Lecturer: Ellen Oosterhuis (the Netherlands)
Time:
April 6, Tuesday (18:00-20:00)
April 7, Wednesday (18:00-20:00)
April 9, Friday (18:00-20:00)
April 12, Monday (18:00-20:00)
April 14, Wednesday (18:00-20:00)
April 16, Friday  (18:00-20:00)

Place: Every participant connects to online live lectures (Zoom) from their homes. Registered students will receive the link.
Language: English, with simultaneous translation channel in Latvian

ABOUT LECTURER

Ellen Oosterhuis is trained for biblical counseling at CCEF (Christian Counseling and Education Foundation) and is working for Gutta Spei which is an organization providing Biblical counseling of (young) adults, couples and families. Before that she was working as a psychologist and Cognitive Behavioural Therapist at Eleos.

Ellen is married and a mother of four.

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Biblical counseling – is it just for the pastors and elders? Or for trained professionals? What does it look like to restore counseling to the local church? The purpose of this course is to:
• to broaden students’ understanding of counseling to include all relationships;
• to build a thoroughly biblical understanding of the local church as a ministering community where everyone plays a part;
• to help students find their place of ministry within the context of the local church and to help others do the same;
• to see the importance of both public and private ministry of the Word and how they interrelate;
• to examine present ministry opportunities.
Topics covered include a biblical foundation for private ministry of the Word; the role of community and relationships in the process of sanctification; developing a practical ecclesiology; and developing an eye for ministry opportunities such as conflict resolution, evangelism, and church discipline.

REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS:

1.      Class attendance

2.      Required Reading:

• “How people change”, Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp.
• “Speaking Truth in Love”, David Powlison.

Optional reading:
– “Life Together”, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
– “Relationships: A Mess Worth Making”, Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp.

3.    Two home assignments during the course and one final essay to combine home assignments with the teaching during the class.

4.      Final Exam: two case studies, and some questions on the reading and teaching during class.

INFORMATION:

Janis Perkons, phone +371 26356030, janis@brts.edu.lv