By Chris O’Rear The work of CBF-Endorsed Pastoral Counselors is rarely the headline of CBF communications, as the work of the pastoral counselor is confidential and usually occurs behind closed doors. We are not able to share much about our clients and their stories and we do not share photos of us doing our work. … Continue reading
January 17, 2020 By Jeff Huett Gerry Hutchinson, who has served as the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship’s Chaplaincy and Pastoral Counseling Manager since January 2014, has announced that he will retire later this year. Under Hutchinson’s leadership, CBF endorsed nearly 200 chaplains and pastoral counselors, including CBF’s 1,000th endorsement in 2016. Over his tenure, Hutchinson increased … Continue reading
By Rev. Elizabeth Denham Thompson As a pastoral counselor and a congregational consultant, I have facilitated quite a few retreats, trainings, and workshops over the years, and am trained in crisis response work. So, when the email arrived from CBF at the end of September, asking if any endorsed counselors were available to be spiritual … Continue reading
By Ashleigh Bugg In June of 2019, Mary Nell McCoy co-led the first Disaster Spiritual Care training as a part of the CBF General Assembly in Birmingham. The Disaster Spiritual Care program is used to train chaplains to work with teams deploying to help people during crisis and disasters. According to McCoy, the DSC chaplains minister to emotional … Continue reading
In my work with CBF in the area of reference and referral, it can get pretty discouraging for both myself and for women pastors who are seeking places of service. Openness to the whole idea seems to come pretty slowly to our churches. I often hear, “I don’t think our church is ready for that.” Continue reading
Dozens of men and women each year are making the decision to have the CBF be there endorsing body because they believe in the work of the CBF. Shouldn’t their affiliation with CBF be a relational interaction of mutual care and support? Continue reading
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