Pastoring and counselling people is tough! It’s hard to know what to say at times and it’s hard to know when to listen and when to speak. Counsellors are a huge blessing to the church and with their professional expertise they can be a great help. Many pastors are learning on the job as they go, pulling on different resources and helpful tips to help us along the way. One of the hardest ages to care for pastorally, in my opinion, is children. Here is a resource that will help with that. Whether you’re a pastor, a parent, a teacher, a friend or a family member, this book will be a great resource to have on your shelf.
Too often we think that children are too little to think through what the Bible teaches and how it changes lives. It’s so easy to simplify answers to children’s questions because we think that the same answers we would give adults are too complicated. This all transfers over to how we care for them and pastor them as well. Here’s what Amy Baker says about that
“For children, the struggles, desires, and hopes are no different than for those of us who are adults. Therefore, the counsel we provide for them should lead them to the same place—the good news of Jesus Christ.”
The book is split into two parts. In the first part the foundations and methodological issues for counselling children are presented. In the second part specific issues or areas are addressed where children may need counselling. The book address four broad subject; children and their relationships, emotions, bodies and trauma. Under each brand category there are multiple chapters written by different counsellors to aid the reader.
This book covers so much ground it is quite remarkable. One of the things that I like about this book is that it’s a collaboration of different authors and counsellors. Each chapter is written by an expert, or experienced, person in that field. Another thing I really liked about this book is the importance that it puts on God’s Word for counselling.
The number of different authors of the chapters is one of the reason that this book is such a helpful tool. Pages of experienced pastors, authors and biblical counsellors equipping the reader to sensitively and faithfully care for the soul of a child.
I’m really thankful that I read this book and would highly recommend it to parents, people in ministry and those who are thinking about pursuing a career in biblical counselling. You can buy the book here from New Growth Press, or buy it here from 10ofThose if you’re in the UK.
If you want to seriously consider how you can care for children in some of the very relevant but difficult areas of life today, I suggest that you get this book. Each page is full of wisdom and valuable insights that will help to equip you to counsel children, ask the right questions and go to the right Scriptures.
Amy Baker, PhD, Editor, is the ministry resource director at Faith Church (Lafayette, IN), a member of the board of directors for Vision of Hope, instructor and counselor at Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and the author of Getting to the Heart of Friendshipsand Picture Perfect: When Life Doesn’t Line Upas well as several counseling minibooks. She and her husband, Jeff, have two children.
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