Soul Care Culture: Developing a Church-Wide Culture of Biblical Soul Care

Share your thoughts Kari Gross is filling in as the host for this episode, where we are giving you a peek inside the counseling room. A few of our teammates have joined us for this conversation and have graciously agreed to give a glimpse into their counseling relationship. Christi Thach, our process manager, and Kent Kloter, our biblical SoulCare™ coach, also have a counselee and counselor relati...

Share your thoughts The burden to counsel well can lie heavy on our minds and hearts. No one knows that better than Pastor Tim Pasma.  He understands your world as Tim is the Senior Pastor of about 130 people at LaRue Baptist Church in LaRue, OH. Tim is also an ACBC Fellow and Board Member, author, and speaker. In this episode, you’ll hear some of the areas counselors are most likely to make mista...

Share your thoughts Have you ever wondered what happens when you send your people to a three-day intensive? What did they learn? Was it true to Scripture? How can you build on what they achieved there? This is the topic we are covering today, along with Ben and Ailey Holman, and Kris and Amanda Mettlemen, who recently attended a retreat at Twelve Stones. These four are close friends, and they also...

Share your thoughts As pastors, we recognize our sacred calling to teach and preach God’s Word to our flock. But one of the questions we’ve been pondering is that of our call to counsel and care for them as well. How does or should the care of souls within the local church impact our preaching? Does the dual focus on counseling and teaching have an impact, positive or negative, on either role? Can...

Share your thoughts There has been a biblical counseling movement going on for about 60 years now and it’s still moving! We are so excited to be able to share with you not only what is going on inside our country, but internationally as well. Joining for this conversation is Dr. Andrew Rogers. He is the Executive Director of Overseas Instruction in Counseling at BCM Worldwide, a ministry devoted t...

Share your thoughts Recently, we’ve seen more terms like “clinically-informed” and “trauma-informed” emerge in the counseling world. How are we to tell what is in line with biblical counseling and what isn’t? Many of these movements are more syncretistic in nature. To help us understand more about the new arguments coming out and how we should respond as biblical counselors is Dr. Heath Lambert. H...

Share your thoughts Have you ever felt burnt out? After a long day of vocational ministry, you return home but you can’t stop worrying and thinking about all the people under your care. Perhaps you are wondering how you will manage to keep pastoring in the midst of this crazy world. These thoughts are quite common among church leadership and burnout is a far more common occurrence than ever before...

Share your thoughts In our last episode, Kari Gross shared her personal testimony and the role SoulCare™ has played in her life. And now, we have the pleasure of welcoming her daughter, Noelle Baffa, for this follow-up conversation. Following Jesus and allowing that to permeate through every aspect of your life doesn’t just change a person; it also changes their home, how they parent, and how they...

Share your thoughts What do we do at BCM, and why does it even matter? This is the question Kari Gross is going to help us answer in this conversation. At BCM, we firmly believe people should be able to go to their local church and receive help when they face great suffering, great sin, and the everyday trials of life that they cannot seem to handle. It is our mission to assist churches in creatin...

Share your thoughts What do you do, dear pastor, when you encounter a counseling situation that has you stumped or is difficult to navigate? Where do you turn to for practical, biblical advice? My guest today has encountered this question many times, which is why he founded the Biblical Counselors Society. This is a group of fellow pastors, church leaders, and biblical counselors who can offer adv...

Share your thoughts “It is very possible and very good for SoulCare to go back to the local church.” This is something we return to time and time again and it’s because there are so many churches that outsource SoulCare™ to voices outside the Church. We have worked with many churches over the last ten years and we are passionate about relying on the sufficiency of Scripture and bringing biblical S...

Share your thoughts Can you believe it? We just surpassed 3,000 downloads of this podcast! We are so amazed at all that God has done and how He has used the conversations we’ve had here to bless and encourage you. This episode is going to look a little different as we invite you into the BCM family room to hear from several team members. We are reflecting on what God has done in the last year, rej...

Share your thoughts What does it take to create not just an individual change, but a shift in the entire culture of a church? When we talk about culture, we are referring to the shared norms and default reactions, expectations, and approaches for a group of people. While the culture of your church developed naturally over time, we are going to discuss the benefits and challenges of intentionally c...

Share your thoughts What advice do you give a family when they can’t find help for their teen? Many parents are at the end of their rope, they can’t resolve the bad behavior, the school system doesn’t want to deal with it, and they have nowhere else to turn. As a pastor, this might seem like a daunting task to counsel parents of a teenage son and direct them to resources. Joining me on the podcast...

Share your thoughts How often has someone told you they have a chemical imbalance or that they have received a mental illness disorder diagnosis? As a pastor and a counselor have you felt equipped to advise that person? What many people don’t realize is that these diagnoses are often a prerequisite to receiving treatment. They are treating the brain, but they are not taking the time to counsel the...

Share your thoughts I’m sure you know, Pastor, the heavy responsibility of looking after your flock. There is an expectation that you will have the answers and all the time in the world to counsel each and every member. If you are blessed to have other counselors on your team, it can be difficult to distribute the workload evenly. How can you build enough trust in your team to create a culture of...

Share your thoughts Have you ever wondered what an ACBC Conference is like? Well, you don’t have to wonder any longer! We are recording live from the ACBC Conference in Fort Worth, Texas to give you a glimpse into what this year’s conference has been like. Several of our staff join in for this episode as we talk to conferencegoers about biblical counseling, the role of pastors, who can offer SoulC...

Share your thoughts This week, Ben Holman is stepping in as our host at the 2024 ACBC Conference on the campus of Southwestern Theological Seminary. Over the past couple of episodes, we have been discussing the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). If you haven’t had a chance to hear them, you can go back to listen here . All of that has been a primer for today’s conversatio...

Share your thoughts We are back for part two continuing our discussion of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry . The author, Gary Greenberg, gives an account of the history behind the DSM and his behind-the-scenes reporting of the deeply flawed process by which the DSM-5 has been revised. My teammates, Kari Gros...

Share your thoughts Pastor, I’m so thankful you’re meeting with me today through this podcast. In this modern world, there are many new terms coined every day and as soon as the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) issues their latest version it seems like they have new information to add to it. I’ve got my teammates, Kari Gross and Ben Holman, joining me for this controvers...

Share your thoughts We often communicate the importance of creating a biblical culture of SoulCare, but what do you do when there’s an urgent need for help — like those 3:00 AM calls when someone is in a literal or figurative emergency room, facing addiction, substance abuse, severe depression or anxiety, sexual immorality, or other critical situations? In today’s conversation, we are taking a loo...

Share your thoughts How often when someone comes to us for help do we direct them to the pastor or lead counselor? What happens when their schedule gets full or they get overwhelmed? Joining me for this conversation about the advantages of sending your lay elders to receive training are Don and Rosie Pierson. Rosie was on an earlier episode and I am delighted to have her back as well as have her h...

Share your thoughts As we think about creating a culture of SoulCare in your church, we recognize that it's often church leaders whose souls need cared for. Our latest episode of the podcast is all about how to help you, the pastors and leaders of the church. You may be feeling immense pressure over ministering to your flock, feeling lonely and isolated, or discouraged about the effect your r...

Share your thoughts Do you have a child who has broken off communication with you? Perhaps they are no longer living a life that aligns with Scripture or have turned their back on you and the Lord entirely. For this conversation, I have the pleasure of talking with Dr. Stuart Scott who was one of my professors who later became a friend. Dr. Scott has a long list of credentials and background but c...

Share your thoughts Can the Bible really be applied to every aspect of our life today? That is the question many are asking. To what extent can Scripture inform the aspects of our lives? Culture tells pastors that it is not our job and seminary often has done little to prepare us for this challenge. Thankfully my guest today is uniquely qualified to help us navigate this topic. Dr. Sam Stephens is...