Restoring the Fallen: A Team Approach to Caring, Confronting Reconciling

by Earl Wilson, Sandy Wilson, Paul Friesen

When brothers and sisters in Christ fall into sin, how should the church respond? Very often, Christians stumble in their attempt to address this issue. Either they ignore the wrongdoing or they banish the wrongdoer. The authors of this groundbreaking book advocate another the spiritual care team. A spiritual care team is a small group of mature Christians who voluntarily commit themselves to support and guide another through the process of repentance and restoration. This community-based and community-oriented approach emphasizes the importance of acknowledging sin, making repentance complete and reestablishing personal spiritual discipline. Restoring the Fallen offers practical guidance on how to form a spiritual care team, as well as how to support the spouse and family of the one working through the process of restoration, how professional helpers and the whole church body might contribute to restoration, and how to provide ongoing care after the main work of the spiritual care team is complete. It is an essential book for pastors, counselors and church leaders.

Genres: Counselling, Nonfiction

201 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1997

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 3 out of 5]

What do we do with faith leaders who have seriously failed? What is the path to restoration for them, and how does that happen? Wilson details his own serious moral failure and the "intensive spiritual care" team necessary to help him repent, make amends where he could, and not fail again. Necessary read for those in ministry.

[Holley Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent approach to forgiveness and potential reconciliation issues

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book for what it was, a guide for using a team approach to helping people who find themselves in deep sin. I'm not convinced that church leaders should be restored to their ministries after falling into the kind of sin the main author fell into. I am sure that he returned to his ministry too soon. Not so much because God can't restore fallen pastors, but because he must be above reproach and have a good reputation with the church people and those outside the church; three years isn't nearly long enough to restore an adulterous reputation.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

restoring the fallen presented a team approach to counseling in the case of gross sin by a member of a church. it's discussed through the story of Earl Wilson (one of the authors) and his own experience with a Spiritual Care Team. i appreciated the honesty of the book and straightforward look at church and how they handle (or don't handle) sin and restoration.