Red Spider Nebula:-Hubble
You never look good trying to make someone else look bad. Unknown
TWW posts on ACBC: The length of this list shows my devotion to exposing the problems with this movement.
- Part 1: The Biblical Counseling Movement and Timberlake Baptist Church and Counseling Center
- What is the Difference Between Nouthetic and Biblical Counseling? Just the Spelling.
- Biblical Counseling Training: Inadequate Education, Problematic Resources and Questionably Educated Leaders
- Heath Lambert Channels Martin Luther (As If) and Writes the 95 Theses of Biblical Counseling
- Heath Lambert’s 95 Theses of Biblical Counseling Reminds Me of Bob’s Advice in Stranger Things 2: It’s All Easy Peasy.
- John Piper and Heath Lambert of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors Views of the Mind Demonstrate Why We Have a Problem With the Biblical Counseling Movement
- Biblical Counseling: Anyone Can Do It, Sin Is the Focus, Confidentiality Is Not Guaranteed and Women Should Beware
- Another Reason to Avoid Biblical Counseling: Confidentiality Is Not Guaranteed When Sin™ Is Involved
- Julie’s Story, Part 1: Of Domestic Abuse, Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, and Cross Walk Church, Appleton, WI
- Julie’s Story Part 2: Shame on ACBC and Cross Walk Pastors. They Failed Julie and Then Blamed Her For Not Reporting Child Abuse Sooner
- Association of Certified Biblical Counselors and Southern Baptist Theological Seminary: People With Delusions May Be Faking It and Christians With Schizophrenia Are Probably Not Christians!
I believe that most people who want to become *biblical counselors* are nice people who want to help others. However, due to the shoddy training that they receive, they are not prepared for the difficult cases that will inevitably come their way. When I decided I wanted to help people by becoming a nurse, I was downright naive. I didn’t know a thing about sterile technique, how to care for wounds, how to assess a patient’s ability to give assent to a procedure, etc. I didn’t know about septic shock, postpartum infections, how to care for a patient on a ventilator, and on and on and on. I attended a BSN program that was certified by the state and by the nursing association. I spent four years taking courses from anatomy and physiology to critical care nursing. I spent long days working on the floors of hospitals under expert supervision. I watched classmates fail and be unable to finish their course of study. This went on for four years. Then, I was required to pass an exam given by the state to make sure I had enough education to be safe to practice. When I entered the profession, I was green and needed supervision. However, on the day I encountered my first child abuse case, I was ready. I also had a supervisor who reviewed my actions and advised me of some steps I hadn’t considered taking. I eventually became an experienced nurse in this area.
My fellow friends who liked social work followed a similar course of study to obtain a Masters of Social Work. Their 5-6 years of training prepared them for the day they first encountered child abuse and domestic violence. Many of them had supervisors to support them and review their case files in the beginning.
It is my opinion that the ACBC counselor who completes the course of training (see links above) is woefully unprepared for the breadth and depth of the counseling issues that may be presented in their churches. In the above links, I wrote about what I believe to be the inadequate education that is offered to people who pursue certification through the ACBC group. It is particularly startling to me that the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary encourages its Masters of Counseling students to pursue *certification* through the ACBC program. The certification is meaningless for those who know better. The only ones who think such certification matters are those in churches who are uneducated as to the training (or lack thereof.)
Think about it. ACBC will certify Masters of Counseling students from SBTS as well as Aunt Minnie who hasn’t received any relevant education at all. Does this make any sense? Jay Adams wrote a book called Competent to Counsel. I read that book a long time ago. When I finished, I thought “This man is incompetent to counsel!” Back then I was concerned about the lack of training. I still am. Don’t get me wrong. We all counsel our friends and children in their day to day lives. We are there for their ups and downs and are their stalwart supporters during times of crisis. But, and this is a big but, unless we have specific training we are not prepared to offer advice in difficult situations. We can be supportive but no much more. However, difficult and complex situations need trained experts.
Please read the post in the list above that deals with the embarrassingly sparse training these folks get. Then, they are thrown into incompetent churches with authority-driven pastors who offer inadequate advice, supervision, and expertise. I have a feeling that there are many instances of insufficient and dangerous counseling going on in these churches in which pastors actually believe that people are faking delusions! (See my last post in the above list.)
What do we know about those in charge of ACBC? They are All men with theological degrees and no intensive psychological training.
They don’t have one person on their board or running their organization who have anything more than some sort of theological degree. I decided to check out these MEN (no women allowed) to prevent you, dear reader, from having to check them out, I looked at all of the men who are trustees of this august institution. Not one of them has training outside of seminaries. None of them have any medical training or a Ph.D. in psychology yet they claim to say that people with delusions are faking it and people with schizophrenia are not Christians. (See the previous post, linked above.) This is worrisome, both for the average counselor in the church as well as for the one being counseled.
Do these pastors and instructors support the people who get certified by their program?
Julie’s experience is indicative of the serious problem inherent in this system. It is important to understand that there is no licensure that is recognized by any group outside of the church. This is a standard made up of a bunch of pastors who themselves have no standardized training. Yet they use the word *certified* to make it sound legitimate.
Julie, as a woman, was trained by her church to be directly responsible to the pastors of the church and to her husband. This sort of teaching is supported by ACBC. The following is from a post linked above.
2. Husbands are an authority to which the wives must submit. Think about this in terms of abuse.
Biblical counselors must help their counselees submit to legitimate authority in the context of the home. God has called husbands and fathers to exercise spiritual authority in the home, seeking the welfare of those in his care. God has also called wives to be submissive to their husbands and children to be submissive to the authority of their parents. These authority structures are an incredible blessing when discharged faithfully. Biblical counselors will help family members honor these sources of authority appropriately throughout the various stages of life.
3. The counselor must stress submission of the client to spiritual authority.Think about this in terms of abuse.
Biblical counselors must help their counselees to submit to the authority of their church. God has gifted his church with ministers to shepherd the souls of his people. These shepherds have real spiritual authority that must be followed when it is discharged biblically. Biblical counselors see this authority as a blessing from God given for the good of his people, and therefore endeavor to help their counselees embrace it.
4. Confidentiality is definitely not guaranteed. Make sure you understand this. It appears they are claiming that submission to authority potentially means that the counselor could tell a pastor, church leader, or a husband. Abuse should be reported to the state but this clause gives a much broader audience who can receive reports. Caveat Emptor, folks!
Biblical counselors must also make clear to their counselees that a commitment to biblical authority requires the disclosure of certain kinds of information to certain parties. A biblical commitment to protect counselees from harm as well as commitments to the authority of the home, church, and or state may require disclosure of information that counselees would otherwise prefer to remain private.
Julie was put between a rock and a hard place: She was blamed by ACBC for following her pastors (which is supported in their teachings.) Her ACBC pastors, who allegedly told her not to report the abuse, were let off the hook by the pastor-centric ACBC.
Julie functioned as a counselor in her church system which taught her to be in submission to her pastors. The pastors allegedly did not want her to report her concerns to the authorities about Gutenberger’s daughter. Her church’s membership statement said she is to submit to those pastors. Here is a quote from the church’s membership statement that Julie sent to Stuart Scott.
Notice that these verses teach that the godly leaders are placed “over” Christians who are commanded to submit to their leadership with respect. Some might argue that these believers are to submit with respect only when their godly leaders teach them obedience to overt biblical commands. However, a closer look at the text gives us a better view. If the issue were the clear commands of Scripture, then it only stands to reason that the text would have said something like “obey the scripture as your leaders teach it to you”. However, because the text says nothing about submission to the scripture but simply states that Christians are to obey and submit to their leaders who keep watch over their souls, we can accurately deduce that there are things which are\not clearly taught in Scripture which Christians should respectfully submit to
Julie submitted her concerns to ACBC. She received a series of letters from Stuart Scott of ACBC saying she should have reported to the authorities anyway since that is the position of ACBC. However, ACBC plays both ends against the middle. A woman is to obey her pastors but then the woman is to obey ACBC which says her pastor is the head of the church. Confused much?
The pastors said that she should not report the abuse to the authorities. When she reported this to ACBC, Stuart Scott claimed it was not the responsibility of the pastors to report because they did not have first-hand knowledge. Yet, Julie pointed out that the ACBC standards say otherwise.
Something very important to note is this quote from their ACBC standards that Stuart included:
“• If there is a claim of, the observance of, or clear reasonable cause to suspect the emotional, physical or sexual abuse of a child with whom Counselor comes into contact or who is associated with someone to whom Counselor is in contact with, reasonable measures may be taken to ensure the child’s protection and to fulfill the legal mandate to report such harm to the appropriate governmental protection agencies.”
This right here shows that Pastor Pat had a DIRECT responsibility to report the abuse of Gutenberger’s daughter to authorities according to ACBC’s own standards. I was being used as a scapegoat. They are clearly blame shifting his responsibili
Scott spoke with the pastors from Cross Walk. He refused to share with Julie what the pastors told him, claiming the pastors thought it unwise. In other words, Julie had no right to know what the pastors said! ACBC appears to be protecting the good old pastors’ network.
Did Stuart Scott threaten Julie and let the pastors off the hook? Seems so to me.
Julie shared this correspondence with Stuart Scott.
(ed. note:Stuart to Julie) “I think that I should also take the opportunity to be sure you are clear about reporting. You said: “I did not report this to CPS until TEN MONTHS LATER when I left the church in September, 2019.”
The underlined portion of our Standard of Conduct IX indicates that your reasoning for not reporting does go against Scripture and our Standards, which require that if any authority is telling one to go against what God requires, he or she are to “…obey God rather than man.” (Acts 5:29). Since the law requires that a counselor report a concern immediately, you were not in compliance with the laws of the state nor ACBC Standards during your time of not reporting. I thought this would be information you would want to know for discreetness going forward. Hopefully, (and we rather assume) this has since been clearer to you, for your protection and that of others.”
(Ed. note:Julie I immediately felt threatened. To me, that said, “you better be silent or you will be the one in trouble.” Was Stuart really intimidating me into shutting up? Yes, I think so.
I replied one more time. I told him that I was glad he agreed that this was something that should be reported. I said I wasn’t hiding from my responsibility here and that I was looking forward to him answering the rest of my questions. There has been no reply.
This response by Scott was disturbing to me. The pastors were protected. Julie was left hanging in the wind. She was trained to submit her to her pastors and then told she wasn’t supposed to do this.
Julie was an untrained counselor who was put at the mercy of a system that is woefully inadequate and self-contradictory. Women can be counselors but are to be submitted to their pastors. They are also expected her to handle a highly complex case of child abuse without sufficient training. To make matters worse, the church encouraged her to remain in an abusive relationship with her husband for years before she finally stopped listening to the pastors. She left her abusive marriage, reported the abuse to Child Protective Services, and reported her ACBC pastors to ACBC whICH did absolutely nothing except blame her. But then again, the ACBC system is set up by pastors and ruled by pastors. Guess who was protected and guess who’ was thrown under the bus in this system? Guests who is protected in this system and guess who is expendable? And guess what little girl who continued to be abused while the boys were rubbing each others’ backs?
I would highly recommend that people think twice before becoming ACBC counselors unless they like the view of the road from under the bus.
I called both the church and ACBC’s Stuart Scott. I received no answer.
FYI: There are more developments regarding this situation and we will keep readers informed.
“(no women allowed)”
Birds don’t fly on one wing.
Second. 😀
“Scott spoke with the pastors from Cross Walk. He refused to share with Julie what the pastors told him, claiming it would be unwise. In other words, Julie had no right to know what the pastors said! ACBC appears to be protecting the good old pastors’ network.”
+++++++++++++++++++++
unwise??
reminds me of rzim saying, “Since RZIM was not a party to the agreement, it is not able to alter it, and his family does not feel it proper to alter it without Ravi’s knowledge or consent.”
proper??
how embarrassing for them, trying to hide behind such see-through words, with such self-righteous pomp and circumstance.
times up. time is so up for lying, deceiving christian manipulators in high places.
Just an administrative note.
If you put up links to videos without a reasonably detailed description of what the video is about the comment could be held for a while. Reviewing videos to make sure they do not go against the rules of the road takes a lot of time and thus is not a high priority.
GBTC
“ACBC appears to be protecting the good old pastors’ network”
Of course! These are New Calvinists … safeguarding the dudebro network supersedes ministry to others.
“Have a seat and tell me what’s bothering you…”
“I see…”
“Tell me more…”
“How did that make you feel?”
“Put your check on the counter… see you tomorrow.”
====
What’s so hard about counseling?
Do you want to go with that?
“It hurts when I push here”
“Well, don’t push there”
“Leave your check on the way out”
Agreed.
elastigirl,
The *unwise* thing got me as well. The Anglican pastor( in the church I went to after leaving my Baptist church with the abuse) said he spoke with my former pastor and said we needed to go and *reconcile* with hiwm.I asked him what the pastor said. He told me that it was *confidential.* I said I had no intentions of doing so until that pastor apologized for the mess he made of the abuse situation. Needless to say, we are not Anglican today!
Sympathetic listening to people vent is not operationally difficult (though I find that it tries my patience — a deficiency in me, I’m sure), but I think it takes a great deal of skill to go beyond that to being actually helpful to people who are in distress. “Case wisdom” is not readily gained in the classroom, and it sounds like ACBC certification requirements (IIRC from a prior TWW post, the number of supervised hours of counseling required for certification is ludicrously low by the standards of secular psychology and state licensure of practitioners of recognized counseling methods) allow people to become “certified” long before they have accumulated significant case wisdom. So in many cases these people are practicing their form of talk therapy without enough wisdom to even have a sense of how ignorant they still might be.
Even if one granted, for the sake of argument, that the counseling method could have value (from my exposure to Bettler/Powlison style BC training, in the late ’90s through late ’00s, at CCEF’s lay extension at WTS, I think that it can be useful in cases where there is not an underlying pathology), it looks like these counselors are in effect still “student trainees”. It is a bit anxiety-inducing to contemplate how much harm they might do while gaining the “case wisdom” that they should have had before becoming “certified.”
Perhaps it should be called “AACBC”, the “association of association-certified biblical counselors.”
From Stuart Scott’s response to Julie: “you were not in compliance with the laws of your state” regarding waiting so long to report.
Looks like clergy are mandated reporters in Wisconsin (https://dcf.wisconsin.gov/cps/mandatedreporters). I hope Scott had a similar conversation with Julie’s pastor, who it seems never bothered reporting at all.
And honestly, since when do Christians hide behind “the laws of your state.” The stronger imperative should have been “because it was in the best interest of the children,” not because “oo, the state boogeyman tells me to.”
Come on, Stuart. Christians should be better than this.
Wild Honey,
Agreed.
OTOH, I don’t think there’s a simple crystal-clear and unambiguous proof text that one could cite to justify
“because it was in the best interest of the children,”
Perhaps it’s a similar dynamic to the way that client confidentiality is sacrificed to the perceived “need to know” of the local church authority system.
I’m afraid that proof-texting familiarity with the Scriptures is not an adequate substitute for wisdom.
Doesn’t sound very pastoral! We need more folks like Jesus in the ministry, who said things like: “When the Spirit of Truth comes, He will guide you into all Truth. He will not speak on His own but will tell you what He has heard” (John 16:13). Perhaps the ministry is confused about what it can and cannot say because the Spirit of Truth is not resting on it.
Max, if Jesus came to wartburg, he would invariably be in the dog house in short order.
Yes… I’m sorry, I’m not quite sure what “OTOH” is for… While I think there are plenty of parallels one could offer from scripture of God’s care and concern for the vulnerable, I’m not trying to say that Scott should have cut-and-pasted a verse into his response as a superior debate tactic. I’m trying to say his priorities are misplaced if he’s (allegedly) more concerned about whether Julie is following the letter of the law than whether she is adequately trained and supported in helping protect the vulnerable (using her “wisdom,” as you call it).
In today’s climate, Most pastors authority ends at the church driveway.
As HUG might say, the “party” is alway right, so of course the ACBA head honchos will throw Julie under the bus to protect their “party”.. A clear illogical situation has been ripped open in their system, but since their system is the “true Biblical system” someone has to be blamed… not the ‘party”… so run over Julie. However, Julie did not play nice and go away quietly, she has exposed the world to how “dysfunctional” this system is…
Sigh, the depravity just keeps continuing…. and kids are abused….
– silencing women
– silencing witnesses of DV & CSA
– covenants with legal obligation to a local church
– now this, science denial, behavioral science, that is
– and canceling the opportunity for licensed professional counseling
… thus destroying the agency of the individual.
God created man & woman with agency; Jesus died to restore personal agency (to choose salvation: personal choice); the Holy Spirit is promised to each individual for individual guidance, no middleman.
Destroying individual agency of adults is predation. Not church.
(The goal of licensed professional counseling, if indeed professional, is for greater personal agency, not to negate/destroy personal agency. There are laws designed to prevent professional counselors from overreach with their clients.)
Anybody with ACBC “credentials” only is utterly unqualified to counsel anyone on anything except maybe on where to find parking space in their neighbourhood. I would even suggest that the ACBC “seal of approval” should make anyone who needs help run for their life.
They make people sign the following
Or, in non-Christianese language, we do not want to put in the years of graft it takes to learn, and to acquire real credentials from accredited institutions. We also do not like to work hard and think hard for our clients, a few Bible verses and Biblical™ platitudes should be enough.
Now it turns out that those “accredited” by ACBC are not only a danger to the people needing help, but that the ACBC “top dogs” are also a danger to those naïve enough to think that they have actually learned something worthwhile and helpful in counseling.
Mohler is educated enough to know it is a sham, just like his affirmation of a young earth cannot be taken seriously, but if it serves his quest for influence and power …
Certain reversals last year in another field which will not be spoken of in this blog seem to fall in the same category.
There’s a spectrum. I know of (and personally know one) people who did both — studied BC (in this case, at WTS) and learned a State-recognized secular counseling methodology and pursued the demanding path required to obtain State licensure. That is a “hard row to hoe” and it may be that most would-be BCers are reluctant to follow that path. But if the primary remunerative employment option is to work for a church that will expect you to serve a “surveillance and control of the flock” agenda, … I weep for the counselors, too. That’s IMO a morally corrosive kind of work environment.
Julie Zepnick,
And we support you…
So, ACBA, which is it…. women councelors report to their “male leadership”, or the authorities? And, why aren’t the male authorities responsible to report to the legal authorities? If women are to report to the legal authorities, why do they need to report to their “male authorities”?? Stuart Scott just admitted, by telling Julie she “should have reported to legal authorities” that women DO have the independent “agency” to act on their own… if so, then why report to their “male leadership” at all??
How many times have we seen inconsistency and double standard as far as rendering unto Caesar versus keeping things that crossing to the civil and criminal realm under the purview of the “storehouse“ shepherds?
Sopy
I am getting tired of listening to all of the youtube videos for approval. Christmas song, really? It’s late January and even Russian Orthodox Christmas is over. Please make a comment and only an occasional video.I am not approving the Chritmas songs. This is getting to0 much.
Jeffrey Chalmers,
Great comment! If you notice the* trustees* you will note that they are all male. The 3 women are admin assts and *content* manager. I guess there s something in the Bible which says that women are not be allowed in organizational positions of influence. I’m sure Jesus is quite proud of them…
Someday, you might want to tell your story of abuse as a child.as you process everything. And you know where to post it. I am so sorry.
Gus,
Thank you Gus for your thoughtful comment. I cannot understand how a man like Mohler who CJ Mahaney said is the *smartest man on the planet* or something like that puts up with this stuff. I have to beleivevthat he is not as smart as is claimed.ACBC has set up a system which is pastor-centric and puts the control structure in the hands of pastors who have not taken the time to become educated in this area. This is all about control. Lambert, who basically started ACBC made sure to get rid of the last psychologist at SBTS. The story is in the above linked posts.
Sòpwith,
Cut it out, Sopy. I’m getting irritated.
I’m a product of this nouthetic counseling after Billy was raped. It was the most horrible experience of our lives. They actually for a moment got me apologizing, asking forgiveness from God for my attitude towards the situation, for not being forgiving, to actually talking me down from giving the victim impact statement. To this day that is my biggest regret not showing up to do the victim impact statement and asking the judge for restitution for the damages in medical bills that still to this day have not been paid. They had people from my grow groups several families close to us, elders wives, deacons, elders, and the pastor literally working me over and I had no idea. In that moment I just wanted help for my son and thought they were right but deep down having this sense of justice rise up each time saying it’s not right. Anyways the nouthetic counseling is so dangerous and is like being spiritually and emotionally assaulted. Especially after you realize what is happening. It took me 7 months to wake up! I woke up after I read a letter I was going to send to the elders about the situation and as I read I couldn’t believe what I was saying. I was apologizing, asking forgiveness, just all the garbage they were feeding us I was regurgitating. As soon as I read my words I wanted to vomit so I tore it up. At this time I hadn’t spoken to Dee yet! All I can say is she was literally a divine appointment once we connected. This site , Dee, all of you here helped connect dots that were missing. I couldn’t understand fully what had happened. I spent over a year listening again to every sermon our former “pastor” had online trying to figure out how in the world I could have missed it! I’m not easily duped , I’m independent and have been single for 16 years. I am educated and have attended Bible College. I’m a smart gal not one who just follows. I say this because a lot of people find themselves in situations like ours and fall for it hook line and sinker. Then when we wake up we are left damaged even more realizing that we have been duped. Anyway brothers and sisters I share this not because it affects me the same as before. Trust me! It doesn’t!!! Billy and I are doing pretty good and God has brought healing through TWW, a few friends, Himself, and just time. I’m so grateful to be awake and no longer under the thumb or control of that corporation. I can’t even say church because what this counseling does isn’t the church. Its something more sinister and insidious. Without people like Dee and TWW Christians would be left to figure this out and possible never realize what has happened to them and their families.
Dee is right the counselors start off with good intentions but it seems good intentions do more damage than good. Also in order to counsel people I believe you need to go through an extensive background check, formal training, education and so on. Mental health and serious issues are no place for the church to take on because they have a bible. There is a reason why these churches have you sign legally binding contracts to not sue, to handle in house, to basically give up your civil rights when they screw up or cause people harm that is actionable.
Some counseling clinics also require their own counselors to be in therapy regularly, to keep them on the right track with their own mental health. Practice what they preach!
readingalong,
Absolutely! I’m not all for regulations however in this area a lot of people require specialized counseling which is what Billy received. I was told by Ken the pastor that if it were his son he wouldn’t put him in safe harbor and if it were his son he would be in the room when he was getting counseling. That he wouldn’t trust anything they would say to his child.
This is the specialized care specifically for children of sexual abuse and you can’t just sign up for it. Billy had to go through a recommendation process from the D.A. to the advocates, to them evaluating his forensic interview on video to the hospital assessments, down to the perpetrator’s confession. It was a process and took them three months to get Billy in for specialized counseling. I of course ignored ken and told him that my son would get both regardless of what he thought. That it was my decision and it was final. At this time I already had one foot out the door. It was becoming increasingly clear who the church was advocating for in the matter.
To be honest I think biblical counseling in the respect it’s used today is a flat out JOKE!!! when I hear biblical counseling I picture “control”, manipulation, power over others.
shauna,
Your story is truly horrific, and I’m glad you’ve escaped and found freedom from what can only be described as a sick and twisted religion.
I suspect many others will get wise to this scheme and avoid churches with ACBC “certified” counselors. When the New Calvinists threw priesthood of ‘the’ believer under the bus, they eliminated spiritual counselors who were already in the pew (and they didn’t charge for ministering to others!).
The New Calvinists successfully removed the previous Christocentric system of doing church in SBC. By diminishing the authority of Christ in local churches, they have inserted an illegitimate authority of themselves. Nouthetic counseling is just another avenue to manipulate the spiritual life out of the pew and place them under total submission to the pulpit.
Mahaney said that Mohler has a bigger stack of books than anyone else. Just because you read a lot doesn’t necessarily make you smart. Intellect does not equal wisdom. Mohler obviously didn’t have any discernment when it came to Mahaney. Mohler “puts up with this stuff” because it helps keep him at the top of the SBC pyramid … the Mohlerites accept everything out of his mouth as truth.
I definitely plan to tell more of my story, and I’m grateful that you have given me the opportunity. I have 9 siblings, and we are just now starting to share with each other our stories. How can you heal until you face the truth? You can’t.
Tom Randall and CCC back in the news: https://julieroys.com/group-asks-ohio-megachurch-make-good-reconciliation/
I went to a mental health counselor, bawled my eyes out on her couch, and it took weeks of appointments and her mentioning it several times that I was able to come around to maybe trying an anti-depressant might not be a bad idea and would I like an appointment with a psychiatrist? So it’s more than just listening to people talk, it’s trying to show different paths to take.
And that is why NONE of these ACBC counselors are state licensed in any way whatsoever. It’s because the “counselors” would actually have to abide by secular ethics rules, keep SOAP notes, have confidentiality–and I’m sure many other things. Claiming the counseling is religious in nature gets their bad actions out from deserved scrutiny. This model was set decades ago at Grace Community Church. There is a court case, dating from around 1990, where the parents of a young man who killed himself had their case tossed out of court (CA Supreme Court if memory serves) because unlicensed church counseling is essentially religious and the state cannot hold the churches responsible in tort or anything else for that matter. Basically, the court punted based on doctrine.
It’s a huge, huge loophole, it’s been there for decades, the people at ACBC know it exists, they use it to their advantage and to the absolute disadvantage of alleged “clients.” /sorry not sorry for rant.
Absolutely disgusting how Julie was treated. It was all about controlling the situation by controlling her.
If my weakness can overcome your strength, I own you.
That’s the dynamic behind “Tyranny of the Most Easily Offended.”
And its Christian coat of paint, “Tyranny of the Professional Weaker Brethren.”
JUST LIKE SCIENTOLOGY!
Trending…Many churches have simply stopped counseling their parishioner membership due to potential liability issues. Have a happy new year, lack of music videos not withstanding…
Any ennetity or organization becomes a potential tyranny when you are not permitted to challenge its assumptions.
There is concern with the broad brush you presently, at times, paint with. Could you please be more specific when individuals and church establishments names are mentioned in the future? victims of implied generalizations are unbecoming.