48 Case Studies 32: Counselees and the Local Church

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As a Christian counselor working in a parachurch organization, we often receive referrals from local churches to counsel their members.

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These referrals sometimes reveal troubling dynamics between the counselees and their churches. Here are a few scenarios:

• After contacting a pastor to inform him that one of his members is seeking your counsel, the pastor responds dismissively: “I don’t need to know what is going on with them. Fix them and send them back. I’m busy.”
• You request that a pastor or leader accompany their church member to counseling for support. The pastor responds: “None of my people are qualified to counsel. Just do it and keep me posted on how it goes.”
• You counsel a couple from a church that lacks adequate soul care. The couple realizes their only option for care is to pay for continued counseling or leave their church in search of one that offers better support.

Biff and Mable come to you for counseling. Because they are seeking counseling help outside their church, it raises a potential red flag, suggesting their church may be unable or unwilling to provide meaningful soul care, akin to a patient leaving a hospital to visit an urgent care center.

Case Study Questions

1. How will you navigate through the sticky situations of caring for somebody else’s sheep while seeking to lead them back to their local shepherd?
2. When the pastor says he isn’t qualified to help, how would you respond to him?
3. How will you walk a couple through the decision to stay or leave a church that does not provide good soul care?

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Rick Thomas

Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.

In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).