Children’s Homes supports 13 professional counselors

Talk to anyone at Forest Lake Baptist Church in Tuscaloosa about the church’s lay counseling center and you will hear the prevailing theme voiced by Pastor Donald Payne, “We’re here for people who need a listening ear.”
   
The center, called LifeChange Ministries, began because Payne felt strongly that lay counseling is needed in the church.
   
“[People] just need someone to sit and listen,” Payne said.
   
Carole Wilkins, Lifechange Ministries director, said, “People will come to a church for counseling when they wouldn’t go for any other reason. We’re sort of a last resort for some clients. So often I hear clients say, ‘I’ve gone to every other kind of counselor out there.’”
   
Wilkins, who is a member of Forest Lake, said another goal of the center — in keeping with Payne’s philosophy — is “working to train other lay counselors so that there is a lay counselor in every church.”
   
Now in its fifth year, LifeChange has also been an effective outreach tool. “We’ve had a number of people come through the counseling ministry with no connection to our church who have become saved and joined our church,” Payne said.
   
Wilkins, whose husband, Jerry Wilkins, is director of missions for Tuscaloosa Baptist Association, and three other volunteers man the center at the church about 16 hours a week.
   
About 40 clients are seen in the center weekly. Counseling sessions are free and church membership is not required. Christian and secular resources such as books, magazines and videotapes are available for clients to borrow at no cost as well.
   
According to Payne, “[LifeChange] has been a wonderful ministry that has exceeded my expectations. We’ve had hundreds of people come through the counseling center.”
   
While LifeChange counselors are quick to refer clients to professionals when needed, the lay counselors are accredited by the American Christian Association of Counseling. Wilkins has received accreditation in three courses: a basic 30-week counseling course called “Caring for People God’s Way,” a course on marriage counseling and a course on healthy sexuality.
   
Although Wilkins has no formal educational background in psychology or counseling, she said, “God called me into this ministry, and He gave me the ability to know the things I need to know.”
   
Wilkins also credits personal experience for making her the counselor she is today. “If anybody knows how to help someone who is hurting, it is someone who has been hurt and been helped.” She gives God the glory for the many success stories they’ve witnessed among their clients. “God is the Healer. He is the Physician. We’re just God’s vessels.”
   
Wilkins is also a voracious researcher on psychological topics. She researches the problems her clients are facing. She talks regularly with psychology and counseling professionals.
   
Tuscaloosa chiropractor Dwight Agee has referred several of his patients to LifeChange. He explains that often his patients are dealing with underlying stress and anxiety issues or emotional problems, which may intensify or even cause their physical pain. For example, fibromyalgia patients, according to Agee, tend to be “type-A personalities who may worry a lot and push themselves too hard.” He has found that working with a counselor can help them better balance their lives. Lay counseling has tremendous value,” he added. “Some people just need a place where they can vent.”
   
Associate counselor Tom Dodd sees the ministry as an important third-tier counseling service. The first tier is the professional level of doctors and licensed counselors. The second tier is ministerial counseling. “There are a lot of people out there that just need someone to talk to,” he said. That’s where LifeChange comes in on the third tier, helping those who need a listening ear as they deal with marital problems, depression or anger management issues.
   
Dale Huff, director of the office of LeaderCare/church administration of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said an extensive lay counseling ministry is rare in Alabama churches. However, a few churches such as The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham and First Baptist Church, Montgomery, have licensed counseling ministries.
   
Huff said, “Most Alabama churches meet their counseling needs through the associational offices or through Pathways, the counseling ministry of the Alabama Baptist Children’s Homes & Family Ministries.” (See story, this page.)
   
He said churches seeking to start a lay counseling ministry should be cautious about liability and insurance issues due to the many lawsuits filed against churches today.