Here’s a little prediction for church planters. As your church grows, pastoral care needs will grow too and not just in number but in complexity. If you plant with a core team of 20-30 people, you might expect the occasional situation where someone is suffering and you will be called to walk with them through… Continue reading Thinking strategically about pastoral care and your church plant
Category: pastoral-care
Sold short on empathy
In March’s Evangelicals Now, Bill James seeks to address what he calls “The problem with Empathy.” A few Christian writers and speakers have sought to argue in recent times that whilst we ought to sympathise with others, we shouldn’t empathise. Some have gone so far as to call empathy sin.* James argues that empathy’s problem… Continue reading Sold short on empathy
Jesus, empathy and pastoral care
Here’s a follow on from what I wrote here the other day, a #FaithrootsPodcast picking up on an aspect of the Empathy debate.
We don’t talk about empathy no, no, no
You may recall a little hoo-ha a while back (I think it may have been a couple of years ago even when a prominent US Evangelical said that empathy is sin. I engaged with the issue here and here. Well Evangelicals Now have decided to rake up the issue again in this article. I hope… Continue reading We don’t talk about empathy no, no, no
Temptation, desire and self-deception
In recent social media discussion relating to my article on Calvin’s view of sin, temptation and desire, one person suggested that the question posed when John Stevens shared my article should be modified from: ““Are we sinning when we experience sinful desires that are unwanted, unsought and that we resist/rejected.“ To: “are we sinning when… Continue reading Temptation, desire and self-deception
Is depression an emotional state that makes people interpret the events in their lives in a negative way?
A quote in the Daily Telegraph says ““Depression is an emotional state that makes people interpret the events in their lives in a negative way,” explains Mabel Martinelli, the director of the Cambridge Centre for Cognitive and Behavioural Therapy. “It’s only by helping someone to find some space from that feeling that they are able… Continue reading Is depression an emotional state that makes people interpret the events in their lives in a negative way?
Unexpected twists and turns in the baptism conversation
Someone has approached you about getting baptised. You sit down to talk to them about why they want to get baptised, what it means and to get a sense of their profession of faith. As the conversation goes on, it becomes clear that they are not there yet in terms of clear profession. They have… Continue reading Unexpected twists and turns in the baptism conversation
Concupiscence, contraception and pastoral carelessness
In his chapter of Ruined Sinners to Reclaim, Stephen Wedgeworth outlines his understanding of a Protestant doctrine of concupiscence before landing on two areas of application, both are around sex and sexuality. The second is about same sex attraction but the first is about contraception. Whilst he doesn’t go so far as ruling out contraception… Continue reading Concupiscence, contraception and pastoral carelessness
The pastor’s thorn … Depression and suffering
I occasionally mention this little book which I contributed to. The pastor with a thorn in his side offers the stories of seven pastors who have suffered with depression. There are four reasons why/ four types of people I encourage people to buy it and all are rooted in the myth that this book blows… Continue reading The pastor’s thorn … Depression and suffering
Learning from mum
It’s two years today since mum went home to be with Jesus. Recently I attended a course where we were asked to talk about the messages that our parents had passed on to us through our upbringing. This might have been things they said but also things thy did and the values they lived when… Continue reading Learning from mum
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