The Call: X 5

The Call: Times Five By Rev. George M. Rossi BCC M.A. M.Div. February 23, 2014 For the past six months or more I have been focusing on my newest focus and calling: seeking licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor. Thankfully two professional colleagues of mine met with me to help mentor and guide me in the complicated process. This calling of serving as a pastoral counselor and LPC is not something new and it is something that is built upon my previous callings. My first call was the call to salvation. That salvation came to me in 1982 while I was serving in the US Air Force at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, TX. My life changed for the good and from the inside out. The Lord Jesus Christ came to live in my heart as I placed my faith in him and his work on the cross. It was that time in my life, more than 32 years ago where I heard the first call on my life--the call of salvation and the call to follow Jesus Christ as his disciple. That next call happened in about 1983 or 1984. I cannot pinpoint the exact time but I know it was one of those two years. It was my call to serve in the work of Christian missions. That call found it’s beginning in 1983/4 and would find its fulfillment in 1988 when I was called to serve as a US-2 Home Missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention in the Greater Philadelphia Baptist Association and Emmanuel Baptist Church in West Chester, PA. I served as baptist campus ministry director and also as a catalyst for the development of church social ministries. In Philadelphia I heard my next call of God. The call to serve his church in the pastoral ministry. That would take me to seminary (Southwestern Baptist Theo Seminary in Ft Worth, TX). The third call (call within the call within the call) was fulfilled as I was “called” to the pastoral ministry as associate pastor to Oakbrook Baptist Church in Summerville where I worked in the areas of education and evangelism with all ages. It was a great five years--challenging and times of great growth and learning. At Oakbrook I heard the next call to serve in the work of full time chaplaincy and pastoral care. This happened as I took my first extended unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) with a hospice agency in Summerville and while serving Oakbrook Church. That fourth call (chaplaincy) lead me to earn my Master of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University and then to earn 4 CPE units at Palmetto Health Richalnd Hospital in Columbia. Following CPE I have worked as a correctional chaplain for one year and hospital chaplain for the last 12 years at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where I currently work. The fifth call was my call to pastoral counseling. Pastoral Counseling is the logical next step for me. I know that God has been at work in my life and God is using all of my education, work experiences, life experience and church ministry to help me counsel persons who need sound emotional and psychological guidance that is rooted in a deep faith and grounded in my seminary training and education. This call has been at work in my life since at least 1999 when a pastoral counselor first introduced the idea to me about serving as a pastoral counselor. Truly the gospel and sound educational theory can help people to find peace, liberty, change, new direction and healing. It is an exciting time for me. I will continue in my work as a chaplain at MUSC and hopefully one day attain licensure as an LPC. This call to pastoral counseling is “the Call” times five. The LORD has lead me this far and I look forward to the days and years ahead.