We care by encouraging deep belonging within the church, fostering fervent prayer, providing shepherding counsel, and celebrating the transformative work of Jesus.
Pastoral Counseling
The Well believes that its pastors are responsible for shepherding and caring for those that the Lord has brought to his church. The primary goal of the pastor’s care is to consistently proclaim the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. This is performed in two ways, preaching and counseling. Preaching is the public pronunciation of the gospel spoken to the church by a pastor. Preaching allows a pastor to proclaim the gospel and express the church’s view of a specific passage in light of the person and redeeming works of Christ. |
Pastoral counseling is the personal proclamation of Jesus and the implications of his death and resurrection. Where preaching is a one-sided conversation from the pastor to a congregation, pastoral care is a recurring conversation between a pastor and an individual. It is time intensive and is necessary work for a shepherding pastor. The Well believes that preaching and pastoral care hold equal weight with as much attention given to the preparation of sermons as to the care of souls. |
Individual Counseling
Individual Biblical counseling is an intentional one-on-one conversation between a pastor, elder, or member of The Well’s Care Team and an individual from The Well. These conversations are typically initiated by the individual and center on a specific area. These conversations may center on, but are not limited to, depression, trauma, addiction, anger management, and marriage issues; or they may seek general life guidance. The counselor’s goal in these conversations is to understand the root of the presenting issue and consistently redirect the counselee back to the message of the gospel.
Marriage Counseling
Marriage is the most important relationship human beings can have with one another. It is a God-given gift to humanity that a man and woman would love and serve each other as a way to glorify God. Tim Keller says, “According to the Bible, God devised marriage to reflect his saving love for us in Christ, to refine our character, to create a stable community for the birth and nurture of children, and to accomplish all this by bringing the complementary sexes into an enduring whole-life union.” This is how the church holds the definition of marriage, but the work of marriage is difficult, even with a biblical foundation. When two people join together in a permanent relationship, sin is bound to detract from its intended design. The goal of marriage counseling at The Well is to consistently speak the gospel into relationships while pointing back to the original purpose of marriage through confession and repentance.
Premarital Counseling
As stated above, marriage is an incredibly important relationship designed by God. It is an exciting time to be engaged or in a serious dating relationship. Planning for the future and setting expectations is natural, but the reality is that marriages typically do not go as planned. Questions and surprises will appear in every marriage. What does it look like to forgive your spouse? How should a couple talk about sex? Is it normal for someone to struggle to get along with their in-laws? These surprises, though difficult, can be navigated through a Biblical lens and a gospel-centered foundation. The goal of The Well’s premarital counseling is to help lay this foundation through multiple sessions held by a member of the Care Team. The hope for this counseling is that a couple will grow to love the gospel more through their marriage and see that it is an image of the redeeming work of Christ.
If you are a partner and would like to pursue pastoral counseling through The Well, submit a request below.
Request Counseling
Prayer and Celebration
Prayer
The Well takes serious the purpose and power of prayer. Paul Miller writes, “Powerful things happen when believers pray together: the Spirit equips the saints for ministry, the helpless are met with help, and believers experience the joy of being led by the Spirit of Jesus.” We believe that it is vital for the church to foster a culture of genuine, consistent prayer. We believe that the work of caring for the body of believers cannot rest on our own doing, rather we submit everything to Jesus.
Every Tuesday, our Elders pray for the church as a whole, individuals with specific prayer requests, ministries at The Well, and that the gospel would continue to spread to the unreached. The Well also has a Prayer Team comprised of believers that are passionate about prayer and is not limited to staff, deacons, or elders. One area where the prayer team serves the church is by welcoming and praying for those in need at the end of each church service. If you would like the Elders or Prayer Team to pray for you, please consider submitting a prayer request through the form below.
Celebration
The Well desires to celebrate the good things the Lord has done in the lives of the church. We intend to seek Jesus in times of trial, and we hope to seek him in times of joy. As believers, we are called to be a reflective people, and these reflections should stir up nothing less than worship and celebration. By reorienting our lives around the story of Jesus and his Church, we will discover that we have many reasons to celebrate. We do this by celebrating milestones.
Church-wide milestones include:
Baptisms / Graduation / New Partners / Births / Marriages / Recovery / Child Dedication / Missions / Volunteers / Current Partners / New GCs / We Love Abilene
If you would like the Elders or Prayer Team to pray for you or celebrate what the Lord has done, please consider submitting the form below.
Submit a prayer request
Physical Need and Bereavement
We believe in actively demonstrating Christ's love through practical and tangible expressions. In this spirit, we recognize the significance of meal trains and bereavement care as essential components of fulfilling this calling. Our Care Team actively engages in facilitating meal trains for those in need and offers bereavement care during challenging times. This includes providing meals to individuals or families facing difficulties, as well as offering comfort and assistance to those dealing with loss. The Well can also help with other physical needs on a case-by-case basis.
To further enhance our support system, we encourage our partners and Gospel Communities to connect with the Care Team for assistance with meal trains or bereavement care. If you or someone you know is in a situation where a helping hand and a warm meal would make a difference, please consider reaching out to our Care Team through the form provided below.