Counsel for Counselors
Basic Skills for Christian Counselors by Richard P. Vaughan, S.J., Paulist, $8.95
Self-Talk, Imagery, and Prayer in Counseling by H. Norman Wright, Word, $12.95
Reviewed by Dennis L. Gibson, psychologist, Wheaton (Illinois) Counseling Associates
“I see ministers facing counseling situations, zealous to handle them well, yet asking, ‘What do I do next?’ With this book, I hope to offer them . . .”
I posed that incomplete statement to Richard Vaughan and Norman Wright, two men who have recently published books on counseling. Each completed the sentence differently.
Vaughn; “A textbook for a course in pastoral counseling, and help for counselors without formal training to become acquainted with the basic procedures in pastoral counseling.”
Wright: “A variety of practical techniques as well as some stimulating new slants they have probably not encountered before.”
Together, the two books offer a solid introduction to lay or pastoral counseling. Each returns repeatedly to the central reality of God’s sovereignty and the need for counselees to renew their minds. Both authors cull through current counseling theory and techniques to find those that implement this biblical perspective.
Richard Vaughan has, for nearly ten years, taught counseling psychology to graduate students in the Los Angeles area, where he has also served a Roman Catholic parish through twenty-five years of ethnic and racial changes. His book quotes extensively from the most salient works of counseling psychology
Norman Wright has also taught graduate students for the past twenty years at both Biola University and Talbot Graduate School of Theology. He ministered for seven years in a local church. Wright founded and directs Christian Marriage Enrichment and conducts a private counseling practice. His book quotes heavily from contemporary evangelical authors such as Chuck Swindoll, J. I. Packer, and Lloyd Ogilvie (Wright’s own pastor). His psychological sources feature more avant-garde works from cognitive therapy and neurolinguistic programming. He often refers to some of his own forty-five previous books.
Vaughan spells out moderation in what a pastoral counselor can do and tells when and how to refer parishioners to more specialized mental health professionals. Wright implies more of a go-for-it approach, offering a plethora of ideas from different viewpoints so that a counselor facing a difficult case has an abundance of options.
Vaughan describes a four-step process for counselors:
Listen attentively. Since advice almost always falls on deaf ears, simply offer distressed persons the opportunity to unburden themselves to your nonjudgmental, friendly ear. This often allows them enough emotional relief and cognitive clarity to solve their problems.
Summarize. When you restate concisely what counselees have conveyed by their words, sighs, and grimaces, you give them a welcome experience they cannot find from untrained loved ones, who typically rush to minimize the problem, answer it, or fault the sufferer for having it. Hearing their thoughts and feelings in your words helps them to feel they are not crazy or alone, and their problem is not gargantuan, as it had seemed.
Find precedents. Ask counselees how they have solved problems similar to the current one. They often perk up with the thought that they’ve done it before and perhaps can do so again.
Search for solutions. Help troubled people formulate a written list of possible actions, with advantages and disadvantages of each, then choose one or more to implement in concrete steps by definite deadlines. While still not advising people, you can drop suggestions: Instead of “You should do X,” say, “You might want to consider trying X.”
As a fifth step when the first four fail, Vaughan recommends simply providing emotional support. Some problems-loss of a job or death of a loved one-by nature do not have solutions. People resolve them by grieving. They often do that best with a pastor who listens and imparts courage by timely citation of the sufferer’s strengths.
What is most difficult for pastoral counselors? Father Vaughan identifies two things: “Dealing with depressed persons with understanding, instead of rushing to make them happy, and mediating conflicts between spouses.” His book spells out what to do and what not to do in such tough situations as these.
The self-talk portion of Norman Wright’s book takes the lion’s share. He states plainly, “What people say to themselves governs the way they feel and act.” Then, amplifying Romans 12:2, he writes, “The renewing of the mind is the adjustment of the person’s thinking and outlook on life so that these conform to the mind of God.”
Wright uses a number of novel questions to jar depressed or perfectionistic persons out of rigid thinking patterns:
“Tell me about a time when you made a mistake but did not become depressed.”
“Suppose it were true that you perform poorly, why would it be a problem?”
“How would you approach this situation if you were not worrying about it?”
When he turns to the therapeutic use of imagery, Wright acknowledges recent controversy over its use. Some opponents have cited its ancient use in non-Christian religions and occult practices. But Wright argues that anyone can discredit the use of prayer and sacred writings on the same basis. He writes, “The abuse of a thing should not stop us from the use of a God-given gift, which I take imagery to be. Imaging is . . . the mother of ambition and creativity. When you see a great cathedral, remember that at one time it existed as an idea in someone’s mind.”
He considers prayer “a means of healing in the process of counseling. Prayer is not something just to tack on at the end of a counseling session to make it ‘Christian counseling.’ ” Wright prays daily for his counselees, and tells them so. Some of them have told him later that just knowing someone was praying for them kept them going through the tough times.
Vaughan’s book offers a thorough, scholarly introduction to counseling. Wright’s book penetrates more deeply a few vital dimensions of counseling. But they converge on the goal of counseling. Wright puts it this way: “Your main goal is to teach the process of problem solving and to work yourself out of being needed.”
The Case for Clout
Getting Things Done: Concepts and Skills for Leaders by Lyle E. Schaller, Abingdon, $10.95
Reviewed by John R. Throop, executive director, Episcopalians United for Revelation, Renewal, and Reformation, Shaker Heights, Ohio.
America’s foremost authority on the dynamics of church life has written Getting Things Done to respond to a cry for leadership that is being heard as clearly in the chancel as in the corporate office.
“Society as a whole is looking for those who will be initiating leaders,” says Lyle Schaller. “In many denominational families, I hear a clearly articulated frustration over the shortage of leaders who will lead. The most frequent complaint of the laity I hear is, ‘Why won’t our pastor lead?’ “
So Schaller asks, “What skills does the pastor need to learn in order to lead effectively?” He assumes leadership is not only a gift but also a learned skill, an art and a science. In addition, the potential leader needs a spirit willing to learn about leadership and a style willing to adapt to changing congregations, culture, and organizational behaviors. Most of all, a true leader is one who accepts the responsibility and call to lead.
Schaller makes no theological statement about the way the church should be. “There’s no question; I’m very pragmatic in my approach,” he says, “but that doesn’t mean I am without a theology. I start by looking at the church as a political organization, not a religious one; a human institution in life, not a divine creation to be imposed.
“Now a political organization is always defined by this question: How shall we allocate scarce resources against competing demands? And another question: Who shall make that decision? So in the church we decide by the finance committee, the worship committee, the education committee, the administrative committee, and so forth. Decisions are not made by a theology committee.
“At the same time, if you take seriously the doctrine of original sin, as I do, you will know that egocentricity is the way human beings work: What I like should be the top priority here. Sure, we say, ‘What would Christ have us do?’ but it’s always through our own frame of reference. It’s like the T-shirt I have at home: ‘This is a theocracy-and I’m Theo.’ “
Of Schaller’s twenty-eight books, this is the first on the nature and function of leadership. His favorite chapter, “Tribes, Movements, and Organizations,” defines the characteristics and shows how churches function in ways similar to each grouping. Other chapters cover organization, leadership style, and management techniques.
Some may be put off by this confident, assertive, initiating style, particularly those who adhere to an enabler model of ministry. Initiating leadership sounds dangerously close to manipulation, to putting our ministerial agenda before the wishes of the congregation or before the call of the Holy Spirit.
Schaller is clear that a chief characteristic of an effective leader is to be willing to influence the opinions and behavior of others. While the possibility of dangerous manipulation does exist, Schafer notes that all people manipulate as they lead, even the enabler who moves others toward participation. Schaller cites “the minister who says, ‘I am not out to influence the people in my parish.’ Then you look at the way he designed the worship service or you hear the sermon he preaches, and you realize that he is manipulating his hearers, only subtly. Is that better than ‘manipulation’ through initiating leadership?”
Four questions help check the leader’s motivations:
Are you seeking to influence the beliefs and behavior of others in a way consistent with your value system?
Is your approach consistent with the goals adopted by this group?
Is your approach consistent with the motives, goals, values, and needs of the followers?
Do the followers have an opportunity to participate in the formulation of those goals, the design of the strategy, the selection of the leader(s), and the definition of priorities?
“Whenever you look in history at the great movements,” Schaller says, “there are always two elements: a great idea and a charismatic leader. When we think of the Reformation, we don’t think of a Reformation Committee of the Church. We think of Martin Luther, John Calvin, Ulrich Zwingli. There is a need in our day for leaders to step forward and say, ‘This is where we must go.’ “
Getting Things Done helps pastors take that forward step.
A Good News Primer
The Pastor-Evangelist: Preacher, Model, and Mobilizer for Church Growth edited by Roger S. Greenway, Presbyterian and Reformed, $8.95
Reviewed by Dave Wilkinson, pastor, Moorpark (California) Presbyterian New Church Development
“We’ve had enough classroom evangelism,” says Roger Greenway. “It’s time to do it in the streets.”
Greenway, executive director of Christian Reformed World Ministries, has edited this book to help make evangelism happen, using chapters from leaders with “a track record of fruitfulness.”
He describes his twelve co-contributors as not “mere theoreticians but people with years of practical experience in Christian ministry who write of what they know and practice.” They are pastors or evangelism directors in Presbyterian or Reformed churches, but they communicate across denominational lines.
As might be expected in a collection, the writing of The Pastor-Evangelist is uneven, and the fact the material was first presented to seminary students might account for the “seminary opaque” tone of a couple of the chapters. However, at least three chapters are alone worth the price of the book.
The first of these is “Learning How to Witness” by D. James Kennedy, pastor of the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and founder and president of Evangelism Explosion. Kennedy begins with a revealing, personal account of his own basic training early in his pastorate at Coral Ridge:
“Though I had taken all the courses offered at seminary on the subject of evangelism and read many books besides, I found the sophisticated people of Fort Lauderdale did not respond to my message from the pulpit. I was totally lacking in both confidence and know-how in confronting individuals face to face with the gospel. After eight or ten months of preaching, the congregation had gone from forty-five to seventeen people, and I was a most discouraged young minister. About this time I was invited to Decatur, Georgia, to preach ten days of evangelistic services. Happy to get away from my Fort Lauderdale fiasco, I accepted the invitation. When I arrived, the pastor told me I would be preaching each night, but more important, he said, we would be visiting in homes every day-morning, noon, and night-to present the gospel to people individually. I was petrified, for I knew I had no ability whatsoever to do this. However, the next morning we went out.
“After about a half-hour of my stumbling attempts at evangelism, the pastor took over the conversation and in about fifteen or twenty minutes led the man to Christ. I was astonished but did not realize even then the impact this was to have on my life. For ten days I watched this pastor lead one person after another to Christ for a total of forty-four individuals over those ten days. I went back to Fort Lauderdale a new man and began to do just what I had seen done. People responded. Soon dozens, scores, and then hundreds accepted Christ. This principle of ‘on-the-job training’ had been applied to my life and had produced its results.”
A second powerful chapter is “Prayer and Evangelism” by C. John Miller, pastor of the New Life Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia. Miller speaks of prayer as the foundation of evangelism and the road to growing faith: “How often do we begin to think of ourselves and our backgrounds, our training, our gifts, and all the rest, as providing a human adequacy. We lean on that which is visible: what we are, what we have done, or what we expect other people to do. In that state we cannot pray effectively. The whole idea of prayer is that we call on the name of the invisible God. To come in prayer is to abandon everything, to claim God’s promises, and to know God, not to know what we have to bring.”
As an occasional practitioner of what Miller calls the “Why Pray When You Can Worry?” philosophy, I plan to read this chapter again and again.
A third strong chapter is “Revitalizing a Dying Church” by Harry L. Reeder III. Reeder, pastor of Christ Covenant Church in Charlotte, North Carolina, has so many good insights and experiences that I started to wonder how much was real. Apparently I wasn’t alone. Greenway volunteered that he had checked Reeder’s story and discovered it is not only true but understated.
Reeder gives the depressing scenario of “a dying church.” We meet undertakers who range from experts who declare, “Close the doors, sell the property, and cut your losses,” to former church members who use their “inside information” to spread “horror stories about the decline of the church, dangers in the neighborhood, and lack of resources in the congregation.” Then come the nostalgic accounts of the glory days of the church, which, Reeder declares, “takes the church backward and downward to destruction.” He asks the nostalgia buffs: “If yesteryear was so great, why are we in the shape we find ourselves in today?”
Reeder then describes the positive and negative roles of tradition, the dominant mentality of preparing for defeat, the disrepair of overlarge facilities, and the unrealistic expectations of a quick fix.
All of this is prelude to what Reeder calls the “Principled Dynamics of a Living Church.” Recognizing that “many of the spiritually sensitive and discerning members probably have left the church” and that there is very little hope of transfer growth, he describes how to rebuild block by block with those who are left. He tells how to establish through vision, worship, and discipleship a “growth mentality that is biblical.” Above all, he focuses on the role of the pastor and what to do and what not to do from the pulpit.
Reeder believes and has demonstrated that the dying church can live.
Other chapters approach evangelism through preaching, small groups, fellowship, hospitality, and church programming. The Pastor-Evangelist is now going into its second printing. As Greenway told me: “I think we struck a nerve.”
NEW AND NOTEWORTHY
Five Audiences by Warren J. Hartman, Abingdon, $7.95
The days are gone when churches can organize groups around only age, gender, and marital status, contends United Methodist researcher Warren Hartman. Church classes and groups will often be more effective and enjoyable if organized around people’s interests and needs.
Hartman identifies the first of these “audiences” as the fellowship group. Persons in this group find satisfaction in the quality of relationships. Traditionalists, on the other hand, look for a group that reflects and reinforces traditional customs and values. Other audiences include the study group, the social-action group, and the multiple-interest group.
Believing one of the surest ways to extend ministry is to start new groups, Hartman gives provocative and practical guidance on ways to begin.
Strengthening the Family by Wayne Rickerson, Standard, $5.95
Wayne Rickerson has no doubt that churches today can minister to families. Can and must, with almost one of every two marriages ending in divorce. Rickerson, a minister of family life in California, sees the church’s high incidence of hurting marriages as a mandate.
He fills this book with practical tools and tips for making a difference in the marriage and family life of a wide spectrum of parishioners. He provides outlines for teaching sessions, discussion starters, and a host of ideas for marriage enrichment events, such as retreats and Couple’s Night Out.
Counseling for Family Violence and Abuse by Grant L. Martin, Word, $12.95
Every year the average pastor sees fourteen persons affected by family violence, according to Grant Martin.
Other studies suggest that two to three million adults suffer abuse from their spouses. The need for effective ministry to victims of abuse becomes painfully obvious.
Martin, a counselor, tries to combine the best of pastoral and sociological insight. He tells how to be alert to conditions conducive to violence, such as alcohol or drug dependency, inability to manage anger, economic problems, and social isolation.
Martin gives valuable advice on intervening strategically, assessing harm, and ensuring safety. He covers child abuse, both physical and sexual; treatment for offenders; and elder abuse. A list of resources rounds out this compelling exploration of the hidden trauma of the American family.
Unsung Heroes by Les Christie, Zondervan, $12.95
When author Les Christie started in youth work twenty years ago, he tried to do it all. “I was the Lone Ranger,” he writes, “and I was exhausted.” Then Christie discovered volunteers. The long-term effectiveness of youth ministry, he found, hinged on the ability of the youth worker to recruit and develop a team of committed adult volunteers.
Christie looks at the benefits and drawbacks of using parents as volunteers, how to recruit volunteers, how to train (and keep) them, and-sometimes hardest of all-how to respond when they don’t work out.
Successful Single-Adult Ministry by Krista Swan Welsh, editor, Standard, $6.95
With singles composing 40 percent of the adult population in America, most churches grasp the importance of a singles ministry. Not all, contend this book’s contributors, have learned how to minister effectively.
Asking “Which singles can we reach?” is the indispensable first step. The needs and interests of a 23-year-old will be different from those of a 40-year-old widower. One chapter looks at how to organize single-adult groups to help members grow in their personal, social, and Christian lives. Other sections give guidance in determining study topics and list an array of group activities. There is also a sympathetic chapter on surviving and thriving through the challenges of young adult ministry, written by one who’s been there (and still is).
-Reviewed by Timothy K. Jones
Goshen, Indiana
Copyright © 1987 by the author or Christianity Today/Leadership Journal. Click here for reprint information on Leadership Journal.
