Instructor: Dr. Andrew H. Selle (assisted by Mrs. Dawna S. Selle)
Time: October 2 – 6, 2023, (18:00 – 21:00) Riga time

Place: On-line on Zoom (registered students will receive the link)
With simultaneous translation channel in Latvian and Russian

Course description

Pastors and other church leaders are called to minister the Word of God to both the church and the world. This ministry takes place both “publicly” (preaching) and “house to house” (privately—what we call today “counseling” – Acts 20:20; 1 Thes 5:14). Christian counseling, then, is a particular type of Word-based ministry to suffering people who need comfort and to sinners who need the Savior. Today’s church needs counselors who deeply know God’s grace, whose own lives are being transformed by the Word, and who can therefore wisely and lovingly apply the Word to others. This course gives an overview of key biblical principles, and we want class participants to learn them and to personally apply them.

INSTRUCTORS

Rev. Dr. Andrew H. Selle, director of Christian Counseling & Mediation, a ministry based in New England in the USA. Ordained (1984) as a pastor in an evangelical Presbyterian church. Memberships: Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, Level II; certification with The Institute for Christian Conciliation. D.Min. (1985) & M.Div. (1979) Westminster Theological Seminary, A.B. Oberlin College (1973).

Co-counselor and conciliator: Dawna S. Selle, certification with The Institute for Christian Conciliation. B.A. Temple University (1977).

Dr. Selle and his wife, Dawna, were trained at Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation, and have a special concern for resolving family and church conflicts in biblical and effective ways that honor Christ.

TOPICS TO BE COVERED

1. Theological Foundation for Counseling

A. What is “Counseling”?  “Biblical” Counseling or “Christian” Counseling?
B. Who are we?  “Sufferers,” “Sinners,” and “Saints”
C. Where are we? Counseling and the New Covenant
D. How do we know?  Guidance & Worldview

2. The Process of Change in Counseling

A.  How Sinners Change:  Defective vs. Biblical Approaches to Sanctification
B.  The Heart of Change:  Idols vs. the Living God
C.  The Big Picture of Change:  Climate, Fruit, and Root
D.  Change on Every Level:  Making Sense of the Data of Life
         (Physiological, Emotional, Action, Conceptual, Experience)

3. Specific Applications

A.  Anger
B.  Fear
C. Conflict resolution
D. Other issues of interest to class participants

4. Marriage Counseling

A.  Thumbnail Theology of Marriage
B.  Marriage Counseling Outline

COURSE REQUIREMENTS FOR STUDENTS:

1. Attendance at all classes – lectures and discussions (unless valid reason for absence).

2. Required readings

2.1. Journal and internet articles (~200 pages),
2.2. “How people change” Timothy S. Lane, Paul David Tripp.

3) “Open-book” exam – short answers and case study analysis based on course lectures and readings.

4) Personal reflection paper (2-3 pages) applying the material to your own Christian growth.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

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