Tag: pastoral counselling

Post pandemic pastoral conversations – don’t forget those who have returned

The parable of the Lost Sheep is a wonderful exposition of the Gospel. It points us to the God who passionately pursues the lost. It challenges the legalistic pride and insularity of the Pharisees and it convicts our hearts -do we have that same concern for those who are lost and wandering.  It’s not a… Continue reading Post pandemic pastoral conversations – don’t forget those who have returned

Post pandemic pastoral conversations – those who haven’t come back

As we return increasingly to normality following the pandemic, I suspect that the vast majority of people who are intending to return to in person church attendance will have done so by now.  If the majority of your church are not yet back in person then you may have to have some searching conversations together… Continue reading Post pandemic pastoral conversations – those who haven’t come back

Pastoral care – hearing and listening well

An important part of offering pastoral care is the need to listen and hear well.  Here are a few further thoughts on this. Prepare well.  Prior to meeting up make sure you are aware of what the context and purpose of your time together is. It is often helpful to have thought through some specific… Continue reading Pastoral care – hearing and listening well

Pastoral care – guidelines

Yesterday I shared some training notes on giving pastoral care in the church. Here are some guideline notes based on guidelines and policies from a previous church Safe-guarding Your church should have  a children’s and at risk  adults’ safeguarding policy. It is important that we recognise that those policies respond to specific legal and medical… Continue reading Pastoral care – guidelines

Discipleship, pastoral care and counselling

If you are involved in discipling others then there will be times when you are asked to counsel someone. This might be about helping them to work through a particular issue or decision -whether to go for a job or it could be because they are facing specific circumstances such as marital problems, debt or… Continue reading Discipleship, pastoral care and counselling

PTSD and church revitalisation

 A little while back I wrote about how churches can experience a form of PTSD or complex PTSD.  You see, a church can experience trauma leading to experiences and responses that affect the life of the church.  Trauma for a church might include: A split where members of the church fall out, argue publicly and… Continue reading PTSD and church revitalisation

Pastors and PTSD

From time to time I write specifically about the impact of mental health issues on pastors and church leaders. I’ve recently returned to the subject again writing about depression here and here.  I wanted to follow up these articles by writing a little about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is described on the MIND… Continue reading Pastors and PTSD

Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?

A few years back I was asked to cover a couple of sessions for a ministry training course. One of the sessions was on “failure.” The request came with a couple of those expected awkward jokes along the lines of “we aren’t picking you for any specific reason.” Indeed, at the time, arguably I’d not… Continue reading Why do we struggle to talk about pastors and depression?

Your pastor has considered giving up

That’s perhaps not the headline you wanted to read is it? However, this is the challenging reality. At some point your pastor/vicar/elders have thought  “I could just walk out the building after the service finishes, in fact, I could do it right now. I could shut the Bible, walk out and never come back here.”… Continue reading Your pastor has considered giving up