Cutrer, The Church Leader’s Handbook

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William Cutrer, The Church Leader’s Handbook: A Guide to Counseling Families and Individuals in Crisis. Kregel Academic and Professional, 2009.

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Referenced in: Pastoral Care

LifeandLeadership.com Summary

This volume is similar in genre to the classic by Gary Collins, Christian Counseling, but with a special focus is on crisis care. Most of Collins’ instructions assume the structured counseling context, and while Cutrer addresses this, his advice carries over into those situations where a minister visits others in crisis. In fact, one chapter is on visitation etiquette in a time of crisis.

Cutrer provides an excellent introduction to the basic strategies of crisis care and the dynamics of human responses to crisis. He also devotes entire chapters to pastoral care in specific crisis situations such as crisis pregnancy and abortion, infertility, pregnancy loss, sexual addiction, sexually transmitted diseases, divorce and remarriage, domestic violence, sexual assault, eating disorders, cancer, suicide assessment and prevention, as well as end-of-life issues. He provides brief articles on preventive measures such as premarital counseling, child protection policies, and restorative church discipline.

From the Publisher

In this helpful handbook, William Cutrer guides pastors, other ministry leaders, and laypeople through crisis care and ministry. Drawing from his personal and professional experience as a physician and seminary professor, Cutrer covers a wide variety of topics, from specific crises such as suicide, to more general family issues such as teen pregnancy. “It is my prayer,” Cutrer writes, “that this manual and workbook will be a helpful, practical reference.”

About the Author

William R. Cutrer, M.D., is a recognized expert in reproductive technology and medical ethics. A licensed obstetrician/gynecologist who specialized in the treatment of infertility for more than fifteen years, he also holds a graduate degree from Dallas Theological Seminary and is an ordained minister. Currently he is the Gheens Professor of Christian Ministry at The Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He and his wife, Jane, have been married for thirty-seven years and have three children and six grandchildren.


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