This content is part of Barna's State of the Church initiative, produced in partnership with Gloo. You can learn more about this initiative at stateofthechurch.com.

Across the country, young people are wrestling with deep emotional and spiritual pain. Barna research continues to confirm what many pastors already know: Gen Z is in crisis. Rates of anxiety, depression, loneliness and questions around identity are rising. And while many long for healing and wholeness, they often don’t know where to begin—or where to turn.

In Fort Worth, Texas, Christ Chapel Bible Church is quietly answering that call through a ministry called Soul Care. Led by Pastor Greg Cook, Soul Care is a counseling ministry rooted in both professional wisdom and pastoral compassion.

Cook is uniquely positioned to lead this kind of ministry. With a background in both pastoral leadership and professional counseling, he’s developed a lexicon that gives language to pain while offering a pathway toward spiritual renewal.

“Counseling is about change,” he says. “That begs the question, what needs to change and how will that change take place?”

Soul Care offers one-on-one counseling sessions staffed by trained lay leaders who are equipped to engage with emotional, relational and spiritual wounds.

“Unapologetically, we’re very heart oriented,” Cook explains. “Our hearts are sick, they need help, they need restoration. They're also what leads us to making all kinds of decisions that sometimes are ruinous and paralyzing and destructive.”

At Christ Chapel, the goal isn’t to replace professional mental health care—it’s to stand in the gap with the gospel and a listening ear.

Editor's note: You can read more about Gen Z & Mental Health here.

Training the Church to Care

Soul Care is unique in the way it equips everyday church members to walk alongside others. Volunteers receive robust training, spiritual support and practical mentorship.

Throughout the year, the Soul Care pastoral staff leads monthly supervision meetings. These small group sessions provide space for honest feedback, role plays and case studies, all designed to build upon the biblical counseling foundations established in earlier courses.

“There are people who are looking for answers,” Cook says, “and they want to be given permission to reflect about their lives.”

That kind of listening posture—not rushing to advice, but sitting with people—has proven to be one of Soul Care’s most healing tools.

A Place for Healing

More than anything, Cook wants Soul Care to reflect the grace of Jesus—not another spiritual to-do list.

“Sometimes I think we put burdens on burdened people,” he says. “I want people to feel like they're part of a family—a place where we can be honest.”

That honesty includes acknowledging our shared humanity: “We're all sinners. We've all struggled. We've made bad decisions and terrible things have happened to us. That's a common reality. Why can't more people be open about that in the place we should be the most open to talk about it?”

How to Start a Soul Care Ministry—and Why It’s Biblical

The approach to Soul Care’s ministry is simple, but the theology is deep.

“Jesus needs to be the answer to all our despair and the source of all joy,” Cook insists, “but we're not sharing that enough in my mind.”

What makes Soul Care replicable? It isn’t program-dependent—it’s gospel-dependent. And that’s what makes it good news.

“There's no devastation that somebody's been through that I don't have good news for,” Cook shares. “Some people ask me, ‘how can you listen to the bad stories all the time?’ Because I have a better one. I've got a story to answer the bad story. I've got good news to all the bad news.”