I love the TV show Mythbusters.  Apart from the juvenile thrill of watching guys put aerosol cans in campfires etc, I love the whole premise of finding myths and testing them.  I reckon one area where myths abound is ‘pastoral care’.  Sure, I can’t produce any explosions but I am keen to identify some common pastoral care myths.  In following posts I hope to bust a few of them with what the Bible really teaches about pastoral care.

Myth 1: Pastoral care is only for people who are struggling.

This myth assumes that ‘pastoral care’ (whatever that might be) is only for those people at church who are struggling with sin, suffering or something else.  Those who are doing OK can probably get by without it.  They’re like healthy people who don’t need a doctor.

Myth 2: Pastoral care is about counseling.

I found this on Wikipedia:  ‘Pastoral care is the ministry of care and counseling provided by pastors, chaplains and other religious leaders to members of their church…’

This is a common myth, and it’s reinforced in our minds by the language of ‘pastoral counseling’ and ‘pastoral ministry’.  It makes out pastoral care to be about doing lots of sitting, listening, problem solving - possibly with some technique or method over a long period of time.

That’s it for now, two more myths next time.  But I ask you to think about what harm can a myth do if it’s not tested by Scripture?

Last night the Elders met again! This was a particularly significant meeting as it was the first official use of the new church office facilities that we’re leasing in Hamilton. The elders got to have a look around the office and see how it will be used and how it will, by God’s grace, help our church be more effective as we reach out with the glorious gospel of Jesus.

As we met, we spent time praying and looked at Psalm 1 together, and were reminded of the priority of God’s word in our lives as individuals and as a church.

During the meeting we did various things like; looking at how we’re going budget-wise at this point in the year, and helping Greg think about what might be the next possible staff appoints in the future. We also discussed some of the legal implications for the association now we have office space. And finally we admitted nine new members to the church association! Praise God for his good gifts!

Below is an email I just received from Hope Myanmar Partnership. Please be praying for Lincoln’s family…

Hi all.

Lincoln’s father Edward had a heart attack yesterday and is in intensive care. Doctors said that one of the arteries has blocked and his heart rate has been up and down. His BP is down to 70/40.

Lincoln said he was seeming a bit better this morning, so we are hopeful of a recovery.

Please pray for him and his family!

Edward is an amazing Man of God. The following is an excerpt from the HMP website:

Edward’s Story
Edward grew up in Falam - a small village of about 20 houses in the north west of Myanmar. He is the eldest son of a chief man. He went to school in a larger village, about three days walk from home. As a teenager, Edward came to learn about Jesus through missionaries and became the first of his village to become a Christian. Edward moved to Yangon to study the bible at BDS (now Myanmar Institute of Theology). On completing his Bachelor of Theology, he returned to his home as the first of the Falam tribe to hold a Christian Seminary degree. Edward then worked as a bible instructor and went on to be general secretary of the Zomi Baptist Convention and later, the general secretary of the Falam Baptist Association. In 1978, Edward moved with his wife and children to Yangon.

Edwards love for literature and his desire to make Christ known throughout his country led him to translate many works from English into his native tongue. Edward has translated over 400 hymns. He created the first translation of the New Testament in the Falam Chin language. He has since translated many other books into Falam.

Thank you for your prayers and support.

Ray Palmer
Hope Myanmar Partnership

Well here it is… Scripture vs Ethics #3.

If you are passionate about seeing Scripture in schools then come to my place TONIGHT!! 7.30pm let me know if you need my address. We will be hearing some encouraging Scripture stories, praying and being informed on the Ethics versus Scripture debate and praying some more.

I would love to see you there.

Here is a document which will help you write a letter to voice your opinions on the Scripture vs Ethics debate…

Crafting a letter

I have also included in the above document names and addresses of the relevant people involved so you know who to write your letters to!

I hope this is helpful. Please let me know if you do decide to write a letter - it would be enormously encouraging for me to hear.

See you tonight!

Its very exciting that we’ve been able to get an office for HBC staff and members to come together, share resources and work from. We pray and trust that it’ll help help our church community run more efficiently, in all the things we do in praise of God’s grace.

The office we’re leasing is at 50 Hudson St Hamilton. Ideally we’d like to buy a church building, but we’re still probably a fair way off that, so this will serve as an important interim.

Since its a “church” office, and the church is really a “community of believers in Christ”, we’re hoping that members of the community will be able to help get it ready for use. There’s really two ways you can help if you’re able:

1. Come and help paint or clean the site.
   Thanks to those who came and helped out on Saturday, we really need about 7-8 people to come for a few hours and help apply the second coat (much easier than the first coat ).
   That’s happening tomorrow (Tuesday 8th June). I know not many people are free, put if you are, we’d love some help!
2. Offer Office furniture/utilities.
   Having never really had “an office” HBC now needs things like little garbage bins, a shredder, office desks, power-boards, extension cables, indoor plants, some stackable chairs, a bar fridge, a coffee machine , garage-style shelves, and that sort of thing. If you think you have something that we might be able to use, please contact Dave Moore with your suggestion.

Of course, a great way to help would be to join us in asking God to allow this office (and any facilities we use now or in the future) to greatly improve our ability as a church community to work together and see thousands of people saved and built-up in Newcastle, through the work of the Holy Spirit.

Our missionaries who we support at HBC are part of our church family, even if we don’t get to see them face to face regularly! It’s a great privilege we have to be able to partner with them in their ministry and one of the best ways we can be supporting them is by praying for them!

You can click here to hear about the changes (again!) which the Taylors have gone through and their personal African safari! Click here to hear more about Kingsley Boxes questions about the existence of God. And click here to hear about Lyndal Webb’s adventures on Epi Island running literacy workshops…