Pastoral Counseling Interview
Interview Report on “Things you wish had learned in Seminary about Pastoral Counseling” This report is based on the interview conducted on March 4th with Pastor S.
He is a senior pastor in a local church and also a professor of a Seminary, teaching Pastoral Care and Spirituality classes. When he was asked the question of “things that he wished he had learned in seminary about pastoral counseling”, he answered in following 5 points:
1. General Understanding of how much counseling is involved in Pastoral Ministry
To my surprise, when asked the question about the training and education that might prove to be useful upon graduating seminary, he did not list latest technique in counseling or best psychological theories. He stressed that those fundamental theories and counseling techniques were of critical importance. But those are pretty well presented in many of the classes that he took or can be acquired through seminars or literature. The biggest thing that he wished to have learned was the general understanding of how much counseling was involved in Pastoral Ministry.
After graduating from the seminarian school, he was hired as an associate pastor of a large church that had more than 1500 people in membership alone. And at that time, he was not aware of the fact that he would be spending close to 25-30 hours per week in some sort of counseling sessions. People would come to him for not only quick advice, but they wanted to be in deep conversation with him which, he later realized, was a form of counseling session. Not having any formal training as a seminarian student, it was overwhelming for him. And yet, it was so integral to his ministry and vital for the pastoral care that he had to keep pushing on. He felt that all the focus on preaching and exegesis that his former seminary placed on, he could have really appreciated knowing how much he had to counsel people upon starting any kind of ministry out in the real world.
2. How to listen better, instead
He is a senior pastor in a local church and also a professor of a Seminary, teaching Pastoral Care and Spirituality classes. When he was asked the question of “things that he wished he had learned in seminary about pastoral counseling”, he answered in following 5 points:
1. General Understanding of how much counseling is involved in Pastoral Ministry
To my surprise, when asked the question about the training and education that might prove to be useful upon graduating seminary, he did not list latest technique in counseling or best psychological theories. He stressed that those fundamental theories and counseling techniques were of critical importance. But those are pretty well presented in many of the classes that he took or can be acquired through seminars or literature. The biggest thing that he wished to have learned was the general understanding of how much counseling was involved in Pastoral Ministry.
After graduating from the seminarian school, he was hired as an associate pastor of a large church that had more than 1500 people in membership alone. And at that time, he was not aware of the fact that he would be spending close to 25-30 hours per week in some sort of counseling sessions. People would come to him for not only quick advice, but they wanted to be in deep conversation with him which, he later realized, was a form of counseling session. Not having any formal training as a seminarian student, it was overwhelming for him. And yet, it was so integral to his ministry and vital for the pastoral care that he had to keep pushing on. He felt that all the focus on preaching and exegesis that his former seminary placed on, he could have really appreciated knowing how much he had to counsel people upon starting any kind of ministry out in the real world.
2. How to listen better, instead