Career crises are a substantial source of parishioner grief and pain. Career disruptions, discontinuity and detours stir career anxiety and distress, which are common sources of suffering, particularly amongst Christ followers. Pastoral counsellors can be a stabilising and decisive voice to nurture an inner sense of calling- a consuming, meaningful passion people experience towards a domain. More importantly, spiritual formation around one’s divine vocation fuels a life stewardship experience that satisfies across the lifespan (Col. 3:17). The timeless question of vocation is not merely “what will I do with my life?” but “how will I live out my soul formation journey and fill my place in God’s great redemptive drama?” Pastoral counsellors stimulate an illuminated vocational imagination, built around the doctrine of stewardship, that sustains a co-authored life story. In short, a Christian theological perspective on vocation turns work into worship. The workshop will include practical applications to manage career-related grief built on key helping principles (i.e. deep empathic listening, linking to core theological values, and leaning into identity characteristics) and apply a holistic assessment model that accounts for features of the spiritual self as one explores the situation, expands support, and executes strategies.
