CERTIFICATE IN PASTORAL CARE
PROGRAM OBJECTIVE
To equip Christian men and women to deliver Christ-like pastoral care that is relevant to contemporary culture. It is about leaving the sidelines of life and getting into the game as an agent of healing--not only in the name of Christ but with the power of His guidance and participation.
THE METHOD
THE FOUR COURSES The sequence of courses, described below, provides foundational training across the many tasks and situations that the people of the church are called to respond to. It begins with the basics of meeting people and building a relationship they can trust. We learn how to understand others people, including those who may be quite different than ourselves. It will help you master the communications skills of listening, confrontation, giving advice or other information, giving physical help, giving and receiving compliments, and remembering names. The basic skills are expanded with an overview of a biblical counseling approach. Applications to witnessing, visiting the sick, relating helpfully with people who are angry toward or skeptical of the church, comforting the grieving, and special methods for providing comfort and care to the elderly, including those with dementia are provided. In summary, the training covers a wide array of particulars, but trains you in the universal skills so that you can be confident in your ability to handle the unusual and unfamiliar situations as well as the commonplace.
THE SEVEN-HOUR WORKSHOP
DISTANCE LEARNING Course 1 is available by distance from Vision International University. It may be taken for Certificate credit or as a three-semester hour college credit course. Contact www.vision.edu
MANIFESTO
God calls all believers to tell people how he can change their lives. This assignment to take Jesus’ good news to the ends of the earth[1] is commonly called the Great Commission. The Vision motto describes it this way, “The whole word to the whole world.” The task is so clearly stated in the Bible that we cannot miss it.[2] We would be overwhelmed by it if it were not for God’s offers to prepare us,[3] to provide his power within us,[4] and to be with us—the Great Promise, “… I am with you always ….”[5]
The work of the church is to be done collectively. This project of world improvement is a task for believers as a group. When people having diverse gifts[6] collaborate toward a task, good things happen. It is God’s plan for the church and when it is followed, the church grows stronger.[7]
Preparation of believers for ministry is a process. It begins when people of character and compassion are called by their leadership or by the Leader.[8] The fact that you are reading this indicates your interest in helping others, so perhaps you are called to a ministry of pastoral care. Confirming the call and becoming competent require learning biblical principles and developing the skills associated with them. This is best done through the processes Jesus and Paul used—learning from example,[9] receiving instruction,[10] growing in spiritual depth,[11] and engaging in practical experience.[12]
Caring is to be expressed in Jesus’ style. Christianshold that all people are valuable simply because they exist. Jesus connected with all persons with full acceptance of their worth; perfect love guided by perfect understanding. For us, it is more difficult, but aided by the Spirit and equipped with skills consistent with biblical teaching, we can be effective.[13] We can connect with people and build relationships so that we may understand their needs and provide or facilitate fulfillment of those needs.
Caring is initially directed to what is important to the person. Typically people sense their temporal needs[14] most strongly, followed by emotional, relational, mental, and spiritual needs. This ranking reverses the biblical priorities,[15] but we see that Jesus repeatedly attended first to issues of felt needs.[16] He was there for them, not for himself. We shall seek to order our outreach to the benefit of the other.
Not my will, but yours; not for me, but to them for you.
DESCRIPTION OF COURSES
PC101. Communi-Connection Skills
Understand other people so you can show them how to improve their life. You are persuasive only when you communicate with people in ways that appeal to them. This course teaches how. You will learn skills of active listening, gaining and sharing empathy, giving information and direct help, and being assertive. You will learn the strategic differences in communicating with men and women, and key elements in reading nonverbal signals. It will show you how to connect meaningfully with other persons no matter how different their life experiences may be from yours so you can build strong personal friendships, become stronger in workplace relationships, witness easily to your faith, or be useful as a life skills mentor or as a guide in the resolution of personal distress.
PC102. Life Builder Counseling
You know that each person in the world is different, yet you realize that people are more alike than different. Learn why: Understand how personalities develop and where problems come from, and learn basic principles of a Bible-based system of counseling. This will help you comprehend your own motivations and actions and provide the foundation upon which you can learn and use Life Builder Counseling strategies to help other persons become more like Christ. You can learn how to apply biblical principles to help others resolve ordinary cognitive and emotional conflicts or habits that have diminished their quality of life. (This course is an introductory overview that does not prepare you to engage in mental health counseling.)
PC103. Bold Answers for Today’s Problems
Increase your influence by understanding the worldviews of people who believe differently than you. (A worldview is a set of beliefs about the nature of the world and one’s place within it, and it guides everything a person does.) After you learn how the traditional Christian worldview compares with the central elements of seven other common worldviews, you can more fully and successfully understand and care for people whose worldview differs from yours. This is rewarding because Christianity is about relationships, and the church is fully alive only when, in the spirit of Christ, it finds and cares for those who are unable or unwilling to reach toward it. After the survey of worldviews, the course examines innovative approaches of ministry to those new to the church, the unchurched, the incarcerated, and to those who are angry toward the church. Learning activities allow you to emphasize the application that interests you most.
PC104. Issues in Aging and Elder Ministries
Feel secure when you respond to people in grief; find joy in visiting the ill or those confined at home or in a care facility; be confident when you talk with people who are near death or face a long-term incurable condition. The number of elderly in our society is growing rapidly, and with that comes greater demand for services. This course describes changes that typically take place during aging, and offers practical information and strategies for effective visitation, worship, and evangelism with the elderly. A multitude of experiences—aging, job change, retirement, or death of a loved one—lead to grief and loss. The spiritual and physical phenomena of death and dying are examined so that you learn how to provide meaningful comfort and support in ways consistent with the spirit of Christ. The course will also help you to understand your own responses to loss, grief, and death so that those experiences support, rather than interfere with, caring for others.
The Delivery System
Courses are presented in two parts. (1) A seven-hour workshop presented as mini-lectures interspersed with interactive processes for bring the principles into “real life.” Those who take only the workshop will find it complete and of high value. (2) Students wishing to “lock in” a higher level of competence will engage in two additional learning processes. (a) Personal study—reading and using the skills in “their world,” and (b) attending four two-hour sessions for more instruction, to discuss “their world,” and to receive feedback and prayer support. Those who complete the second part receive credit toward the Certificate in Pastoral Care.
The greatest value comes from completing the entire sequence, however each course is a logical unit of learning by itself. The courses may be taken in any sequence, but the order shown above is recommended.
[2] Matt 28:19-20, Mark 16:15, John 20:21.
[3] “… to prepare God’s people for works of service …” (Eph 4:12a)
[4] “… his power that is at work within us …” (Eph 3:20b. See also Acts 1:8a.)
[5] It should not surprise us that assurance of Jesus’ support (Matt 28:20b) immediately follows the intimidating assignment of Matthew 28:19-20a. He loves us. Promises of God’s care are peppered throughout Scripture explicitly, through illustrative stories, and by the long history of his faithfulness to his chosen people. For example, Matthew 18:19-20 assures us of access to his participation and companionship as we seek to fulfill his purposes.
[9] John 1:14, Gal 1:11-2:21, Col 1:24-27, 3:13,
[10] Luke 11:1-13, Acts 1:1-2, Col 1:28, 1 Thes 4:1-2
[11] Matt 6:33, 1 Peter 1:13-25
[12] Mark 6:7-13, Luke 10:1-24
[13] We “may be thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Tim 3:16-17).
[14] Physical, financial, legal
[15] Ecclesiastes, Luke 6:25
[16] Here are listed only a few examples from one book: Matt 8:23-27, 8:28-34, 9:18-26, 12:9-14, 14:13-23, 20:29-34.
