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Called to Care

A Three Phased Approach For Equipping Helpers

Called to Care (CTC) training is organized into three levels. Level two builds on level one and three builds on level two. Each level should be experienced in that order for best outcome. It is not required that a church commit to all three levels. Significant spiritual insight can result from the training at each level.

Phase One
Life That Works

Many congregational care needs arise when individuals try to meet their personal needs themselves in ways which do not work. Life That Works (LTW) is a training experience which addresses individual issues by impacting the individual lives of each person and by establishing them in a solid Christ-centered foundation.

LTW is best presented in a conference format offered to the entire congregation on Thursday Night, Friday night and Saturday. However, the conference schedule is adaptable to the individual church needs.

The topics addressed in the conference are:
What is my purpose here on earth? (God's plan for life)
What is it that keeps my Christian life from working? (Flesh and the influence of my past)
Who am I as a Christian and what is my identity based on? (Identification with Christ)
What solution does the Christian life really offer to temptation and sin? (The Cross and its meaning in my life)
How do I live the Christian life? (Faith and walking in the Spirit)

Many congregational care needs are met supernaturally as people come to know Christ as their sufficiency and their life (Philippians 4:19; Colossians 2:9-10, 3:4; 2 Peter 1:3). Once people begin to experience this reality they can begin to become part of God's solution.

The standard cost for a church conference is a $750 fee plus $5 per person. This way your church can cover as much of the cost as you choose and charge what would be appropriate for your community. You can also share the cost with other churches in the community to provide this effective conference to those outside of your own congregation. (For conferences held away from the Huntsville area, travel and lodging expenses should be covered also.)

Phase Two Relationships That Heal

This second phase of CTC consists of a Grace Life Workshop which is presented in five days, usually Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday nights, Friday and Saturday, and is offered only to individuals who have been through the Life That Works conference. The workshop builds on what is presented in the conference and is designed to take the learner to the place where he can share with others in an informal environment what he/she has learned and appropriated. It equips the layperson to be more effective in ministry to others, thereby increasing the ministry team population in your congregation.

Topics addressed in the workshop are:
How can I bcome a helper? (Qualities of an effective helper)
What can I do to help? (Interviewing techniques, listening skills and history taking)
What do I share with someone who is hurting? (How to present the truths of Christ's sufficiency for all needs)
What happens after the first contact? (Handling follow-up interviews)
Plus: Six hours of supervised sharing experience

The standard fee for the workshop is $100 per person, including the syllabus; nine people minimum.

The strength of the workshop is that your people will gain practical experience in helping through working with one another in triads during the training. By the end of the workshop they will have developed some basic skills in helping. More importantly, they will have the liberating truths of Romans 5-8 reinforced in their own lives and they will have a Christ-centered, biblical model for abundant living which they can share with others. They have become potential members of a helping team. (Ephesians 4:11-13; 2 Timothy 2:2)

Phase Three
Grace Life Advanced Training (GLAT)

Once you have a group of people who have completed phases one and two, you are ready to consider Advanced Training, an extensive training experience which is designed to equip individuals to be effective discipleship-counselors. Whereas phases one and two are offered to most anyone who is interested, GLAT should be reserved for those individuals who demonstrate the spiritual maturity, the giftedness and the calling to minister in the context of long-term discipleship-counseling. For that reason these people should be selected very carefully. If you like, we can provide support to you in terms of screening, assessment and selection of these individuals.

GLAT takes place over the course of nine months, September through May, meeting approximately once per week or about 30 training sessions. It utilizes the training modalities of small group classroom interaction, student triads, individual reading, tape viewing and listening and writing outside of the classroom, one-on-one supervision and counseling, and co-counseling through observation and participation in the counseling process. (Co-counseling is an optional requirement depending on the ministry role the individual will fill.)

Some of the topics covered in GLAT are:

The Counseling Process	Understanding the Flesh
Victory over Temptation and Sin	Belief Systems and Emotions
Salvation and Assurance	Romans 5-8
Total Commitment	Security and Acceptance
Forgiveness	Depression and Suicide
Concepts of God	Spiritual Warfare
Sexual Maladjustment	Stress and Stress Management
Law and Grace	Trials and Suffering
Marriage Issues and Communication	Miscellaneous Counseling Issues
Miscellaneous Theological Issues	Grief and Loss
Suicide

In addition to the classroom training the participants will be asked to read several relevant books and summarize them, listen to audio tapes and view video tapes and summarize them, memorize scripture passages, develop and present a final project, and participate in co-counseling if this option is chosen. The topics addressed in GLAT can be tailored to the needs of your own congregation.

The cost for GLAT is $1,000 per person and includes an extensive syllabus. Books, audio and video materials may be purchased by the individual or the church and are quality additions to any library.

Summary
As you can see, anyone who undertakes to work through the entire training process is taking on a great deal of work. But the benefits to them and to the church will be eternal. I believe that the entire process could be easily completed in 12-18 months, at which time you will have individuals who are equipped to care effectively and provide an ongoing ministry of discipleship-counseling for your church and your community.

Posted on 06/28 at 07:55 AM

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