Did you ever visit a church
and there was so much happening, you didn’t know where to direct your attention? Many church leaders are working hard to address the varying needs of the members in their community. Our busy lives resemble those churches – we aren’t certain where to direct our attention or time, and we lose focus due to so many competing demands. We sometimes end up feeling discouraged, disconnected and disappointed.
Looking beyond the church,
if we really knew what was happening behind the closed doors of our friends, family and communities, we would find that we are surrounded by broken relationships, addictions, abuses, loss, depression and anxiety, spiritual malaise, marital and family conflict, etc. People want – and need – a safe place to make known what they are experiencing. Counseling and mentoring relationships can support us as we face life’s challenges.
The Lay Counselor Institute
(LCI) is a non-profit organization which exists to support effective biblical lay counseling ministries by training and sustaining lay counselors. LCI identifies and trains gifted individuals in the congregation who are both caring and grounded in their experience of God and His Word for counseling or mentoring ministries. This training incorporates biblical theology and a practical counseling model. We also help churches establish ongoing supervision for their lay counselors with mental health professionals or seasoned lay leaders in the area.
LCI is committed to
offering several levels of training as well as topical workshops for lay helpers, individuals, couples, and parents. In training others, we hope to facilitate healing as well as to develop more meaningful community in and through the local church in the metropolitan D.C. area and beyond.
Lay care and counseling works,
offering real help to those isolated or confused by their struggles. It also deeply touches the lay counselor’s own life and experience of Christ.