John, thank you for your post, I really enjoyed reading it. It seems like an average of six to seven hours of lay/pastoral counseling is a lot, in addition to your other obligations as senior pastor. You have stated that most of your secular/pastoral counseling is primarily about demonstrating your well-developed listening skills to people and their problems. Based on what we read a few weeks ago, good and attentive listening is essential to the counseling process. This is my experience, sometimes; some people are just looking for someone to listen to them. Have you also observed this? Have you ever noticed? some clients come to your office just to let off steam; especially since you are the senior pastor? Sometimes, however, not often, it seems that attention, along with the opportunity to let off steam, is all the client is looking for. You also stated various reasons for advising so many hours, related to where you operate as a senior pastor. I agree when you suggest that one of the contributing factors to the amount of counseling is the fact that you are the senior pastor; however, speaking with Vario...