Pastoral care is that aspect of the pastoral ministry that seeks to attend to the welfare of the members of the congregation.
The pastor’s role is and can be likened to that of the shepherd, hence the need for him to guide, lead, feed, nurture, bind and heal the wounds of the sick or injured sheep, as duty calls. (Ps23.1-3, Jn 10:1-4).
Pastoral Counselling therefore is a more specialized part of pastoral care, as well as integral; part of the entire pastoral activity. It is as earlier said, close to the heart of shepherding. It involves helping individuals, families and groups of people within the church to sort out their various problems, and also instruct and educate them on how to cope with the pressures and crises of life.
It is important to note that the core of pastoral counseling is counseling from the biblical perspective and not merely based on psycho analytic or psychotherapeutic theories. Even in the case of psychology, although there are certain areas of similarities which could be considered relevant to biblical counseling, yet there exist so many disparities, hence a pastor or Christian counsellor should be thus mindful.
Reputable and renown Christian counselors have defined pastoral counseling in various ways over the years;
Gary Collins explained it to be “the work of an ordained pastor”. This therefore emphasizes the importance of counseling to pastoral activities. But he further reiterated that, since all believers are called to bear the burden of one another (Gal 6:2), under a divine injunction, therefore, pastoral counseling can and should be done by all sensitive and caring Christians either ordained or not.
Clebsch and Jackie observed that Pastoral Counselling “consists of helping acts, done by representative Christian persons, directed towards the healing, sustaining guiding, and reconciling of troubled persons whose troubles arise in the context of ultimate meanings and concerns”. Similarly, Jay Adams establishes also the fact that Pastoral Counselling involves “an extension of help to those sheep who are wandering, dispirited, defeated, or who need restoration”
To further strengthen the fact that the Pastor in P/C needs to work hand in hand and in cooperation with the client; making the whole exercise to -be meaningful and rewarding. Hiltner’s explanation of Pastoral Counselling states that, it is “the attempt by a pastor to help people help themselves through the process of gaining understanding of their inner conflicts”.
The above definitions and explanations have in no small measure illuminate the essence and goal of Pastoral Counselling, as an activity by the pastor to the people, not an imposition on the people or in isolation, but with the counselee (that is, the people), in order to achieve maximum and desired results.
When a pastor falls short of his shepherding activities, then he has not only failed in his ministry, but also failed the people and fallen short of God’s expectations -Ezek34: l-6, Zech 11:15-17.
God has called those in the pastoral ministry not just to preach and teach the congregation, but also to care for them through godly counsel, leading and guiding them on the right path of life, (Pro 27:23) and even redirecting them whenever they go astray (Ps 23:4) as well as lifting them up when they fall. This ministry is derived from the objectives of the ministry of Jesus, who is the Good Shepherd (John 10:14) and our Chief Shepherd. It is imperative therefore to all that must function in this ministry to emulate the qualities of Jesus Christ in all its entirety.
The Bible recorded counselors from the Old Testament through to the New Testament this makes it pertinent therefore that counseling is as old as the human race. There are examples such as Joseph, who counseled Pharaoh on economic matters in Egypt (Gen 41: 33-37). Jethro (Moses’ father-in-law), counseled him on issues of leadership and administration (Exod 18). Ahithophel was known to be David’s able counselor until he fell; same were the priests and prophets to the house of Israel. The New Testament records Gamaliel a Jewish scholar and learned man who counseled on religious and social matters at his time (Acts 5:34-39); so also, the apostle Paul, a man whose epistles could be referred to as counseling letter to meet the need of people in the churches he founded, as well as to some of his able followers like Timothy, Titus and Philemon, establishing them in faith and their various callings and ministries.
Resources for Counselling
Every Christian counselor including the Pastor is expected to have:
(a) Spiritual qualifications
(b) Intellectual qualification
(c) Academic (physical) qualification
The Bible is the basic manual for Christian counselor. The pastoral counsellor must therefore be spiritual, intellectual and physically sound to perform his duties effectively and excellently. The pastor must be in a sound spiritual state, to carry on the burdens of other people.
A true child of God; Anointed to counsel – Isa 61:1 -3,11:2,
These qualities include: Holy Ghost inspired counseling (being in strong partnership with Him the Holy Spirit) Jn 15:5, Jn 14:26
Fervent in prayer (all kinds of prayers)
- Fully enriched with the word of God, with which he will feed his counselees.
- Divinely motivated, not serving for personal gain or selfish motives etc.
- Possesses Christlike virtues – Loving, Compassionate, Obedient, Teachable, Flexible & Adaptable, Tolerant, Gentle, Humble etc. (Gal 5:22-23)
- A genuine burden bearer with concern for others.
- A good listener who keeps matters confidential; not a babbler
- Operates in the gifts of the Holy Spirit – 1 Cor 12:8-10,28-30
He also needs a sound mind (2 Tim 1:7, Pro 4:23, Phil 4:8) to be able to handle other people’s affairs. He should be in stable emotional state if he will carry on the responsibilities of other people’.
Furthermore, it is necessary for the pastor counselor to develop himself through further studies that will help him to understand the human development, such as reading books on behavioral sciences, psychology, general counseling. He also needs to also share experiences with older and seasoned counselors: he should read journals and magazines, attend seminars and conferences to update his physical and spiritual knowledge.
Pst Bisi Afolayan
