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Our Ministry

Our desire is to touch our congregation and community at their point of need, for the sake of Jesus Christ. Our goal is to display that First Baptist Woodstock is a “refuge” for those who are hurting, by offering resources that meet the spiritual and emotional needs of our congregation and community.

Our Approach
We offer Christ-centered, Biblically based counseling, recognizing the Word of God as the ultimate standard of truth. We use solid, people-helping skills and psychological principles that are consistent with the Word of God.

Our Ministry Team
The Pastoral Counseling Ministry Team consists of volunteer lay counselors who are trained and supervised by staff pastoral or professional counselors. The ministry of our lay counselors is available to adults from our congregation and community. Staff counselors are available to the FBCW membership on a limited basis. There are no-fees for the counseling sessions, although, donations are requested. 

Lay Counselors
Lay counselors provide Biblically based care to encourage men and women in the First Baptist Woodstock community and the larger community.  This ministry is meant to meet the spiritual and emotional needs of hurting people.  The lay counselors are carefully screened and trained by our counseling staff. Currently our lay counselors attend a two-year training program. Furthermore, each lay counselor is supervised by a staff counselor and attends regular educational opportunities to advance their knowledge in the field of helping people.

Staff Counselors
Our staff counselors are pastoral or professional counselors with formal training and education. Staff counselors are specifically assigned to issues that require their training and experience. This service is reserved for members of FBCW.

Premarital Counseling

Outline of pre-marital process to have a wedding at FBCW or by an FBCW minister:

• Complete and submit pre-marital counseling questionnaire
• Have a successful initial interview and obtain a calendar release to book a tentative wedding date
• Receive a minimum of 8 hours of successful pre-marital counseling/preparation
• Obtain a final release from pre-marital counselor to confirm your wedding date

Details of pre-marital process:

• All couples should complete the pre-marital questionnaire available from the wedding coordinator or from the FBCW website.
• Couples should schedule an initial interview and submit their completed questionnaires to the FBCW pre-marital counselor.  The purpose of the interview is to establish the Biblical basis of the relationship.  After the successful interview(s) the couple will be given a calendar release in order to book a tentative wedding date on the church calendar.  No wedding date will be booked prior to receiving your calendar release.  Availability on the officiating minister’s calendar does not constitute a calendar release for the church.
• The couple will then begin the pre-marital counseling/preparation process. Couples should expect to receive at least 8-hours of pre-marital counseling from the FBCW pre-marital counselor or an approved substitute. Substitute counselors must be prior approved by the Director of Pastoral Counseling.  Attendance of our eight-week, First Steps toward Marriage Sunday school class is strongly encouraged and in many cases will satisfy the eight hour preparation requirement.
• After the successful completion of your pre-marital counseling /preparation process, your pre-marital counselor will issue a final release for your wedding. FBCW reserves the right to remove a wedding date from the church calendar if a couple does not successfully complete their pre-marital counseling /preparation and obtain a final release from their pre-marital counselor. 

Premarital counseling is available from one of our lay counselors at the church main campus. Call the premarital counseling office at 678.494.2672 to inquire.

Pre-Marital Counseling Questionnaire

• Download and print our pre-marital counseling questionnaire
• Please bring your pre-marital counseling questionnaire to your first appointment.

Ministries We Offer

• Lay Counseling
• Counseling Groups (on a periodic basis)
• Growth/Support Groups
• Premarital preparation classes (Sunday mornings on a periodic basis)
• Pastoral or Professional Counseling in-house 
• Referrals to Christian Professional Counselors in the community

Appointments
Our ministry is offered on an appointment basis. Monday-Thursday appointments begin at 9am with the last appointment beginning at 4pm. Friday appointments are between 9-12. A limited number of Wednesday evening appointments are available with specific counselors.  To schedule an appointment or to determine our schedule availability, call our office at 770.591.4770.

Counseling Intake Procedure (after determining availability)

• Download and Print our Intake Form
• Mail or hand-deliver your Intake Form to our office.
• Our office will phone you to schedule an Intake Interview. The intake interview usually takes about an hour and is meant to provide us with more information  to see if the ministries we provide are best suited for meeting your needs.
• Our staff will either place you with a person from our ministry team best suited for your needs or provide you with some referral information.
• Please realize that we are not a crisis center. True emergency calls should be directed to 911, 1.800.SUICIDE, or 1.800.33.HAVEN for domestic violence situations.
  

Privacy
We are conscious of the fact that reaching out for help is not easy so your privacy is very important to us.  All calls and appointments are treated with the greatest sensitivity and discretion.

Location and Contact Information
In order to maximize personal privacy, the counseling center is conveniently located just ½ mile off of the First Baptist Woodstock Campus at:

Ivy Village Professional Park
3380 Trickum Rd., Building 700
Woodstock, GA 30188
Phone: 770.591.4770
Fax: 770.592.3120

Helpful Links

• http://www.hopequestgroup.org/
• http://www.troubledwith.com/

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