Document Type

Article

Publication Date

2019

Abstract

The other day I was talking with a young pastor friend, and he had a question for me. He is a church planter of a growing faith community. He has preached and advised that for a deeper life in community and with Christ, his congregants need to extend their care to counselors[1] and spiritual directors. He even has a yearly lunch to thank outside helping professionals who serve his congregants. Yet, he was discovering that sometimes this lovely relationship is messy. He noted that some counselors and spiritual directors confuse their role in relation to the church and its members. In addition, sometimes the members got confused about which voice should have precedence in their life and faith development. So, he asked me, “What is the role of the spiritual director and the counselor? How do I guide people to choose one? How is my pastor role different from theirs?” We had a great conversation, and here is what I suggested.

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