Crisis Counseling

In the United States today, approximately 50% of marriages end in divorce (Christian marriages suffer at an even higher rate), thousands of children are abused physically and sexually, wives are battered, children run away, over 6,000 adolescents annually commit suicide, and families disintegrate. The pressures of our world are immense and most difficult to cope with. Even in our churches we are confronted with the “besetting sins” (Hebrews 12:1) that destroy the circle that was to be unbroken.

Over the past few years it has been my privilege to work with many families who were at their breaking point. There has been a renewed interest among secular and Christian circles also to recognize and acknowledge the immensity of the family breakdown. As impressive as the statistics of divorce, abuse, and self-destruction may be, there remain mixed views amongst the church of Jesus Christ as to how we should approach the wounded or broken family. It is apparent that something must be done to stem the tide.

Most of our churches today are ill prepared to handle such emergencies that will inevitably happen within the family, and the family of God. Few churches have trained laity or pastoral staff who can help in times of real crisis. Yet it is precisely there, between the rock and the hard place, that the love of Christ, carefully and judiciously applied, can most fully and completely “heal the broken hearted and set the captive free.”