Category: pastoral-care

PACE-ing pastoral counselling

Dyadic Development Psychotherapy as an approach to therapy for children and young people  that have been through trauma.  One aspect of this approach uses the anachronym PACE where PACE stands for This approach, whilst not an exact, like for like fit for adult pastoral care may stull help us to think about how we approach… Continue reading PACE-ing pastoral counselling

Thinking strategically about pastoral care and your church plant

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

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

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

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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?

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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

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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

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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