Pastor As Counselor

Ministers inescapably represent more than themselves. In some way they represent a better life that persons can learn from and participate in. According to a recent survey, 91 of pastors indicate that they do pastoral counseling and another survey says that 80 of persons seeking counseling come first to their pastor. There is a common assumption that virtually all human problems should be handled by specialists who are trained to deal with specific problems. Consequently, pastors and religious leaders often assume that if they don't have training in dealing with specific mental health problems, they should not do any kind of counseling. So why a book about the pastor as counselor? We live at a time when people are constantly connected but may never actually meet. Many are more comfortable and in-tune with their FaceBook friends than those they know face-to-face. In this kind of efficient but impersonal world, pastoral counseling offers valuable counterpoint. Of the specialists who offer various types of counseling, only pastors are representative of a particular kind of caring community. The pastor functions as consultant on Godly living for persons who choose to talk about their hopes, dreams, sorrows, and troubles. Pastoral counseling is not primarily religious instruction or the interpretation of religious or theological meanings, but a response to specific human problems that most often involve relationships. The pastoral counselor is one who is not primarily a problem solver, but a practical theologian and ethicist whose specialty in counseling can appropriately be thought of as relational wisdom-exploring ways of living creatively in relationship with God and other persons. Pastoral counseling is a way that pastors shepherd the congregation and can help steer troubled persons toward more in-depth help. It is a way of incarnating the real presence of the Risen Lord.