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

Share your thoughts We are taking a closer look at something we talk about all the time on this podcast and that is the Association of Christian Biblical Counselors (ACBC), specifically their fellow portion of the certification process . It is such a privilege to have an ACBC Fellow on the show to talk about this. John Lehman is an ACBC Fellow, an author, and has been the pastor for counseling, fa...

Share your thoughts Many pastors are burned out, have limited margins, and come from a seminary that doesn’t necessarily train you on how to talk about or coach SoulCare. The need for gifted people who are not only good counselors but also enjoy coaching and mentoring others is vital to creating a church culture of biblical SoulCare. I have the privilege of being joined by two of our supervising a...

Share your thoughts We are switching things up this episode and I have the privilege of being in the hot seat to talk about another one of our biblical counseling tools. Kari Gross has graciously agreed to take on the role of interviewer as we discuss the tool of the biblical discipleship approach. The biblical discipleship approach (BDA) is how we first approach a counseling situation. It helps u...

Share your thoughts T. Dale Johnson authored The Church as a Culture of Care and in this book, he explains that the Church is still the primary place where those who struggle can receive lasting hope and healing. This is the topic we are discussing this week. Helping me explore this topic is my teammate, Ben Holman. Ben is a part of BCM as a Supervising and Lead Counselor. He also has experience a...

Share your thoughts I have the privilege of welcoming back one of our first guests, Kent Kloter. Kent serves as a church care partner here at BCM, but he has been practicing the ministry of biblical counseling since 1999. He is helping me discuss the important topic of bringing the Bible to life. This looks like learning to apply Scripture to everyday life and every problem we may encounter. We be...

Share your thoughts Have you felt discouraged by a lack of progress or traction in a particular counseling case? I think we can all say that our busy schedule doesn’t allow us to offer more intensive, frequent counseling to those who have stalled out or need more support than a weekly session. That is why I am so grateful for intensive counseling retreats. These are intended for your most difficul...

Share your thoughts In today's conversation, we are taking on the topic of psychologies and how that interacts with Biblical Counseling. Dr. Ernie Baker serves as the Pastor of Counseling Supervision and Equipping at First Baptist of Jacksonville. He has a Doctor of Ministry from Westminster Theological Seminary and is a professor at The Master’s University, where he serves as the chair of th...

Share your thoughts In this episode, I’m sharing a conversation with Nate & Derah Schellenberg about residential ministry. Nate & Derah have been deeply involved with this type of ministry for years, and they bring their extensive wisdom to our discussion today! Sometimes, there's a need to address life-dominating sin through more intensive discipleship and counseling. If a situation...

Share your thoughts In this episode, I’m sharing a conversation recorded with Paul and Tara Forgette live from the Faith Conference in Lafayette, IN. Paul is the Senior Pastor at Rock Creek Bible Church in Congerville, IL. He and his wife Tara recently took a week away from the responsibilities of church ministry to go through Track 1 at the Faith Conference with two other couples from their churc...

Share your thoughts Today, I’m sharing a conversation with Kendall & Davett Coffman. We’re talking about the Customized Blueprint Solution™, specifically Project 2: Discovery and Design. Kendall is the Senior Pastor at Lexington Community Church just north of Bloomington-Normal, IL. I’m grateful for how Kendall and Davett have shared so honestly about their experience going through Step 2 of o...

Share your thoughts Today, I’m sharing another conversation with my good friend, Mike Wickens. Last time, we discussed the heavy topic of abuse , and today, we’re following up with a closely related topic: suffering. We dive into the mystery of why suffering exists, a sovereign, good God who doesn’t stop suffering, how to love suffering people, and best practices for pastors who are ministering to...

Share your thoughts FYI: This episode does contain mentions and stories of mature topics and includes references to sexual abuse by family members. Abuse is an issue that’s becoming more and more prevalent for pastors to need to navigate. My conversation with Mike Wickens is geared towards pastors who find themselves providing support in these complex, heavy situations. Mike has been studying in t...

Share your thoughts This is the second part of my conversation with Colton Conover. The last episode was all about addiction and life-dominating sin. This time around we are focusing on the reality of spiritual warfare and how to effectively minister and reach lost people. Colton Conover is an Intern Pastor at Pekin Bible Church. He worked as a pest control technician before transitioning into ful...

Share your thoughts FYI: This episode does contain mentions and stories involving demons. If you normally listen around children or need a heads-up about that topic, we wanted to give that to you. This is part one of two, all about addiction and life-dominating sin. I have the privilege of being joined by a guest who understands this space all too well. He has such a beautiful testimony of going f...

Share your thoughts We are following up on last week’s episode with Christi Thach by having her husband, Keith, join us. Christi was open and vulnerable about her experience of biblical SoulCare ™ through a difficult time in her life. In this episode, Keith shares what it was like to watch his wife walk through biblical SoulCare, how it built bridges of trust with him, the personal effect biblical...

Share your thoughts We are talking about biblical soul care from a bit of a different perspective today, and that is the perspective from the pews. Biblical soul care shouldn’t remain solely with your staff; it needs to reach all the way to the pews. My friend and co-worker, Christi Thach, has a God-glorifying story about trusting the Church when she was going through a difficult time. Christi is...

Share your thoughts Money. It’s one of the most dreaded topics for many pastors and church leaders. When we talk about money, it can feel like people will interpret it as self-serving and self-motivating, which leads many pastors to avoid the topic altogether. I am joined by long-time friend and financial planner by profession, Jeff Huizenga. Jeff is a Partner and Director of Wealth Strategies at...

Share your thoughts We are so excited to have Josh Gerber back with us to continue our conversation on mediation and peacemaking. In case you missed it, don’t forget to go back and listen to Episode 9 . Josh is not only the Associate Pastor of Care and Discipleship at New Castle Bible Church in Mackinaw, IL, but he is an expert in both biblical soul care and reconciliation. In this episode, Josh t...

Share your thoughts As a pastor, church leader, and in your biblical counseling, you meet with people every week who are hurting and confused. In this episode, we discuss an aspect of biblical soul care that can be difficult if you are not equipped and can burden your soul greatly – mediation. Mediation has some similarities to biblical counseling, but there are also some key differences in how it...

Share your thoughts Restoration. If a church doesn’t practice this, then it will be difficult, if not impossible, for that church to have a culture of biblical soul care. Thankfully, it’s our topic of discussion for today! My guest, Jason Alligood, has put a lot of time into studying this topic. Jason is an author, elder, and teaching pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Peoria, Illinois. In this...

Share your thoughts Do you feel burdened in bringing biblical soul care to your church? We’ve found that many pastors want to do this but feel alone in their efforts to try to accomplish it. They either don’t know what steps to take or feel like they need to do everything themselves to create a culture of soul care. The solution? You have to come to a place of trust with other people to guide and...

Share your thoughts As we continue to discuss the practical application of biblical soul care at your church, Pastor Tom Zobrist joins me in this episode. Our conversation focuses on finding trusted people within your congregation to help you provide soul care. In this episode, we're exploring what that looks like! As a pastor or church leader, your days are already filled to the max with res...

Share your thoughts Kari Gross joins us for another episode! Today we are discussing how Sunday School came into the Church, the importance of shepherding our child’s heart, and the connection to creating a culture of biblical soul care in your church. For much of this podcast, we have focused on biblical soul care within your church. In this episode, we are talking about the implications a cultur...

Share your thoughts Chad Nightingale rejoins us to lend his expertise as a Church Care Partner. In our past episodes, we’ve covered some of the basics of what soul care is and some steps to take to create a culture of soul care. In this episode, we are talking about our Church Partner Network. We’ll share what it is, how it can benefit you, and how we can support each other as we continue to pursu...

Share your thoughts What does it actually mean to have a culture of biblical soul care? It's an important question, and thankfully we have Kent Kloter joining us to help us navigate this today! Kent serves as a church care partner with BCM, but he has been practicing the ministry of biblical counseling since 1999. Kent and I are going to discuss what it means to create a culture of biblical s...