Status Updates From Mobilizing Church-Based Cou...

“Too often, churches are prone to platform leaders because this opportunity will be good for a leader's growth. While that is fine in some settings, in a counseling ministry, you only platform leaders who are ready to facilitate the growth of others. Leaders who are not ready to fill their counseling role will inadvertently but inevitably hurt the participants in that ministry.”

“The ethical mistakes churches make in counseling aren’t usually a result of asking the right questions and choosing unethical answers. We make ethical mistakes because we don’t know the right question we should have asked (past tense) until it’s too late.”

“Two primary issues that create liability are mishandling this information or misrepresenting the qualifications of your counselors.”

“Yes, liability involves the possibility of a lawsuit, but if managed poorly, a counseling ministry can cost your church its reputation in the community, trust of members, and unity within the body. These things are harder to recoup than money.”

“Change is like wet cement; it becomes solid over time.”

Recovery Groups address destructive, habituated life patterns. Process Groups are for decreasing the disruption caused by difficult experiences or "sticky" emotions. Support Groups are for mutual encouragement as participants persevering through difficult experiences that endure for an indefinite period of time. Therapeutic Educational Groups provide a better understanding of challenges that are often misunderstood

…the underlying premise of this book is this: the more important something is, the more important it is to do it well and the more dangerous it is to do it sloppily. Because a counseling ministry will invite people to be vulnerable with the most sensitive parts of their lives, it will—for better or worse—have immense influence. With great influence comes great responsibility.

Multiplication is at the heart of the Great Commission. We are not only supposed to do our work well, but to teach others to do it also—sometimes better than we do it. We are called not only to be successful, but to reproduce. If God prospers you at something, take that extra time to write down the secrets of your success so that others can do it too.

I appreciate this description of one of Summit Church’s goals as they do the work of ministry: “Show your work and let others copy your paper.”