Every pastor knows that a certain amount of counseling comes with the job, but very few pastors feel equipped to offer the type of help a professional counselor can provide.
A new partnership between Samaritan Counseling Centers of Greater Birmingham (SCC) and Birmingham Baptist Association (BBA) gives churches — both members of the association and other churches around the state — access to a team of professional Christian counselors through the Congregational Assistance Program (CAP).
CAP is a way for churches to encourage members to seek help with life’s challenges, said Jim Branum, CareNet Connection director for BBA and director of CAP. While these challenges may include dealing with illness, relationships, job loss, depression or grief, there is really no limit to what might be a crisis point in the life of an individual or a family. When crisis strikes, the church does its best to minister to those who are hurting but often doesn’t have enough resources to meet every need, Branum said. “Most churches cannot afford to hire a professional counselor, nor are they willing to assume the legal liabilities associated with a counseling ministry,” he said.
Time limitations may also hinder a pastor or other staff member from engaging in long-term counseling sessions, said Mike McLemore, BBA executive director and a former pastor himself. “Sometimes medication is needed and sometimes group therapy is needed. For these reasons and more, it is better for professional, licensed counselors to handle the counseling needs of people in our churches.”
Through CAP, Branum said a church can contract with SCC to provide licensed professional counseling services to individuals and families at a much lower cost than creating a new staff position.
SCC offers four levels of participation for CAP, ranging from a basic plan to a comprehensive plan. Each plan allows the pastor to refer individuals and families to SCC for free or low-cost counseling sessions at SCC locations around Birmingham. The church pays a flat fee for the basic plan or a fee based on active membership for the other plans.
In addition to individual and family counseling services, CAP plans can include educational seminars for the entire congregation and response teams that can help when a disaster or trauma occurs.
At all levels, CAP gives churches a way to help hurting members while maintaining their privacy, which has many benefits, according to Bart Grooms, a pastoral counselor with SCC whose office is located at BBA’s Dawson Memorial Baptist Church, Birmingham.
“At any given time in a congregation, there are more people who need help than who are getting it,” he said.
“Unfortunately the decision to seek counseling carries a lot of cultural baggage, so the issue becomes how to get past the stigma.”
Participating in CAP is a way for a church to say to its congregants it is OK to get help, Grooms said. Referring a church member to a professional counselor also can preserve the relationship between the member and his or her church family and pastor, he said.
“Counseling on a deeper level stirs up things on a deeper level, and when a congregant knows the pastor knows about their issues, there can be problems,” Grooms said. Sometimes the person might feel the pastor is mentioning him or her in sermons. All too often, members leave the church because they feel the pastor knows too much about their situation, he added.
Branum said the ultimate goal of connecting churches to CAP is to produce healthier congregations by encouraging members’ health.
“A lot of counseling goes on in churches … but sometimes people need more,” he said. “What a blessing for a pastor to know they can help these individuals find someone who will approach the problem from a Christian perspective and help them find healing.”
For more information about CAP, contact Branum at 205-587-8838 or jimb@bbaonline.org. To learn more about SCC, visit www.samaritancc.org.
Share with others: