How do you counsel a fellow believer with Biblical clarity and Christ-like compassion when you aren’t sitting in the counseling room? 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 sits down with two friends and fellow BCM teammates, Christi Thach and Kent Kloter, to continue a conversation from our last episode. They discuss informal counseling and offer a biblical perspective on care and friendship in the church body.
Kent and Christi speak from years of personal sanctification and counseling experience and offer practical wisdom for the pastor and church member alike. In this episode, they discuss:
-handling fear that arises as a counselor caught off guard in informal settings,
-directing casual conversations to Biblical truth and gospel hope,
-loving and guiding the counselee through questions,
-responding with humility,
-and much more!
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!
Great peace have those who love your law;
nothing can make them stumble.Psalm 119:165
RESOURCES:
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- Episode 75: Informal Counseling in the Local Church (with Kari Gross, Kent Kloter, and Christi Thach) | Biblical Counseling Ministries
- Episode 52: What’s It Like in the Counseling Room? (with Christi Thach & Kent Kloter) | Biblical Counseling Ministries
- [BOOK] Gospel Primer | Milton Vincent
- [BOOK] When Troubles Show Up: Seeing God’s Transforming Love | Robert D. Jones
- 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
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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.
A note to the listener:
Kent accurately applied the meaning of Matthew 22:29 but misspoke when referencing it in the episode. We wanted to correct that and include the full text below for the listener’s benefit.
“Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.” Matthew 22:29
