More than two decades ago, Gary Sweeten joined the staff at College Hill Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, with a vision for a Christian interpersonal skills program. He enlisted Margaret Rinck to help develop a program that integrated biblical teaching on relationships with listening skills and self-discovery.

The result was the church's Teleios Ministry, which equips believers to offer help to the hurting, including a sizable number of divorced persons. Today the congregational care ministry (including Teleios Ministry) has over 225 trained lay helpers officially caring for others, as well as hundreds who minister to the congregation informally.

In developing such ministries, Rinck applies "a theology of failure." She cites the many failures in Scripture used by God, and she calls for understanding human sinfulness and our need for redemption. "We cannot pretend any longer that Christians do not fail."

Following are Rinck's fundamentals for developing a climate of healing within ...