Our ministry ...

Sandy and Gwen began ministering as a couple in 1996 and are available to offer support and help to church leaders, organisations as they try to minister to the needs of the people in their care, as well as individuals who are in need of counselling help or prayer. Together they have extensive experience in counselling all types of situations involving emotions or relationships. Societal pressures have complicated life along with broken personal relationships. In response they are keen to teach Biblical truth about how to live and about God’s expectations for relating to Him and to other human beings. His love is real, as is His presence and His power. There is nothing too hard for God.

One-to-one prayer counselling

It is our joy to work with individuals/couples who are in need of prayer and counsel.  We do this at Lethem in the Scottish Borders where we live and people come from quite a distance.  We feel confirmed in doing this prayer counselling and plan to offer the same service in Edinburgh, hopefully from April 2007 for a maximum of eight days per month for the foreseeable future.  Opening a work base in Edinburgh will mean we will be able to offer two venues for seeing people, one in the Borders and one in Edinburgh.  This is exciting.  The cost of counselling is £40 per hour.  However we would never wish this to be a barrier to someone getting help.  Therefore special arrangements can be made for those who are unwaged, on low incomes or receiving benefits.  Also churches, Christian foundations and employers can sometimes contribute to counselling costs where an agreement is reached.  This might mean that an organisation or church might agree to pay for so many sessions or to contribute part of the hourly rate.  We are willing to 'live by faith' in respect of counselling fees and to date have found that the Lord provides all that we need.  At any given time we have a number of people who are being helped free of charge.  We rarely see people on a weekly basis, but usually fortnightly or to suit the persons needs.  This discourages dependence and allows us space for other aspects of our ministry.  Normally appointments last for two hours, which is long enough to have plenty to work on between sessions.  It also means we can do a fair amount of work in one session. 

Our retreat house is now permanently closed. We extend our grateful thanks to all who supported this aspect of our ministry in the past. The main focus of our ministry is counselling and various kinds of consultative work. People can request an appointment by telephone or email. Sandy and Gwen love to help people towards emotional health and well-being. This involves enabling people to make right choices, to think through the results of decisions made, and to help people live a better quality of life. They are intuitive and prayerful in their work and able to motivate others. Sandy and Gwen are able to be flexible and are happy to be consulted in any matter. If they can help, they will.

Conferences

Tailor-made conferences, either church based or for organisations is part of our ministry. We teach at church weekends and with specialist groups who are seeking to explore some aspect of relating, counselling or communicating. Sandy is a qualified tutor with the Acorn Christian Foundation who do excellent work in encouraging people to listen well.

Teaching, seminars and lecturing

Sandy and Gwen have a library of training materials on counselling related issues, relationships, stress, emotions, healing, prayer and communication to name but a few. Tailor-made conferences or seminars can be arranged. Sandy and Gwen teach counselling skills in a variety of settings including Bible colleges, churches and other agencies.

Arbitration and Diplomacy

Sandy and Gwen have particular strengths in arbitration and diplomacy especially where there is severe conflict between two or more parties. They regularly act as mediators in a variety of contexts using counselling and people skills, which involve problem solving especially when there is conflict, torn emotions, stress, pressure etc. Sandy and Gwen are pleased to help in emotionally charged situations especially when there is a role for arbitration and have much experience in this over many years.

‘Watchmen on the wall’

Sandy and Gwen have a desire to teach others about prayer and are extensively involved in prayer counselling at conferences, church meetings and where God leads. They are prayer counsellors with Pastoral Care Ministries Schools whose President is Leanne Payne. www.leannepayne.org

Consultancy Rates

For information on our consultancy rates, please contact us.