Ministry Vision
Why do smaller churches need a counseling and equipping ministry?
There is a tremendous need all around us and in our churches today for help to face the epidemic levels of psychological problems, broken relationships, substance abuse, and loneliness.
Scripture reveals that God is the only one who can truly change hearts in Christ (Ezek 36, John 3, 2 Cor 5). He is the ultimate source of wisdom, discernment, and comfort (Jam 1, 2 Cor 1). His church is Christ’s body, and it is a critical part of God’s work of understanding, heart change and of his ministry of comfort (1 Cor 12, Eph 4, Gal 5). In his design smaller churches (attendance 250 and lower) make up the vast majority of churches here and worldwide. They have the unique capacity to closely know and care for every member. However, they often lack the resources to provide discipleship for their church in this area and in-depth counseling for severely struggling members.
The solution our ministry is proposing is to share counseling knowledge and leadership among a collection of like-minded, gospel-centered churches. The goal is to help them be leaders in facing the present “mental health crisis,” strengthening struggling marriages, reconciling family and church conflict, and helping the whole church be involved in the care and accountability for every member and the broken lives all around them.
New Testament Foundations
RCM is about trying to live out the New Testament’s (NT) vision for personal ministry in our present, modern context.
In the NT the whole church in a city handles the whole range of human problems together. The NT view of discipleship calls the whole church to a relational culture of personal ministry (Eph 4).
In our denominational, commuter context this can look like-minded, gospel-centered churches partnering together to help members to experience heart transformation personally and in relationships, offering Christ-centered support groups, and equipping those gifted in counseling to engage in challenging situations.
With this kind of structure small churches can be helped to minister the gospel to the deepest needs in our lives.
