If you are married, did you have marriage preparation classes? What were they like? Any good? I know of some people that were given a very intensive programme of instruction with lots of reading homework in between each meet up. We on the other hand were given two compulsory sessions, one where we watched a… Continue reading It’s time to scrap Marriage preparation courses
Category: pastoral-care
How we think about abuse matters
Yesterday I shared an update on my correspondence with Premier Christianity about their article claiming that Jesus was married to Mary Magdalene. We might leave it there except that the article seems to be part of a concerning trend from a pastoral perspective. It was followed by two articles that I find deeply concerning in… Continue reading How we think about abuse matters
Healthy Biblical Counselling
In previous articles I’ve shared my concerns regarding some aspects of Biblical Counselling. Some approaches lead you towards what risks being harsh and legalistic counselling. This arises out of an assumption that we can resolve a problem by identifying and stopping the sin that caused it. This leads, in my opinion to a shallow engagement… Continue reading Healthy Biblical Counselling
Bad theology plus complacent thinking = dangerous pastoral care
I’ve been writing a little about Biblical counselling recently. I’ve been particularly picking up on some of the dangers with certain strains of it but I do so as someone who believes that properly used, Biblical counselling does have a crucial place. I intend to write a little bit more about this shortly. However, first… Continue reading Bad theology plus complacent thinking = dangerous pastoral care
Nouthetic Counselling and Depression
Several of Jay Adam’s counselling case studies concern mental health and depression. Let’s have a look at a couple of them. First of all, we have Violet, a 54 year old lady who is suffering from depression and also has an undisclosed problem which she can tell only to God. Have a look at the… Continue reading Nouthetic Counselling and Depression
Jay E Adams and nouthetic counselling
I mentioned in recent posts that I’ve been looking at Jay E Adams’ The Christian Counsellor’s Casebook. Adams is considered the founding father of the Biblical Counselling movement. So, it is worth saying at this stage three things. I’m in favour of Biblical counselling in that I believe pastors are able to offer counsel and… Continue reading Jay E Adams and nouthetic counselling
Divorce and re-marriage in domestic abuse cases
** From time to time I touch on pastoral issues around abuse and bullying. I try to avoid detailed descriptions. However, some readers may find that the discussion as here may have a trigger effect in terms of provoking past memories.** Yesterday I began to talk about marriage and divorce where there has been domestic… Continue reading Divorce and re-marriage in domestic abuse cases
Marriage counselling where there has been abuse
I’ve been planning to write something about divorce and re-marriage in the context of abuse cases for the past couple of weeks. It arises out of some of the discussion following on from the case of church discipline reported from Grace Community Church. One question that has been raised is whether the Bible permits separation… Continue reading Marriage counselling where there has been abuse
Confidentiality and pastoral care
Often in pastoral care, the question of confidentiality will come up. This is important because when you are counselling someone, they are placing themselves in a vulnerable situation and may be telling you things that they’ve never told anyone before. They may be nervous about how making that known will affect them and their relationships.… Continue reading Confidentiality and pastoral care
Is it burnout?
I’ve seen a few articles talking about burnout among those in church leadership over the past few weeks. These seem to be particularly in response to the experience of leaders through the COVID-19 pandemic which has in many ways amplified many of the challenges of Gospel ministry. One helpful contribution to the discussion was this… Continue reading Is it burnout?
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