Biblical Counseling in the Local Church

Deepak Reju, pastor of biblical of counseling at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, faces a wide swath counseling of challenges in a church with about a thousand attending every Sunday. Pornography is the most common struggle among congregants. The most sobering and urgent cases, he says, involve counseling the suicidal.

Reju sat down in Louisville with TGC's Mark Mellinger and talked about a number of issues concerning pastors and counseling in the local church. Mellinger asks Reju to advise preaching pastors at smaller churches how they can grow in their counseling and disciple-making. The most pointed discussion comes when Mellinger asks Reju, "What works for the suicidal? What can you do?" Among a number of other insightful observations, Reju advocates "lending faith" to those who can't look up to see the glories of God and his gospel. 

NOTE: This resource orginally appeared at The Gospel Coalition. Used with permission.

Deepak Reju

Pastor, Capitol Hill Baptist Church

Deepak serves as the Pastor of Biblical Counseling and Families at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Deepak does individual and couples counseling, leads groups, develops the vision for the counseling ministry, and supervises the...

Mark Mellinger

Contributor, The Gospel Coalition

Mark is the evening news anchor for WANE-TV in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and also hosts the talk show1090 Today on WFCV 1090 AM. He assists The Gospel Coalition by contrubuting his skills and experience as an interviewer.

John Starke

Editor, The Gospel Coalition

John is the lead pastor of All Souls Church in the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He is the co-editor with Bruce A. Ware of the forthcoming book, One God in Three Person: Upholding the Trinity's...

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