The first part of the course introduces the students to counselling as a central ministry of the church. Issues related to the counselling conversation will be emphasised using insights from psychology, sociology and pedagogics. A central theme is the issue of how to meet people who find themselves in a difficult situation.
The second part of the course helps students understand how to know oneself and to know God is vital for fruitful Christian ministry. Through different spiritual disciplines students will gain understanding of self-care in ministry, engage in a biblical theology of spiritual formation and sanctification, and with the help of assessments instruments and a personal narrative, reflect on their own strengths, weaknesses, and personalities.
Teaching amounts to 30 hours of classroom instruction and up to 10 hours of group sessions. In Counselling the students will be divided into groups where they will be challenged to share their personal faith story and use it as a foundation for developing their own profile and identity as counsellors. Students must attend up to 10 group sessions and write a 2000-word paper in which they reflect on how their personal faith story influences on their identity as counsellors.
Lifeline narrative: During the first part of the course each student will be required to write a lifeline narrative which should summarize your faith story and Gods providential work in your life.
In Spiritual Growth students will be exposed to a variety of spiritual disciplines during this course that are designed to help them deepen their relationship with God and others. Each student must engage one spiritual practice/discipline per week and do that spiritual discipline at least five times during that week. Each student will fill out a spiritual discipline log weekly. Logs will be available at the start of the course. At least four weeks of practicing spiritual disciplines is required. Deadlines are given at the start of the semester.
Knowledge
The students have:
- knowledge of the biblical foundation for pastoral counselling and its theological justification.
- knowledge of and ability to discuss central aspects of the counselling conversation when meeting people in different phases of life and in different cultural contexts.
- knowledge of challenges connected with identity and self-image.
- knowledge on selected spiritual disciplines.
Skills
The students can:
- identify key problems that bring people to counselling.
- reflect on identity formation and personal faith story.
- understand better how to grow and mature in Christ with the help of spiritual disciplines/spiritual practices.
- reflect on God´s work in their lives to the present and, through various assessments, gain a deeper and more refined sense of their personal characteristics.
To be eligible for final assessment you must:
- Attend a minimum of 70 % of the lectures (cf. chap. 5.5)
* Students who don’t complete the attendance requirement, must retake the course the next time it is offered.
* See the document “Attendance Regulations for Fjellhaug International University College” for more details.
The final assessment of this course portfolio assessment. To submit the portfolio, the following course requirements must be completed.
Course Requirements:
To receive final assessment, you must:
- Complete four weeks of practicing spiritual disciplines and submit a log for each week (minimum 500 words each).
- Attend group sessions.
Deadlines for submission are given at the start of the semester.
There are no extra attempts if you don’t complete the four weeks of practicing spiritual disciplines or do not attend group sessions.
Final Assessment:
| Form of assessment | Grading scale | Comment |
| Portfolio | Pass/Fail | A paper in Counselling (2000 words), and a paper containing a lifeline narrative (1000-1500 words). Final assessment is based on the portfolio. |
The course will be graded Pass or Fail.
If you fail to pass, you may submit a revised version of the portfolio in the period for new and postponed exams.
Some readings are available digitally on the school’s learning management system (LMS) and are marked with *.
*Augsburger, D. W. & Malony, N. H. (2007). Christian Counselling. An Introduction. Abingdon Press, pp. 50-67 (18 pages)
*Collins, G. R. (2007). Christian Counselling A Comprehensive Guide. (3rd ed). Thomas Nelson, pp. 3-118 (116 pages)
McGrath, A. (1999). Christian Spirituality: An Introduction. Wiley-Blackwell, pp. 1-174
Hunsinger, D. Van Deusen. (2006). Pray without Ceasing: Revitalizing Pastoral Care. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co. pp. 1-244
