Of Counseling and Rocket Boosters

Friends of Philadelphia Renewal Network,

My old mentor had an interesting illustration for the experience of receiving counseling: rocket boosters. You know, those two skinny rockets on either side of the shuttle that propel it out of the atmosphere before falling away, leaving the shuttle and crew to boldly go forward on their mission.

Now, of course, in most ways counseling is nothing like a rocket. A therapist generally does not launch you to new heights within a few seconds, and the sessions are (hopefully) not explosive experiences. But. If your church is the shuttle and you are among the crew, a faithful counselor can come alongside to offer strategic support to help you on your mission.

At PRN, we love what we do—connecting individuals and church communities to affordable, Gospel-centered mental health services—but we’re not the local church. We’re here to hasten the Church’s mission by tending to the health of her crew, and we hope to get better at that all the time. In fact, that’s why PRN hired me.

Hi! If we haven’t met, I’m John Alexander (yes, around here they call me the other “John A”). I’m a longtime Philadelphia pastor who, in addition to being PRN’s newest therapist, serves as Ministry Development Director to make sure that we’re seeing and serving you. To that end, in addition to our virtual and in person counseling and psychiatric services that are always available, I’ve posted our 2024 seminar series that we will bring straight to you. We’d love to visit your church or organization soon.

In the meantime, check out our January 2024 newsletter!

Steady as she goes,

John Alexander, MDiv, MTh
Therapist & Ministry Development Director