Nick StumboExecutive Director driving healing from sexual brokenness

Why You Should Get Help From Pastors AND Trained Professionals

10 Oct 2025

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A pastor (Nick Stumbo) explains that pastoral care and trained professionals are complementary: pastors can provide spiritual and emotional support (scripture guidance, prayer, caring for the heart), but should refer people to trained counselors or legal professionals for specialized issues (marital counseling, legal matters, serious sexual or illegal behaviors). The speaker advocates for churches/pastors to acknowledge limits and jointly support individuals undergoing difficult consequences of their actions.

Well, I've said that to people as a pastor to say, I can help as a pastor care for your heart. I can guide you to scriptures, I can encourage you through prayer. But if there's, like, a relational issue in their marriage that I've never dealt with and I'm really not experienced, I say, you're going to need to go to a marriage counselor that's been trained in this, and they're going to care for your relationship, even while I'm caring for your heart. And I think there are ways that churches could say that to someone battling a particular sexual struggle or maybe entering into illegal behaviors. Like, I, I can't counsel you what to do in a legal setting. I, I don't have the answers, but I can care for your heart. I can care for where you're at as a human, as a person, and, and just say, I'm here to support you and care for you, even while you maybe take some necessary legal steps. And it doesn't have to be one or the other. It's just recognizing as a church or as a pastor, what role can I play in supporting someone that maybe has to face some really difficult stuff because of their behaviors and choices?