BPC 208: Stories of Change

BPC 208 Stories of Change

– Through powerful true stories of transformation, allows learners to analyze and apply reflective practices in their own personal lives and pastoral care work.

Presentations Included:

• Karen Graaten – Karen Graaten’s Story (2020)
• Tamae Iwasaki – Tamae’s Story (2022)
• Rev’d Tryphena Law Pek Leng – From Struggling Pastor to Pastoring Strugglers (2023)
• Viktor Moozz & Matthew Grech – X-Out-Loud: Unashamed. Come and Meet Some Who Have Left LGBT Lifestyles (2022)

This course, “Stories of Change,” invites pastoral care workers to explore personal testimonies of transformation through the lens of Scripture and biblical truth. Grounded in the IFTCC Framework Competency A9—Using Reflective Lenses—participants will delve into autobiographical narratives, examine Scriptural insights, and learn from real-world experiences. Featuring individuals who have encountered Christ and experienced restoration in areas such as identity, relationships, and spiritual brokenness, this course emphasises the redemptive power of the gospel. Pastoral care workers will examine these narratives in light of biblical principles, discerning themes of repentance, grace, sanctification, and the renewing work of the Holy Spirit. Rooted in a solid biblical worldview, the course equips pastoral care workers to engage with testimonies as tools for encouraging others, proclaiming truth, and glorifying God through lives changed by Christ.

This course fulfills the following learning goals:

1. Identify the redemptive work of God in personal testimonies of individuals who have experienced transformation in areas of sexuality, identity, addiction, and broken relationships. (IFTCC A9)
2. Discern biblical themes of grace, repentance, and restoration within real-life narratives and apply these insights to pastoral care conversations. (IFTCC A8, A9)
3. Articulate a biblical understanding of identity and transformation, in contrast to secular or cultural narratives of change. (IFTCC A8)
4. Develop sensitivity in listening to personal testimonies with compassion, theological accuracy, and pastoral discernment. (IFTCC A9)
5. Practise personal reflection through writing an autobiographical testimony. (IFTCC A9)