Equip Your Ministry Team to Care Well—Without a Counseling Degree

A story-based care course designed for church leaders and lay teams, helping you sit with hurting people, not just fix them.

 

You’re Called to Care, but You Were Never Trained for This…

In ministry, people come to you with their deepest pain, fears, and questions. You want to help, but most pastors and ministry leaders were never taught how to sit with people well—without rushing to solutions or carrying their burdens alone.

Sitting in the Dirt: A Ministry Care Course gives pastors, ministry teams, and lay leaders a theology and practice of presence.

You’ll learn to offer real care, discern when to refer, and develop rhythms that keep your own soul healthy in the process.

Enroll an Individual Leader
Explore Team Licensing

Maybe this is you? Or your leaders?

  • I took ONE class in seminary on pastoral counseling. I was NOT prepared for this!

  • I don’t know how to handle the weight of what people are dealing with these days.

  • I want to offer more than verses, book recommendations, and advice, but what if I do more harm than good?

  • I’m looking for a crash course in caring for people the way I’ve received care from my counselor.

A college female enjoys an iced latte while talking about something hard in her life with a pastor who has taken the ReStory course for pastors.

Care That Looks Like Jesus: Present, Honest, and Whole

This is not a quick-fix toolkit or counseling certification. It’s a journey into the kind of ministry care that transforms both the giver and the receiver.

Core Learning Outcomes:


After this course, you and your team will be able to:

▶︎ Offer presence instead of prescriptions

▶︎ Listen beneath the words to the deeper story unfolding

▶︎ Recognize your own story’s influence on how you care for others

▶︎ Know when to refer someone to professional help

▶︎ Create a culture of care across your ministry

 

Sitting in the Dirt | A Ministry Care Course will teach you how to be with hurting people, not what to say, but how to be.

 
 

Sitting in the Dirt | A Ministry Care Course

3 Parts · 12 Video Lessons · Bonus Toolkit

  • The rings of a tree slice represent the theology of presence in the Sitting in the dirt course.

    Part 1: The Theology of Presence

    We teach you our unique view of caring for the human soul:

    Lesson 1: A Theology of Presence

    Lesson 2: How Evil Transforms Tragedy into Trauma

    Lesson 3: A Story-Informed Presence

    Lesson 4: The Story Deeper Still

  • Stairs in a forest represent the approach of caring for others in the Sitting in the Dirt course.

    Part 2: The Approach

    We teach you our unique posture of presence:

    Lesson 1: The 3 Postures of Presence with discussion

    Lesson 2: Creating a Safe Harbor

    Lesson 3: The Field Between Us

    Lesson 4: Listening to Myself While Listening to Them

  • A long road in the wilderness represents the practical implementation of sitting in the dirt course.

    Part 3: The Frame

    We teach you practical implementation of caring for others:

    Lesson 1: How to Create the Right Atmosphere

    Lesson 2: How to Communicate with your Care Receiver

    Lesson 3: How and When to Refer Out

    Lesson 4: How to Care for Yourself

  • A stalk of wheat show whimsy and lightheartedness in caring for others.

    Bonus Toolkit

    We cover real, potentially sensitive topics we know you face:

    Bonus 1: Depression, Anxiety, and Medication

    Bonus 2: Grief

    Bonus 3: Sexuality

    Bonus 4: Marriage

    Bonus 5: Infidelity and Betrayal

    Bonus 6: Pornography

    Bonus 7: Abuse

Healthy churches care deeply—but not all leaders know how. This course helps your team care well for others while staying grounded themselves. It’s perfect for:

  • Pastors and staff

  • Small group and lay leaders

  • Elder teams and care ministries

ReStory offers group licensing and cohort options so you can take the course together as a team.

Build a Culture of Care in Your Church

Explore Team Licensing
Enroll an Individual Leader

Have you found your team wondering…

  • How do we react when someone says something difficult in small group?

  • How do we respond if a church member says they are considering divorce, depressed, struggling with sexual orientation or gender identity, suicidal, in an abusive relationship…

  • When do we offer pastoral counseling or know when we’re in over our heads?

  • What if in our effort to care we cause more harm?

  • Are small group leaders or youth leaders required to report abuse? What are mandated reporting laws for ministers?

What Leaders are Saying

  • Sitting in the Dirt is a concept that in many ways has been trained out of us pastors. This course has the incredible ability to retrain your mind and still that voice inside that tells you to fix people.

    Andrew Acuna, Pastor

  • If you long to be a safe place for those you shepherd, “sitting in the dirt” with them is necessary. I wish everyone in ministry could learn from these wise guides. I highly recommend this course to anyone who is walking alongside other people as they seek to grow.

    Londa Wagner, Campus Ministry Human Resources

  • Sitting in the Dirt is a must have resource for anyone who is serious about loving people the way Jesus loved people. It is so profound, yet so practical. It truly is helping me to reframe how I engage with the people that I pastor.

    Tyrell Blauvelt, Men’s Pastor

 

Sitting in the Dirt is designed by those with ministry experience for those in ministry. We get you.

 
 

Pricing Options

An icon that shows a course for Ministers and Church Leaders.

Option 1: Course - $99

  • Receive one license for immediate and lifetime access to the entire course and bonuses. Do at your own pace.

Start Course Now
An icon shows a Course and Cohort for full time ministry leaders and church leaders offering pastoral care.

Option 2: Course + Cohort - $399

  • Receive one license for immediate and lifetime access to the entire course and bonuses. Do at your own pace.

  • In addition to the course, you will automatically join the next 5-week cohort which meets virtually 1.5 hours/week for live coaching through real and current examples members bring. Dates always changing. Email beth@restory.life to find out more.

Find out Dates
An icon shows a community level of the sitting in the dirt course and cohort for Ministers

Option 3: Group License

  • Want the course for staff or small group leader training or to require new staff to take it during orientation? Group discounts available for team licenses.

    10+ members = 40% off $99 ($59 each)

    25+ members = 60% off $99 ($39 each)

    50+ members = 70% off $99 ($29 each)

    Email beth@restory.life to talk about group licenses.

  • Why not have your team all receive coaching in how to care for the people in your ministry? Group discounts available for team licenses.

    Email beth@restory.life to talk about group licenses.

Explore Team Licensing
A Ministry Cohort gathers online to Care for Others with ReStory Counseling.

Do this with other ministry leaders

When you join a Cohort, you receive live interaction around the actual situation you’re facing, in a small group with other ministry leaders, led by an experienced ReStory Storywork Coach.

Imagine being coached to immediately apply what you’ve learned in the course and potentially change the life of the person in your care! Imagine learning from other situations that leaders in various roles and locations are facing!

And, imagine your entire staff team doing this together! Group pricing available.

Explore Team Licensing

FAQ’s

  • The course includes instant and lifetime access to 12 teaching lessons around 20 minutes each and a 60-page course book with assignments and journal prompts. In addition, you’ll receive all 7 bonus videos on hot topics you face.

  • Every 6-weeks Jeremy starts a new cohort that meets online once/week for 6 weeks (Fridays at 7am MST). He facilitates a discussion on course material as well as spends time on real examples that members bring (confidentially). These are capped, co-ed, and gather leaders from all different kinds of ministry settings.

  • If you’ve found your way to this question, you’re probably feeling that you could use a different perspective. You know better than anyone, not all programs are the same. In this course, you’ll hear more about our unique approach to the human heart, our theology behind storywork, and our focus on a posture of presence.

  • The Sitting in the Dirt Course is a one-time purchase and we are unable to offer refunds at this time.

  • You will need internet to watch the videos, but you can print off the course book. You can access the course on your desktop or download the Kajabi app and watch from your mobile device.

  • Absolutely. Let’s talk! We can arrange for group rates with multiple licenses. Please reach out to beth@restory.life subject line, Sitting in the Dirt Group Rate.

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A ministry team shows how ReStory helps church teams care for their people well.
A man in China shows how ReStory helps international ministers care for those they serve.
A group of college students on campus shows that ReStory helps campus ministry leaders care for students.