Our Goal: Our goal in providing biblical counseling is to help you meet the challenges of life in a way that will please and honor the Lord Jesus Christ and allow you to enjoy fully His love for you and His plans for your life.

Biblical Basis: We believe that the Bible provides thorough guidance and instruction for faith and life (II Peter 1:3 and Romans 15:4).  Therefore, our counseling is based only on Biblical principles rather than those of secular psychology or psychiatry. Although some of the pastoral or lay counselors of this church may be licensed in other fields they will not practice as professionals but as biblical counselors.

Not Professional Advice: If you have significant legal, financial, medical or other technical questions, you should seek advice from another independent professional.  Our pastoral and lay counselors will be happy to cooperate with such advisors and help you to consider their counsel in the light of the Bible.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality is an important aspect of the counseling process, and we will carefully guard the information you entrust to us.  However, because we are continually training others to be effective counselors, we ask that you agree to allow counselors in training to be present during your sessions. There are four other situations when it may be necessary for us to share certain information with others: (1) when a counselor is uncertain of how to address a particular problem and needs to seek advice from another leader in this church; (2) when a counselee attends another church and it is necessary to talk with his or her pastor or elders; (3) when there is a clear indication that someone may be harmed unless we otherwise intervene; or (4) when a person persistently refuses to renounce a particular sin and it becomes necessary to seek the assistance of others in the church to encourage repentance and reconciliation (see
Proverbs 15:22; 24:11; Matthew 18:15-20).  Please be assured that our counselors strongly prefer not to disclose personal information to others, and they will make every effort to help you find ways to resolve a problem as privately as possible.

Cost: We do not charge for counseling.  However, any contribution you can make, or your church can make, will enable us to expand our counseling ministry.  Checks should be made out to First Baptist Church with “counseling” written in the memo section.  You can also make an online donation through the “Donate” button on our website http:/FILL IN LATER. Counselees are expected to pay for resources assigned to them as homework. This includes CD’s, books, and pamphlets. Please let the counselor know if you need financial assistance in paying for materials.

Homework: Homework is a very important part of the biblical counseling process. It is imperative that you complete your homework, as it is essential for your progress toward real biblical change in your life. It calls for commitment on your part and is a gauge of your motivation to obey the Word of God. Please do your homework!

Local Church Involvement: In order to achieve lasting biblical change over time, it is vital that you attend a local evangelical church. If you are not consistently involved in a local church, we ask that you attend at least one service a week at First Baptist Church. If you are involved in a local church, we ask that you let your church leadership know that you are attending counseling so they can be part of the shepherding and discipleship process in your life.

Resolution of Conflicts- On rare occasions, a conflict may arise between counselor and counselee. In order to make sure that any such conflicts will be resolved in a biblically faithful manner, we require all of our counselees to agree that any dispute that arises with the counselor or with this church as a result of counseling will be settled with mediation within the church according to the principles of Scripture and the authority of this local church.