory.

Staff Counselors

When the offices are open, we aim to have male and female counselors at the church campus. While we will give priority to scheduling appointments for church members, we are available to anyone who needs help. We do not charge for our counseling services, but if people desire to give, they can provide to the general budget to help support this ministry.

We strive for all staff counselors to provide these three items (ABCs):

1. Actionable Steps – While we are eager to listen to the problems, we will prioritize giving some next steps that the counselee can act upon before another meeting. Counselors can prolong another appointment until the individual completes the homework.
2. Biblical Stances –We will not provide guidance that contradicts Scripture’s clear teaching. If our feelings or responses contradict the Bible, we are wrong.
3. Common Responses – We will order a list of the most common counseling scenarios, discuss the responses, and ensure that the overall guidance will not differ from one counselor to another.

LESS Is More

All Christians should be able to offer some type of counsel to anyone in need. We don’t want to give anyone the idea that their situation is beyond anyone’s assistance. Here are some basic steps to take:

1. Listen – Ask questions about what is going on and remain engaged as you listen. Don’t show shock or disinterest as you hear the person’s story.
2. Encourage – Even if you can’t provide what you consider as official counseling guidance, encourage the individual for sharing. Acknowledge their struggle and identify where you can. Instill belief that God can work through even this situation. If you cannot offer specific guidance, promise the person that you will get back to them by tomorrow with the next step (resource or referral).
3. Scripture – Open up the Bible and read a Scripture verse as encouragement. Let them see you open the Scriptures to see where the best counsel will come from in their situation. Even if you can’t go to a passage that deals with the specific situation, have some hopeful, encouraging verses ready to go that can work in any case (Proverbs 3:5-6; Romans 8:28; Philippians 1:6)
4. Supplication – Pray over the person that God will work in this situation. As you intercede, pray with hope that you will encourage the person with you.

To recall these steps, just remember that LESS is more.

Don’t feel like you have to do everything in this one session, but offering spiritual and practical hope is vital that you will point them in the right direction.

Resources

We will develop counseling resources as a supplement, not a substitute for face-to-face conversations. These website pages will provide some first steps for those hesitant to counseling or some follow-up guides for those needing more help than weekly appointments.

We want a page on our website for each category with helpful resources. Each page would contain the following:

• Short video message
• Button for counseling
• Sermons on that topic
• Articles and courses on that topic
• Bible reading plan on that topic
• List of 3 best books on that topic

The priority pages to develop are:

• Marriage
• Premarital
• Parenting
• Pornography
• Technology
• Anxiety
• Depression
• Debt
• Mission Training
• Estate Planning
• Grief