Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up a Christian Counseling Ministry

The confindentiality of Chrisitan counseling sessions are protected and guarded by the law.

Counseling those with personal problems has always been an important part of the church ministry. For smaller churches, this burden falls on the senior pastor, but for many larger churches the resources exist to create a separate counseling ministry staffed by a counseling pastor or other expert. This office provides such services as pre-marital counseling, advice on troubled marriages, and resolving problems within families. These offices can also work with people struggling with addictions and other vices.

Instructions

1. Create an oversight committee which is responsible for the counseling ministry and appoint a committee chair. The committee works out a budget and sets priorities for the ministry.

2. Arrange an office space that has a private counseling area with safe storage of files, and a office area for an assistant.

3. Interview and hire a qualified counselor to staff the ministry. Ensure that the counselor is trained and experienced with counseling from a Biblical perspective or via a secular counseling program.

4. Provide an assistant to run the day-to-day affairs of the ministry. Ensure that the assistant understands and fully accepts the high need for confidentiality in this position.

5. Develop guidelines in collaboration with the counselor and the committee as to what is expected of the ministry and how to best serve the church and the congregation. For example, there may be a limit of four counseling sessions and then the troubled person is expected to seek professional outside help. Or, a person of the opposite sex can only be counseled when the office assistant is there and the door window has the shade opened.

6. Introduce the counselor to the church body at various services and inform the congregation of his role in the church body. Stress the confidential nature of his counseling and that the services are open to everyone.

References

• "How to Begin a Counseling Ministry and Take It Higher"; Rickey A. Nation
• "Introduction to Biblical Counseling"l John F. MacArthur Jr, et al.; 1994