Our Vision for Counseling
Celebration Community Church has a passion to help people to develop and grow in their relationship with God, through his son, Jesus Christ. This is the first and most important component of our church’s mission. We recognize that along with becoming spiritually healthy, it is important to be emotionally and relationally strong. Thus, we have created a system to meet needs of people who are struggling with mental health matters and interpersonal relationships.
As C3 has grown, it has become evident that the pastoral staff is unable to offer adequate counseling to all those in need. Obviously, there will be circumstances that the Pastors will need to provide primary care to the people of C3, specifically during medical crisis and in times of death and loss. However, with the need for counseling for so many, we deemed it necessary to develop a team approach to counseling, centered around a trained Biblically-based Counselor. In addition to providing counseling to those in need, we will continue to develop relationships with psychiatric professionals to meet needs we are unable to meet, particularly in the area of medications and emergency psychiatric care.
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When you first seek counseling at C3, you will start by filling out important information that help determine the best process to help you. This intake process won’t take long, but it is essential in getting to know your situation before your first session.
Communication is key to our pastoral staff and counseling team, so we will encourage you to fill out a disclosure form that gives permission to share pertinent information between Pastoral staff and Counselor(s) so we can best care for your spiritual and mental health needs.
Richard Carter is our trained Biblical counselor and Life Coach at C3. He travels to Hays on Wednesdays every other week. He has daytime and evening appointments available.
For members of C3, Celebration Community Church will pay the initial counseling fee for your first session with Richard. We do this to encourage people to follow through with their desire to get help. After this, Richard has agreed upon a reduced fee of $75 per session. This amount is far below a lot of counseling services today.
If you are unable to pay, we will have you fill out an in-need form and let you know what we can do to help. This will be handled on a case-by-case/session-by-session manner, and it will be affected by scholarship monies available. We want you to get the help you need, and we will do everything we possibly can to help if you are financially unable to pay the $75 fee. Payment will be made directly to Richard Carter, in the form of personal check, credit card, or cash payment. Payment is due at time of service. C3 is not able to take payments, and insurance is not accepted.
Our Pastors’ Assistant, Renee Dreiling, schedules appointments for those who desire counseling. She can be contacted at the church by calling 785.625.5483, or emailing her at renee@c3hays.com. Any calls that are not answered immediately will be returned in a timely manner. If you are experiencing a mental health emergency, we urge you to call or text the 24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or go immediately to the Emergency Room at the nearest hospital.
Richard does allow for limited online therapy sessions in his schedule. You can make these appointments by contacting the church, unless otherwise decided by Richard to contact him directly. For online sessions, the rates are the same.
We ask that if you need to cancel an appointment, that you do so at least 24 hours prior to your scheduled appointment. Missing the appointment without communicating your need to reschedule will result in the counseling fees needing to be paid. We understand that there are times that this is not possible, such as when family emergencies or sickness arise inside the required 24-hour cancellation window. If this happens, we ask that you let us know at the earliest possible opportunity. Not contacting the church prior to the scheduled time will result in a $75 charge.
Each couple wanting to be married at C3, or who want a C3 Pastor to perform their ceremony at another location will be required to take part in the C3 Counseling Process.
After the couple have secured the wedding venue (the church or other location), and after they have received a confirmation that a C3 Pastor can do their wedding, they will be asked to go through a pre-marital preparation workbook before beginning their pre-marital counseling sessions. Once the workbook is completed, the couple should contact the church office to schedule their first pre-marital counseling meeting. This initial meeting should take place at least four months prior to the wedding date, though doing it earlier than this would allow more flexibility for you and assure you can take part in the required number of pre-marital counseling sessions without being stressed!
The following is the general schedule for pre-maritial counseling process:
First Meeting: At least four months before wedding date.
This meeting will be with the Pastor who will officiate the wedding. He will learn about you as a couple and help you determine what primary topics you would like to focus on in your next three counseling sessions.
At this first meeting, you will need to bring your completed workbook and the “Service Planning Form” so the Pastor can begin to plan the service.
Second Meeting: At least three months prior to wedding.
This meeting will be with Richard Carter or another assigned counselor.
Third Meeting: At least two months prior to wedding.
This meeting will be with Richard Carter or another assigned counselor.
Fourth Meeting: At least two months prior to wedding.
This meeting will be with Richard Carter or another assigned counselor.
Fifth Meeting: At least one month prior to wedding.
This meeting will be with the Pastor officiating the wedding and will be a time to finalize the wedding service and answer any questions the couple may have.
Rehearsal Day:
On the day of the rehearsal, the couple will need to meet with the Pastor a half hour before the rehearsal time. Please encourage everyone in the wedding to attend the rehearsal, and to be on time. Bring your marriage license to this meeting, so you don’t have to worry about forgetting it on your wedding day. No witnesses’ signatures are needed for this, only the Pastor doing the ceremony.