From time to time, everyone needs direction and encouragement!

At the City of Refuge, we specialize in reaching out to broken souls and hurting people. Anxiety, depression, anger, substance abuse, divorce, grief, relationship perplexities and problems are ALL issues facing our church family and community    

Counseling at the City of Refuge is a grace ministry and exists through the donations and generosity of those who believe in the value of this work.  Freewill donations are encouraged, but never mandatory.

COR offers a variety of private, professional and pastoral counseling services.

Individual counseling (encouragement and admonishment)

One-on-one private, professional and pastoral counseling are available to individuals in any season of life. This includes the common struggles concerning spiritual issues and personal faith. We have also learned that sometimes many people simply need a safe place to talk, an active listening ear and prayer support. 

Premarital counseling

Not all persons are called to be married, but for those the Lord has called to matrimony we offer a six-week premarital course designed to prepare couples for the joys and challenges of marriage. This course includes the use of the FOCCUS Inventory, which helps to assess the compatibility and understanding in the vital areas that determine a successful marriage. Couples also attend an Engagement Encounter Weekend designed to manage their expectations, increase their awareness of the true meaning of marriage, and provide helpful tools for managing the risks and maximizing the joys of their relationship.

Marital counseling

We place the highest priority on marriage because family is the bedrock of society and the church. Our marital counseling includes ministering within the full range of the relational spectrum - premarital to divorce recovery. Both the Senior Pastor and the Counseling Director offer counseling sessions to couples in need of assistance in working through particular relational issues. In addition, committed nurturing groups, consisting of experienced married couples, provide encouragement, insight and accountability for marriages that have reached a point of crisis. This church is strongly against divorce, however COR is a grace-oriented congregation. People at City of Refuge recognize that men and women who have suffered severed relationships deserve to be loved as they walk the path of recovery.

Adolescent counseling (6th through 12 grades)

The pressures of being a teenager in today’s world in can be overwhelming. Adolescents are at a trying time of life – trying for them as well as those around them! City of Refuge offers counseling for teenagers who are struggling. Counseling and encouragement provide teens a safe place to talk and receive practical and spiritual tools for making good choices and experiencing positive consequences.

Children’s counseling (Kindergarten through 5th grades)

Play is a child’s primary language of expression, so City of Refuge uses play therapy in working with children. While children don’t yet have the language to explain what they are thinking, feeling, and experiencing, supervised play therapy helps them to express their troubles, worries and fears. The process guides them as they work to resolve emotional difficulties, learn new, more constructive behaviors, and develop stronger relational skills. Moreover, through the counseling relationship, children are pointed to Jesus, who loves them with a perfect love.