Pastoral counseling Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Pastoral counseling - Essay Example This research will begin with the statement that many a time, people have thought mistakenly that being a pastor only entails the issuance of homilies and exhorting Christian congregants to observe Christ’s teachings. However, a critical look and direct involvement in pastoring not only corrected researcher's view but also underscores the comprehensive nature of duties which fall under pastoring. The author came to this realization when a parishioner left the congregation, following the failure of the parish to access proper counseling services, leaving him unsatisfied and unstuck. As far as the first year of pastoring and ministry is concerned, several challenges beset my aspiration to be the pastor the researcher had intended. He had difficulty in successfully and effectively reaching out to members of the church, especially when they needed counseling services. Part of this difficulty had its underpinnings in the fact that the author was still a novice in the work of the mi nistry. Being a novice in the work of the ministry also bombarded his psychology with timidity, and thereby hindering me from ministering well to a more mature audience. Conversely, there are some among the congregation who felt that he was too young to effectively minister to them. Secondly, he had not obtained formal training for the work of the ministry. Instead, the author was only armed with the conviction that the Bible as God’s word is an essential resource in counseling. To him, every problem that the parishioner had could be solved through the scriptural application. Â  ... Nevertheless, that there were problems in my approach and nascent stage of development in the ministry is a matter that was underscored by silent protest by the parishioners. Of much note was a parishioner who needed referrals to people-helper, in order to access counseling services. Due to my limitations, I doubted if I knew what to do exactly and continued to offer counseling services with little help. The culmination of this development was the parishioner leaving the church because of dissatisfaction and psychological detachment from the church. It is then that I realized that God’s commands are far much more than what can be attained by man, however sincere and devoted he may be, since those commands are spiritual. Again, when the parishioner left, I reckoned with the degree to which counseling is important in the running of the church. I came to appreciate the reason why Christ Himself is referred to as Wonderful Counselor. Current Needs and Expectations Even in the chur ch, it is expected that the man of God is equipped to do all that pertains to God’s work, and to align God’s people to God’s will. The spirit of love, power and sound mind is what God wills that His children have, yet competent counseling is a powerful tool by which love, power and sound can be acquired. Because of this, it is expected that the Church and the ministers are equipped to discharge duties and responsibilities that are geared towards ameliorating the condition of the faithful. Again, with the advent of the 20th century, the Church is expected to shift from classical views on counseling and personality and psychological soundness as being a culmination of spiritual warfare, or the ravaging