Alan Londy

The Spiritual Check-up As a Means of Pastoral Counseling: a New Approach to Clergy-congregant Relationships Alan Londy

Congregants most often come to clergy because they seek to fix something in their lives. They have experienced some form of disappointment, hurt, conflict, loss, suffering or trauma. This dimension of pastoral counseling can be a profound source of comfort and healing. THE SPIRITUAL CHECK-UP AS A MEANS OF PASTORAL COUNSELING: A New Approach to Clergy/Congregant Relationships offers an approach to pastoral counseling which is built on a growth model instead of problem/solution model. This book describes how clergy can offer to their congregants a yearly spiritual checkup as a means of helping the congregant to assess their spiritual journey. In this role, people come to clergy not because anything is wrong but instead they seek assistance in their spiritual journey towards faith, growth and fullfillment. The yearly check-up has its theological foundation in the process in Judaism called in Hebrew Cheshbon Hanefesh, a spiritual accounting. The forty days leading up to Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, are intended to be days of introspection. This book describes how clergy can be partners in this process of spiritual accounting for people of all faith.