What does it look like after someone has gone through formal counseling? We talk a lot about formal counseling at BCM, but informal counseling is an indispensable element of the local church’s design that offers a huge impact on a believer’s life and growth.
In this episode, Kari fills in for Mike as the host and sits down with two friends and fellow BCM teammates, Christi Thach, our process manager, and Kent Kloter, our biblical SoulCare™ coach. They discuss informal counseling and offer a biblical perspective on care and friendship in the church body.
In this conversation, Kent and Christi speak from years of personal sanctification and counseling experience and address both the pastor and the lay church member. They clarify the concept of counseling, encourage gospel-centered conversations in Biblical friendships, offer practical examples of counsel through friendship, and emphasize the impact this informal counseling has on the local church as part of God’s good design.
The team at BCM prays that through each conversation God will be glorified, the church of believers will be strengthened, and the pastor will be encouraged and a little more equipped to counsel their flock with conviction and hope.
Listen in!
“Informal counsel is intentionally investing in the life of another person to help them… living and speaking like Christ to help others become more like Christ. I would just beg pastors and elders and leaders in the church to think about their ministry as shaping people’s view of Christ, and helping them love and follow him more intently… and then taking what they know and pouring it into the lives of other people.” Kent Kloter
RESOURCES:
-
- Episode 52: What’s It Like In The Counseling Room? (with Christi Thach & Kent Kloter) | Biblical Counseling Ministries
- Read our Articles
- Follow us on Instagram
- Donate to support BCM
- Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™
- Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org
- Fill out a short listener survey. We are eager to hear from you!
Meet Kent
Kent Kloter joined Biblical Counseling Ministries in January 2023, serving as Church Care Partner. Kent began full-time in the ministry of biblical care & counseling in 1999 and became ACBC certified in 2009. Kent and his wife, Janell, have been a part of the Bethany Fellowship of Churches since 2006 and have been members at Bethany Community Church in Washington, IL since it was planted in 2008. Kent retired in April of 2023 from his role as elder and Pastor of Biblical Counseling at Bethany Community Church. Kent and Janell married in 1977 and have three married children and 13 grandchildren.
Meet Christi
Christi has been on staff for Biblical Counseling Ministries since March 2023. She previously received a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Ecology majoring in Family Studies from the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. She has been supporting biblical SoulCare™ in her church and the area since 2016. Christi married her husband, Keith, in 1998 and they have two children: Brandon and Brody. Keith and Christi reside outside of Knoxville, TN and both attend Gospel Hope.
