counseling and the Local Church
Reformed Theological Seminary

Summer 2015Syllabus

Dr. Deepak Reju
Telephone: (202) 543-6111
Email:

Course Introduction

This course is designed to help the student to apply principles of biblical counseling to a local church setting. Effective biblical counseling is not just a matter of knowing what the Bible teaches about counseling; it is also involves wisely, lovingly, graciously, and practically helping people.

I come from Washington, DC—a city filled with Type A, successful, go-getters, who often emphasize the important of efficiency. Effective love is rarely efficient. It is time-consuming and messy; but that is what we expect as we come alongside others who are hurting and need our help.

To that end, as we learn counseling together, we will endeavor to do 5 things:

  1. Theory – content and philosophy of counseling
  2. Process –how to move from one session to another or from beginning to end of a specific session.
  3. Methodology – how to do counseling - skills, strategies.
  4. Case studies – combines theory, process, methodology into an examination of a specific person(s) with a specific problem(s).
  5. Experiential - watching ‘live’ counseling. Not just role play, but the real thing.

Course Objectives

  1. To enrich and improve the student’s personal life and relationship with Christ.
  2. To help the student apply the principles of biblical counseling to local church life.
  3. To help the student learn how to do counseling.
  4. To gain experience in counseling through discussion, observation, and counseling.

Course Materials

Core Books:

  • Church Membership by Jonathan Leeman(144 pages) [IF YOU CAN, PLEASE READ LEEMAN’S CHURCH MEMBERSHIP BEFORE THE CLASS BEGINS. IF YOU CAN’T THEN IT IS FINE TO READ IT AFTERWARDS…]
  • The Trellis and the Vine: The Ministry Mindshift that Changes Everything by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne (196 pages)
  • Reverberation: How God’s Word Brings Light, Freedom and Action to His People by Jonathan Leeman (208 pages)
  • Compelling Community: Where God’s Power Makes the Church Attractive by Jamie Dunlop & Mark Dever (224 pages)
  • On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church by Deepak Reju (224 pages)

Audio:

  • Help or a Friend? Navigating multiple roles in a ministry relationship by Aaron Sironi (available at

For pastors (pick one book):

  • Church Elders: How to Shepherd God’s People Like Jesus by Jeramie Rinne (144 pages)
  • Finding Faithful Elders and Deacons by Thabiti Anyabwhile (176 pages)
  • The Pastor and Counseling: The Basics of Shepherding Members in Need by Jeremy Pierre and Deepak Reju (160 pages)

[If you have read any of the things listed above on your own or for another class, I’d like you to pick an alternative book from the list below for the equivalent amount of pages.]

Alternate List:

  • Side-by-Side: Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love by Ed Welch (176 pages)
  • What is a Healthy Church? by Mark Dever (126 pages)
  • The Gospel: How the Church Portrays the Beauty of Christ by Raymond Ortlund Jr. (144 pages)
  • Who is Jesus? by Greg Gilbert (144 pages)
  • The Grace of Repentance by Sinclair Ferguson (64 pages)
  • Praying the Bible by Don Whitney (96 pages)
  • Gospel-Centered Counseling: How Christ Changes Lives by Robert Kellemen (320 pages)

Course Assignments

1. Reading Reports

Students are expected to read word-for-word all of the reading assignments, and to not skim read. Turn in a Reading Report on the assigned due date. Your report should be approximately 1 page in length (single spaced) and it should list all books and articles, including page numbers completed. If you read the entire book or article, you can list something like “finished entire book” or “completed.”

2. Class Participation

This is a short one-week class. So, attendance and participation are important. There is no substitute for thoughtful interaction between students and professors. What I can’t reproduce that you only get in class are intangible, unpredictable moments in Q & A during lectures, during cases-studies and counseling sessions (as it will be modeled in this class by the professor).

So you’ve got to believe me when I say I’m not a fan of “busy-work.” There is no major paper in this class, so I’ve substituted a major paper with assignments #3 or #4 below. Assignment #3 will benefit your church more than it will help you (unless you are a parent, in which case, it will help your children). Assignment #4 is meant to help you learn more about counseling in a local church.

3. Preventing Child Abuse in a Local Church: Revising a Child Protection Policy

If you church has a child protection policy(CPP)students are to request a copy of CPP from their church and review the policy according to guidelines set out in On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church (chapter book and seminar). You should write up suggestions for improving the CPP, including recommendations for changes, and even how the recommendations should be worded in the policy. For example, maybe the policy you received needs to add a two adult rule (having at least two adults present with children at all times). You could put on your page of suggestions:

I recommend that you add the two adult rule to the policy. State in the policy something like: “At least two adults must be present at all times with children in childcare.”

If your church does not have a policy thenread On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Churchand meet with the pastor or children’s ministry director in your church. Talk over the need for a policy. If he or she is amendable to creating a policy, find a sample policy and write up suggestions for improving the CPP, including recommendations for changes to make the policy fit with your church, and even how the recommendations should be worded in the policy.

Submit a copy of the policy and your recommendations to the professor by the assigned due date. If you church does not have a policy and the pastor or children’s ministry director is not amendable to having one, then come talk with the professor.

4. Learning about Counseling in a Local Church

Students will do one of the following:

  1. Interview a pastor (or any church staff member) who does a lot of counseling in his or her own congregation. Preferably you should interview someone in your own church.
  2. Ask about him or her about counseling—What makes for a good counselor and a bad counselor? Why is counseling an important part of his/her job? Where does he/she see counseling in Scripture? How does he/she use Scripture in counseling? What kind of methodology does he or she employ (i.e., how does he or she do counseling?) What kind of questions does he/she ask? What are his/her goals in counseling? What strategies does he/she employ? What books have been most helpful in learning about counseling? (Is there anything you should ask that I have not included?)
  3. Ask him/her about a particular case that would be of interest to you---Ask him/her to share about a thought-provoking counseling scenario, and get him/her to give you as much details as he/she has time to do. What was the presenting problem(s)? How long did he/she meet the person/couple for counseling? What went well and what went poorly? Were there key moments in the counseling process? Where did he/she see repentance and faith in the counselee? What did he/she see God doing in this situation? What have you not asked that he/she think would be of interest to you in this case?
  4. Sit in on one or two sessions and watch your pastor (or any staff member) do counseling. In your write-up, I want to hear about the counseling—What did you learn about counseling? How did the counselor use Scripture? What kind of questions were asked? Did you see repentance and faith demonstarted in the converation? Did the person leave with or without hope? What do you think were the goals of the counselor? What strategies were employed? What constructive criticism can you offer the counselor? How might you do things differently?

Write up your thoughts from the interview or observation on a one-page summary.

5. Final Exam

A multiple choice exam will be given based on the lecture material, case studies, and required readings. The date and time for the exam will be discussed in class.

SUBMISSION OF ASSIGNMENTS

Reading report (#1), CPP revisions/suggestions write-up (#3) and the interview/observation write-up (#4) should be submitted as hard-copies mailed to the professor. Please do not send anything electronically. You can mail the assignments to: Capitol Hill Baptist Church, 525 A Street, NE, Washington, DC 20002. It should be post-marked by the date on the due dates indicated below.

Course Grading

Reading - 50%

Attendance & Participation-15%

Interviewing/Observation write-up- 15%

[OR]

Revising a CPP write-up- 15%

Exam- 20%

------

100%

Late Assignments Will Be Penalized One Letter Grade Per Day

Grading Scale:

A94-100 (4.0)B84-86 (3.0)C 74-76 (2.0)D64-66 (1.0)

A-90-93 (3.7)B-80-83 (2.7)C- 70-73 (1.7)D-60-63 (0.7)

B+ 87-89 (3.3) C+ 77-79 (2.3) D+ 67-69 (1.3)F below 60 (0.0)

SPECIAL NEEDS:

In order to ensure full class participation, any student with a disabling condition requiring special accommodations (e.g., tape recorders, special adaptive equipment, special note-taking or test-taking needs) is strongly encouraged to contact the professor at the beginning of the course.

DISCLAIMER:

During the course of the semester the professor reserves the right to modify any portion of this syllabus as may appear necessary to the professor because of events and circumstances that occur during the term.

Reformed Theological Seminary

Summer 2015Assignment Schedule

Due Date / Reading and Assignments Due
September 25 / Reading Reports Due
September 25 / Interviewing/Observation Write-up Due
September 25 / A Copy of the CPP and Your Revising CPP Write-up Due

Counseling and the Local Church 1[10/19/18]