2018 Directors Orientation Pack

CORAM DEO 

OASIS OF HOPE

Introduction 

Coram Deo is formally Coram Deo Pastoral Centre (NPC) 

(Reg. No. 2003/007191/08). Our aim is to offer hope, a centre 

which promotes the healing of relationships, families, and 

different kinds communities both near and far. 

At Coram Deo our clients are treated in a respectful manner in a 

narrative pastoral environment. Coram Deo serves all people 

irrespective of race, language preference, sexual orientation or 

faith. In this way we take part in the larger aim of mending the 

broken towards a healthy society wherein those marginalised by 

power finds a voice and develops agency as human beings and 

not human doings. 

Intro1 

Quality learning, passionate counselors

Vision 

At Coram Deo we take each other's hands on the way to 

horizons of hope. 

Mission 

We achieve our vision by means of 

respectful pastoral narrative conversations 

excellent training in pastoral narrative therapy and 

being a professional organization 

Quality learning, passionate counselors 

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Services 

Being a helping practices and training academy our services 

include: 

Individual therapy 

Coram Deo provides therapeutic services for 

a) Everybody bullied by Depression 

b) Adults and children suffering from emotional, sexual 

and other forms of power abuse 

c) People who have been the victims of trauma, e.g. after 

hijackings, assault and rape. 

d) Relationship problems, including marriage problems, 

parent/teenager relationships 

e) Young people and adults caught in the webs of 

addiction problems (e.g. drugs, alcohol and 

pornography) 

f) Unemployment and its impact on individuals, families 

and relationships generally. 

g) Grief therapy where people have lost beloved ones to 

death 

Whatever the cause of your pain and distress may be, at Coram 

Serv3 

Deo we will walk alongside towards the restoration of hope! 

Quality learning, passionate counselors

Child and teenage therapy 

We have a special interest in a number of fields: Our child and 

teenage therapy section serves to support children in all 

situations of need. It not only focuses on trauma like abuse and 

divorce, but also offers courses assisting the development of the 

Chil 

child's positive self image. This will equip the child emotionally 

to confront all challenges of life. 

4Quality learning, passionate counselors

Support groups 

We take hands with different support groups. Past and present 

these include: 

a) The stroke support group 

b) Alcoholics Anonymous 

c) Al-Anon are the support group for family members of AA 

members 

d) Cancer support 

e) SAA 

f) Simcha, and Outpatient Recovery Programme for people 

who struggle with abuse and addiction 

g) Huntingtons Support 

h) Sex and love addicts anonymous 

The centre is also home to Christian Social Services [CMR-Coram 

Deo] and Hart Aksie as a ministry of the Dutch Reformed Church 

Oosterlig, that focuses on material need. 


Outreach Programmes 

Itsoteng 

One of our standard programmes is at the Itsoteng Crisis Centre 

on UP's Mamelodi Campus. The University of Pretoria's 

Department of Psychology started a community outreach 

Itsot 

project at the UP's Mamelodi campus called Itsoseng. Itsoseng 

is among other things a crisis centre for rape victims. In 

partnership with the theology department at UP, Coram Deo 

works towards addressing the overwhelming need in the area. 


Training 

Coram Deo is fast becoming a landmark institution of excellence 

in academic training of narrative pastoral counselors. We are 

continually developing new courses to provide in the needs of 

society. The following courses are offered: 

Narrative Pastoral Therapy 

Our two year training in pastoral narrative therapy is our flagship 

training. It offers an advanced certificate accredited by the 

University of Pretoria that also opens up further possibilities to 

students. The course has been designed to offer students 

practical exposure to the practice of pastoral counseling. 

Students are equipped to provide hope and the possibility of 

becoming whole again midst a variety of problem situations - 

situations which may be characteristic of the Southern African 

environment. 

We currently have over a hundred students in training, 

distributed across 2 year groups and at various place in the 

country. More or less 8 magister and/or doctorate qualified 

academics lecture at Coram Deo. Many students who proceed 

to supervision level are for a time diligent volunteers from 

society. 


Supervision 

Our practitioner supervision programme is accredited by the 

University of Pretoria. After completion of the two year 

programme in Pastoral Narrative Therapy, students can proceed 

to do a year of personal and practitioner development to further 

refine their skills. Here they also act within an acceptable 

volunteer framework which in turn helps Coram Deo to extend 

our services to those who have very little means to contribute 

financially. 

Continued training 

Our continued training consists of several short course ranging 

from medical and psychological discourses, to the 

organizational context, and focus areas not covered during the 

initial two years of training. This is also one of the ways in which 

we connect with our Alumni members. 


Boundless possibilities 

There is a special entwined relationship between narrative 

counselling and narrative training. Over many years we have 

found that in a narrative approach every story is also an 

opportunity for learning. Consequently as far as specifically 

narrative counselling is concerned it is not desirable to separate 

counselling from training. 

While we cannot do counselling everywhere we are not bound 

by geographic region and can help train pastoral narrative 

counsellors in any region of the world with the aid of 

technology. Informally and formally partnering with 

stakeholders across the country we have students who form 

learning communities or learning campuses. 

Past and, or, present communities and campuses can be found in 

the following regions: 

· Constantia kruin, Dutch Reformed Church, West Rand 

· Northfield Methodist Church/ Institution for Creative 

Conversations, East Rand 

· Durbanville Bergsig, Western Cape, Dutch Reformed 

Church 

· George, South Cape, NG Eden congregation 

· Mosselbaai, South Cape, NG Eden congregation 

· Lydenburg, Mphumalanga, Dutch Reformed Church 


Our academic discipline 

Pastoral narrative therapy sees the joining of two areas, pastoral 

counseling and narrative therapy. Narrative therapy is formally 

now in its fourth decade of international development and is 

particularly known for a psycho-social approach that frees 

people from dominant rampant problem saturated stories in 

their lives and thin conclusions about who they are in this world. 

As a helping modality a narrative approach goes much further 

than being therapy and is applicable to a range of contexts from 

organisational work, to coaching, to facilitation, to education, to 

psychology and more. For us a narrative approach is enriched by 

certain traditions in theology and in particular the sub discipline 

of pastoral care and counseling. 

This leaves room for people to bring into conversation those 

areas of their lives that many professions do not, would not, or 

cannot deal with. Here we find we are having conversations 

about what people regard as the ultimate meaning and 

relationship in their lives. It could include spirituality, faith, 

making sense of suffering and more although themes like these 

might not always be explicit and neither is it forced. Whatever 

the individual counselors perspective, as a discipline pastoral 

narrative therapy does not have an overt dogmatic affiliation. 

While we incorporate a multidisciplinary approach that include 

psychology, social work, mediation practitioners and others it is 

wonderful that the centre as specifically a pastoral centre is a 

leading organisation among peers. 


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Academic partnership 

Two of our programmes are formally accredited by the 

University of Pretoria. This link is established through the Faculty 

of Theology, the discipline of Practical Theology (Pastoral Care 

and Counseling), and particularly through their resident centre, 

the Centre for Contextual Ministry. The division Enterprises at 

Part 

the University of Pretoria is the division that deals with all 

commercial and continuing education possibilities of the 

University of Pretoria. The division Enterprises is registered with 

the Higher Council for Education. All faculties work through said 

division for any programme presented to the public outside of 

formal university departments. Our accreditation is therefore 

specifically a partnership between us the Centre for Contextual 

Ministry and University of Pretoria Enterprises. 

The intellectual property rights lies with Coram Deo. But 

through the pastoral narrative therapy programme students 

receive an advanced certificate from the University of Pretoria 

for doing the Coram Deo training. This opens up possibilities for 

them to do a postgraduate diploma in theology that could then 

lead to postgraduate studies in counseling up to PhD level. 


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History 

Coram Deo was the brainchild and passion of Dr. André Botha in 

the late 1990's. 

As a minister of the Dutch Reformed Church Pretoria Oosterlig, 

Dr. André had a keen interested in Pastoral Narrative Care. 

During 2000, Dr Botha was approached by ladies from his 

congregation, asking to learn more about palliative care. The 

combination of Pastoral Counseling and Narrative Therapy had 

such an impact on the participants' lives that it laid the 

foundation for the current Pastoral Narrative Therapy course. 

In May 2003, Coram Deo's counseling and training centre 

opened its doors to the general public. 

In 2009, Coram Deo's Pastoral Narrative Therapy course was 

accredited by the University of Pretoria's department of 

practical theology, specifically at the centre for contextual 

ministry and in conjunction with the Enterprises division of the 

University of Pretoria as it deals with continued education. This 

is the way in which our programme receives formal 

acknowledgement by the Higher Council for Education in South 

Africa. 

Throughout the years various centre managers or leaders were 

appointed: 

· Up to 2003: André Botha 

· 2003 – 2009: Ryna Grobbelaar 

· 2009 – 2014: Francois Wessels 

· 2014 – 2017: André Botha 

· 2017 to present: Elmo Pienaar 

This is a centre with heart and strives to be a true oasis of hope. 

Since the start of the centre, Coram Deo has trained well over a 

thousand counselors and made a difference in the lives of many 

thousands more. 

Histo 


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Directors 

The executive authority of Coram Deo as a non-profit company 

vests with a board of directors. 

Directors: AP Smith (Chairman), HE Pienaar (MD), E Bester, C 

Dire 

Beukman, M Kuscus, N Müller, C Janse Van Rensburg, F Wessels. 

The board is constructed in such a way to reflect an appreciative 

relationship with the Dutch Reformed Church Oosterlig. 

However it also has to have fully independent persons with no 

formal relationship to the church. Another aspect of importance 

is that the board must comprise of people who understand the 

heart of what Pastoral Narrative Therapy is about. 

As a company Coram Deo is formally audited and subjects itself 

to all the relevant rules and regulations that govern non-profit 

companies and its founding articles and memorandum. 


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Operations team 

Day to day functional tasks are managed by a dedicated 

operations team and extended personnel: 

· the managing director (Dr Elmo Pienaar), 

appointments for reception and general administration 

(Linda Loots), 

· marketing, advertising and communication 

(Anneke Steyn), 

· administrative / operations manager (Lizelle Faber) 

· premises and maintenance (Charlie Mabitsela) 

· general assistant (Rachel Sithole) 

(The Dutch Reformed Church offers additional support in 

terms of premises up keep and financial administration and 

Coram Deo also appreciate being able to occupy the premises 

that is owned by Oosterlig congregation). 

Personnel 

Apart from formally appointed personnel Coram Deo by way of 

honorarium uses counsellors to support and develop what is 

sees as its focus areas from time to time. These areas include 

trauma counselling and teenage young adult coordinator / 

developer and a child therapist and coordinator (currently 

vacant). 

We extend our services by offering a place where any approved 

counsellor can take hands with us who share in our vision. 


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Managing Director 

Dr Elmo Pienaar is our current managing director / centre leader. 

This position joins the board of directors with what happens on 

an operational level. He studied theology with psychology as an 

additional subject. After undergraduate studies he went on to 

complete his PhD in Pastoral Family Therapy at the University of 

Man 

Pretoria. He spent 10 years in ministry as a reverend in the 

corporate Dutch Reformed Congregation , Pierre van Ryneveld 

where he focused on the arts, music, and human helping 

practices. His PhD took and exploratory approach in finding the 

intersections between a narrative approach and the arts in 

different contexts in both faith communities and organisations. 

From there he joined the Faculty of Theology under a prestigious 

research fellowship in the department of Practical Theology 

looking at leadership, spirituality, coaching and related helping 

practices. Throughout he was involved in business development 

ventures and private practice (coaching, counselling and 

consulting). He sees Coram Deo as an ideal organisation where 

many of his interests intersect. 


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Share the vision 

Any director on the board is passionate about the vision of 

Coram Deo as it predominantly falls out in two categories 

Pastoral Narrative Therapy and Training. 

While directors could have specific roles on the board they are all 

asked to help Coram Deo by connecting us with the right people 

and organisations to advance our collective cause of mending 

Shar 

the broken and healing of society. 

Coram Deo has a diverse skill set with the right credentials (NPC / 

PBO) to make a valuable contribution to any organisation, 

whether this lies with corporate social responsibility, awarding 

article 18A certificates, or doing consultation in organisation 

which may include an array of services from employee wellbeing 

to coaching to working with organisational stories. 

We also rely strongly on sponsorships to make counselling 

services cost effective to those who are financially not in a 

position to pay for professional services. Sponsorship therefore 

relies on partnership and stewardship wherein a contribution is 

made from the client, the financial sponsor, the counsellor, and 

Coram Deo itself. 

Apart from more significant sponsorship needed our basic 

sponsorship mechanism is called '100 seeds of hope' whereby an 

individual donates R100 per month towards helping Coram Deo 

reach our vision. Other possibilities are available to corporates. 


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Location and contact detail 

Address: C/o Lea & Hugo Street, Waterkloof Glen, 

Pretoria. 

Telephone: 012 998 9083 / 012 998 323 

Email: 

Webiste: 

Facebook: 

Twitter: 

info@coramdeo.co.za 

coramdeo.co.za 

https://www.facebook.com/CoramDeoConnect 

https://twitter.com/coramdeosentrum 

Loca 

Instagram: 

LinkedIn: 

Bank Details 

Account holder: Coram Deo 

Bank: ABSA 

https://instagram.com/coramdeocentre 

Search Coram Deo under companies 

Branch Code: 632005 (electronic) / 335-545 (Hatfield) 

Account type: Cheque Account 

Account number: : 406 725 8321 

Company Registration Details 

Coram Deo Pastoral Centre (NPC) (Reg. No. 2003/007191/08) 

NPO number: 033-372-NPO 

PBO number: 930003773 


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2018 Directors Orientation Pack

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