Biblical Counseling

Biblical counseling akin to discipleship. Whereas preaching is the public ministry of the Word, counseling is the private ministry of the Word. God's Word is perfect, sure, true, and authoritative (Psalm 19) and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Timothy 3:16).

Biblical counseling makes use of God's Word in a discipleship setting to help one think biblically and to walk in a manner that pleases God in whatever problem we face.

Biblical soul care relies on the Bible for God’s perspective and answers to your problem, while secular therapy is a philosophy of thought, relying on man’s perspective and theory.

Biblical soul care calls you to action to desire, think, and live differently based on God’s purpose for your life.

Biblical soul care provides support, encouragement, and accountability every day of the week through church community.

Biblical soul care provides real, lasting hope founded on God’s promises for you.

Biblical soul care is short-term because you will be equipped to navigate your current and future difficulties.

Cross Fellowship Church's Biblical Counseling Ministry is not a professional service. Our counseling team consists of pastors and lay counselors. The counselors are not trained as and do not counsel as licensed psychologists, licensed psychiatrists, state-certified therapists, or any other type of professional mental health care provider.

Biblical Counseling is a ministry of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Counseling is available free of charge to anyone. With that said, priority is given to our church members/attenders.

If you are not a member of Cross Fellowship Church and want to be put on the counseling wait list, please reach out to us directly! If you do not currently attend or are a member of Cross Fellowship Church, we would love for you to visit and talk to you more about our church.

Individual sessions typically last an hour and a half. The overall counseling process, once a counselor has been assigned, can range from a couple of sessions to as many as 20 depending on the presenting problem. Typically, we ask counselees to plan for 10-12 sessions.

We are discreet but not confidential. The concept of total confidentiality is not biblical; however, information regarding a counselee/disciple will be handled with a high level of discretion. Carefully discerning how to share information is an important aspect of the counseling relationship and we will carefully guard any information entrusted to us.

Hebrews 13:17 makes it clear that the leaders of the church, not the counselors, have the responsibility for caring for the souls of the church. Because of this, the appropriate staff and/or elders will be made aware of your situation. There are five other situations whereby we may be legally or religiously obligated to share certain information with others:

• When there is a clear indication of harm to the individual or someone else

• When there is evidence or reasonable suspicion of abuse against a minor child, elderly person, or dependent adult

• In discussions with the pastoral staff or elders of Cross Fellowship Church or previous counselor(s) for the purpose of gaining information for your care or to help in follow-up and after-care

• When a counselor is uncertain of how to address a particular problem and needs to seek advice and wisdom from another staff member or elder. Even in these cases, we will try our best to avoid using an individual's name

• When a person persistently refuses to renounce a particular sin and it becomes necessary to seek the assistance of others in the church to encourage repentance and reconciliation (see Proverbs 15:22; 24:11, Matthew 18:15-20)

In all of these situations, we will make every effort to be sensitive to your situation and carefully guard your information. We will strive to help you resolve the difficult situations you are experiencing as discretely as possible. As part of our mission to train and equip others in biblical counseling, we may have counselor(s)-in-training participate in the counseling with us. These individuals will abide by the same standards as outlined above. However, in highly sensitive situations, observations may not be appropriate, and may be dismissed for a time. If you think your situation might require this you can let us know at the time you submit your paperwork.

For a more in-depth description on confidentiality, please review the confidentiality agreement above.

You will be cared for by a Christian who listens and considers your current circumstances. You will read from the Bible and learn what it means, the hopeful promises it contains, and how to apply it to your current problem.

You will walk out with a plan of growth. We ask our counselees to come prepared to review their progress throughout the last week, including the completion of personalized homework assignments. We ask you to share your goals for the present meeting and attend all scheduled sessions to the best of your ability.

• We expect counselees to come on time, having their homework completed. If the homework has not been completed, the counselor may ask that you reschedule your appointment.

• Please try to focus on present circumstances. It is important that we not shift blame for personal actions, and that we speak truthfully and lovingly about others (Ephesians 4:15).

• We will confront and deal with each situation as honestly, objectively, and lovingly as we possibly can.

• We will operate on the premise that God's Word has the solution to our problems and seek to be obedient to it over and against our own conclusions.

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide childcare. Please make this part of your preparation once counseling has been scheduled.

Certain problems may necessitate a medical doctor's advice or intervention. While we do not officially endorse any one professional or organization, we may suggest possible options for you to review as appropriate for your need. Any advice we offer is of a personal, not a professional nature.

There are occasions where we may collaborate and communicate with outside agencies, medical professionals, another church, etc. It would be our intention that this will only happen given that the person receiving care has given consent for such collaboration.

We understand that there are situations where you as a parent desire to get your children some help. Here are some of the guidelines that we think are important considerations for you during this time. For counseling initiated by you as a parent, we desire to meet first with you to assess the situation and the need for counseling for your child. We believe this is important as our desire is to support and come alongside you as the primary disciple maker in the home. Depending on the age of the child as well as the situation, we may ask for the child to be present during this initial session and will discern together with you if and when we will meet with your child for further counseling or if it would be wiser to meet with the parents instead.

If your child is part of another church, we strongly encourage you to include the appropriate pastor of that church and to seek his counsel before ours.