One of the big challenges a church leader can face is when pastoral issues come up that we feel ill-equipped to handle; especially in those cases when we need to do something fast.
In actual fact, many things can be handled by a mature fellow believer (with the help of God!) Which may well not mean the lead pastor – there are issues of different people’s gifting, and some pastoral issues will require the investment of a very significant amount of time. Our church should be a team! However, it is extremely wise for church leaders to plan ahead, well before certain types of crises arise, by identifying experienced Christian counsellors at not too great a distance, and finding out in what sort of situations (emergency or ongoing) they would be able to help.
Otherwise, the following websites may be useful, among others. If you aren’t reading this in Britain these sites may still be worth visiting; but it will also be well worth while spending an evening to identify and create a list of similar websites in your own country (in these days of international conferences, of course, the sites below may well be happy to suggest similar resources where you are):
Abortion (pre- and post- ): careconfidential.com (also for advice in adoption and miscarriage)
Being a carer for someone else – http://www.carers.org/ , https://www.carersuk.org/help-and-advice
Bereavement – https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/support-for-you/family-life/bereavement-support/
Debt – capuk.org
Deliverance/demonization – I’m not including anything here because different streams of Bible believing churches have different approaches to this issue. What is important is to know of somebody you yourself trust with experience in this area before such a situation arises. (And one book I really like is The Bondage Breaker by Neil Anderson.)
Depression – This may be an area where a mature Christian can help, but depression can have many causes and it may very well be best to involve a doctor.
Eating disorders – Again it will probably be best to involve a doctor, but have a look also at https://www.talk-ed.org.uk/ .
Finding churches for people moving to other cities – https://www.eauk.org/membership/our-members/find-a-church
Homosexuality – truefreedomtrust.co.uk ; livingout.org
Internet porn – covenanteyes.com ; xxxchurch.com . (These sites may be well worth putting up on your church noticeboard. More than most things, porn addiction is an area people may need help with while being unwilling to admit it to anyone else.)
Marriage challenges – https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/family-life/couple-support – note the CareLine at the bottom.
Parenting problems – https://www.careforthefamily.org.uk/family-life/parent-support, and again note the CareLine at the bottom, and the reference there to other organizations who can help
Self harm – Again a doctor, also adullam-ministries.org.uk (also selfharm.co.uk for under-19s)
Suicidal tendencies – samaritans.org, papyrus-uk.org
premierlifeline.org.uk is a helpful place to turn for all kinds of issues.
Finally, there is a very wide range of helpful resources on pastoral issues on mindandsoulfoundation.org; and yet more on livingleadership.org/articles , for example on helping people struggling with addiction; on church discipline; on helping survivors of rape; on marrying cross-culturally; and on terminal illness. It’s worth setting aside an afternoon to know what will be there when you need it…
