Soul Care Culture: Developing a Church-Wide Culture of Biblical Soul Care

Biblical Counseling Ministries
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Welcome to Soul Care Culture, a podcast by Biblical Counseling Ministries. Join our founder, Mike Hanson, as he engages in meaningful conversations to glorify God and empower church leaders like you to cultivate a church-wide culture of biblical SoulCare. Gain valuable insights, strategies, and resources to create a community of care and transformation in your church. 

  1. 2D AGO

    Episode 67: The Church's Call to Counsel (with Dr. Dale Johnson)

    When life falls apart, where do believers run? For many, the church is their last resort. The culture has offered rival explanations for our biggest problems, deepest needs, and the path forward to change. Overwhelmed pastors have accepted the counterfeits, hoping that licensed therapists will provide a balm for their hurting flock.  What if we were never meant to outsource soul care? What if biblical care and counsel was intended to be so much more than a counseling program at church? As pastors and church leaders, we need to take responsibility for the ways we have given in to the cultural definitions and return to the unchanging Word of the Maker, Redeemer, and Wonderful Counselor. The Bible addresses all the issues we experience in life from the primary perspective of how we live in relation to God. The church is not only the best institution equipped to bear the burdens of soul care, but the only one to which God has given the responsibility to minister to the problems in a believer’s life.  In this episode, Dr. Dale Johnson unpacks the call of Biblical discipleship and what this looks like practically for both the shepherds and the flock of the local church. Listen in! Show notes Resources: Truth and Love with ACBC (BOOK) Legal Issues in Biblical Counseling | Dr. Dale Johnson & Ed Wilde (BOOK) The Professionalization of Pastoral Care | Dr. Dale Johnson (BOOK) The Church as a Culture of Care, Finding Hope in Biblical Community | Dr. Dale Johnson (BOOK) Christian Counselors Manual | Jay E. Adams Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    48 min

  2. FEB 3

    Episode 66: The Joy of Repentance: A Testimony of Reconciliation (with Jarrod Bartholomew and Renee Leger)

    Why is it so difficult to go to your church with the struggles of your soul? What does it look like practically for a believer to seek help from their church? How does a pastor respond? Tragically, we have seen a trend that many Christians aren’t even going to the church or God’s word for help. When they do, many pastors feel discouraged and unequipped to respond and they send their flock to licensed therapists hoping that they will offer something to heal the hurting soul. We wanted to give you a tangible example of what it looks like for a believer to seek help from their pastor in a church that has a strong culture of biblical care and counsel.  In this episode, we share a real testimony of the mighty act of God through the power of the Holy Spirit through the wisdom of the Word using a competent, confident counselor. Pastor Jarrod Bartholomew, the lead pastor of Pontiac Bible Church, and Renee Leger, the children’s ministry director, share a story of God’s power and God’s grace.  In this episode, we discuss the hardship of sin, the beauty and freedom of confession, the joyous restoration that can happen in a strong church body of believers who are living in God’s grace, and more! Listen in! Resources: Check out Pontiac Bible Church Show notes Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    39 min

  3. JAN 20

    Episode 65: Psychology and the Chief End of Man (with William Smith)

    How has our culture been influenced by psychology? How has that affected the church? You cannot go very many places in our world and not encounter the definitions and categories that have been handed to us by the psychology establishment. Many Christians- including ourselves as pastors and church leaders- have allowed our anthropology and epistemology to be informed by a broader unbelieving culture: one that has a rival explanation for truth, man, sin, our problems, and the solution. This has had subtle to striking ramifications in how Christians conduct both their formal practice and informal daily discipleship of those around them. William (Bill) Smith joins Kari Gross to discuss how psychology has infiltrated the way Christian people think about themselves and their problems. Bill has pastored several churches, been a faculty member of the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation, and taught practical theology at Westminster Theological Seminary. He is the author of Parenting with Words of Grace, along with numerous other books and booklets. He and his wife, Sally, have three adult children who are married. In this episode, Bill warns about how science, psychology, and culture have impacted the church and offers gospel hope for living in a sinful world with broken bodies, minds, and relationships. Listen in! Resources: Follow William on his Facebook or check out his numerous books on Amazon Listen to our previous episode with Bill: Episode 40: Guiding the Culture of Your Church (with William Smith) Show notes A note to listeners: Bill made a comment at the end of the episode and we recognize it may have confused some listeners. We want to clarify what Bill intended to communicate. He said “Kari, you and I are looking at 70 billion years of life, we have hardly begun to explore who we are and what all God has envisioned for us.” Bill meant this in a future tense as a way of saying, “We are looking at eternal life.” A concrete number often helps people grasp and also be appropriately struck with bewilderment at what eternity means. There is joy we eagerly anticipate in that reality for those in Christ: we are going to have so much time to keep learning and developing and exploring all that God has made, including what He has built into each of us. Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    40 min

  4. JAN 6

    Episode 64: Returning to the Basics (with Dr. Jim Berg)

    If you look out at your church, how many of your flock still have a regular therapist outside of your biblical counseling? Are there those who are addressing their problems through medication? Or do they attribute their issues to a diagnosis of some kind? There’s a common issue we are seeing among churches, and especially in the younger generations, that they would rather turn to earthly wisdom than to Scripture to address the problem areas in their life. Thankfully, my guest has over 50 years of experience in this space and firmly believes that we need to return back to the basics in order to solve it. Dr. Jim Berg is an author, speaker, professor of biblical counseling at BJU Seminary, and founder of Freedom That Lasts, a ministry devoted to equipping churches to counsel those who are hurting or addicted. His certifications include a Master of Arts in Theology, a Doctor of Ministry in Biblical Counseling, and ACBC certification. In this episode, Jim shares about the dangers of putting our faith in a therapeutic culture, why the answer lies in returning to the basics of our belief, what our souls are toiling over, and much more. Listen in! Show Notes: bcmnational.org/jim-berg-64 Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    37 min

  5. 12/23/2025

    Episode 63: A SoulCare Framework (with Chad Nightingale & Kent Kloter)

    Dear pastor, if you’ve been listening to our podcast for a while, you’ve heard us refer to our Customized Blueprint Solution to assist churches in creating a culture of SoulCare. However, you may be wondering what exactly that means or how it looks practically. To help give you a snapshot of how it works, I’ve asked my teammates, Chad Nightingale and Kent Kloter, to join me for a conversation about a church where we implemented our framework for creating a culture of SoulCare. In this episode, we take a look at how Lexington Community Church implemented our framework, the importance of hands-on experience, ways that this framework may benefit your church, and much more. Listen in! Show Notes: bcmnational.org/nightingale-kloter-63 Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    33 min

  6. 12/09/2025

    Episode 62: How to Thrive in the Midst of Ministry (with Dr. Garrett Higbee)

    When I think of leaders, especially leaders in ministry, not only do they have all the pressures and stressors of directing a team, but they also have to grapple with spiritual warfare, the responsibility of guiding their flock, nourishing marriages and families, and so much more. So today, dear pastor, we are discussing how to thrive in the midst of ministry. This conversation comes to you live from the ACBC Conference, where I was joined by Dr. Garrett Higbee. You may recognize his name from a past episode where we explored how to tend to the souls of pastors. In today’s conversation, we’ll start out with some tips for how leaders can thrive, and then in the second half of the conversation, we’ll shift to explore the topic of Garrett’s upcoming book. In this episode, Garrett shares some of the lessons he would hope all leaders would benefit from, ways to remain firmly planted in your ministry and home life, and much more. Listen in! Show Notes: bcmnational.org/garrett-higbee-62 Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    1h 2m

  7. 11/25/2025

    Episode 61: SoulCare™ Through the Ministry of Small Groups (with Scott Mehl)

    We are talking to small group leaders for today’s conversation. Have you ever wondered what your role is as a small group leader? Is it to lead discussions about the latest sermons or to be hospitable and make sure there are good snacks? And just how does small groups intersect with SoulCare™? To help guide us through this discussion and provide wisdom is my guest, Scott Mehl. Scott is the Managing Director of the Institute for Biblical Counseling and Discipleship (IBCD) and a Fellow with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). He is also the Senior Pastor of Cornerstone church in West Los Angeles. Scott is also the author of two books: Loving Messy People and Redeeming Sex in Marriage. In this episode, Scott shares practical ways to show love for people, why many small group leaders experience a lack of confidence, how Scripture contains wisdom for whatever issues we may be facing, and much more. Listen in! Show Notes: bcmnational.org/scott-mehl-61 Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    41 min

  8. 11/11/2025

    Episode 60: Why Pastors Resist Attending a Counseling Conference (with Jonathan Chadbourn)

    We are bringing you this conversation live from the ACBC Conference in Fort Worth, Texas. Each conference has been so encouraging and insightful; however, there is one thing I’ve noticed – not as many pastors are involved enough in their counseling ministry to attend a biblical counseling conference. Joining me to help answer the question, “Why aren’t more pastors coming or taking an active role in biblical counseling?” is a fellow pastor from Illinois. Jonathan Chadbourn is the teaching pastor at Cornerstone Baptist Church in Morton, Illinois. He carries a great burden to see people conformed to Christ through teaching, discipleship, and biblical counseling. In this episode, Jonathan shares the different reasons some pastors may not invest in an ACBC Conference, the personal benefits of a training like an ACBC Conference, a challenge to all pastors who long to shepherd their flock well, and much more. Listen in! Show Notes: bcmnational.org/jonathan-chadbourn-60 Read our Articles Follow us on Instagram Donate to support BCM Learn more about our 5-Project Biblical Counseling Blueprint Model™ Explore the rest of our website – bcmnational.org

    39 min
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About

Welcome to Soul Care Culture, a podcast by Biblical Counseling Ministries. Join our founder, Mike Hanson, as he engages in meaningful conversations to glorify God and empower church leaders like you to cultivate a church-wide culture of biblical SoulCare. Gain valuable insights, strategies, and resources to create a community of care and transformation in your church. 

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