fellowship, worship, and discussion, as well as midweek small groups— all based on a Christian twelve-step program.
The Lay Counseling Church
Ten years ago, a pastor at City Church, a congregation with 1,500 members in a populous metro area, had a revelation: many of the people he was referring to mental health professionals really didn’ t need such a high level of care. A free lay counseling program would help many people with basic and mid-level needs, and it would also free up professionals to see those who needed more support.
The pastor hired Luke, a church member who was a licensed clinical social worker, as a contractor to run the program for ten hours a week. Ten years later, the program— and the church— is thriving, with thirty volunteer lay counselors. They have a robust system for intake, training, and supervision, as well as downtime when a lay counselor needs a break between clients and a careful process for referrals. Each volunteer sees a client for a maximum of ten sessions. These volunteers conduct more than one thousand hours of basic counseling each year, resulting in countless lives changed in the church and the broader community.
The counseling center is on- site at the church. There’ s a clear separation from the church to protect confidentiality. Clients enter a designated door, and lay counselors do not share private details with others. The church refers the help seekers to lay counselors, and the lay counselors refer help seekers to small groups and other avenues so they can plug in to the life of the church.
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