Every pastor wants a culture of care, but not every pastor feels equipped to counsel—much less to equip others to counsel one another.
In this episode, Deepak Reju—a Delaware pastor who served for nearly 20 years as the counseling pastor at Capitol Hill Baptist Church—joins Ligon Duncan and Matt Smethurst to discuss counseling versus discipling, how to build a culture of lay counseling, advice for getting tooled up, tips for pastors who feel out of their depth, thoughts on medication and referrals, and more.
Resources Mentioned:
“Cure of Souls (and the Modern Psychotherapies)” by David Powlison
Good and Angry: Redeeming Anger, Irritation, Complaining, and Bitterness by David Powlison
How People Change by Paul David Tripp
How to Know a Person: The Art of Seeing Others Deeply and Being Deeply Seen by David Brooks
Instruments in the Redeemer’s Hands by Paul David Tripp
The Art of Disagreeing: How to Keep Calm and Stay Friends in Hard Conversations by Gavin Ortlund
The Pastor and Counseling: The Basics of Shepherding Members in Need by Jeremy Pierre and Deepak Reju
Journal of Biblical Counseling
New Growth Press’s Minibook Counseling Resource Pack
Counseling Talk podcast
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) courses
The Gospel Coalition