News

Counselor calls God 'ultimate counselor'

By Jeff Kurowski
Compass Assistant Editor

While serving as an in-home counselor for a secular agency, Lois Pulvermacher received a phone call from an angry mother. Her son had destroyed an item of both monetary and sentimental value.

"I just wanted to pray with her on the phone," said Pulvermacher, a licensed clinical social worker. "There was no way I was going to lift that anger for her. Only God could do that."

During her six years with the agency, there were numerous incidents where Pulvermacher realized the importance of faith in helping people in their lives. She decided she needed to find a faith-based agency or create her own.

"To not share with them (clients) what God has given me, was not being true to myself," she said. "God is the ultimate counselor and it is he who carries us out of our darkness."

Pulvermacher, a member of Prince of Peace Parish in Green Bay, completed the Urban Hope program. She continued to search for faith-based organizations before creating "Crossing the Bridges," Christian counseling services offered in the homes for families going through difficult times such as grief, loss, communication issues or other non-crisis situations.

"It's a passion to help people get to a peaceful form of living," she said. "I might not always know what to say or do next for someone, but whom better to rely on than our Heavenly Father? It's exciting to be genuine with who I am and incorporate all that God has given me."

"In my work, the child was identified as the client," she added. "I would meet one day a week with the child, and one day with the family. The goal was to get to the point where they could embrace their child in a loving way. I thank the Lord for letting me be a part of that. If they grow up with parents who are bitter and angry, they will be bitter and angry."

Pulvermacher's call to serve people in need includes 14 years in prison ministry.

"Lois has been instrumental in the formation of a support program for family members who have loved ones incarcerated and also a program of support for those who are newly released," said Mary Sherman, assistant director of Stewardship and Pastoral Services for the Diocese of Green Bay. "She is a faith-filled woman with a 'can do' attitude. She is always willing to offer support and encouragement through compassionate care and a listening presence. Through her prison ministry, she invites others to open their hearts to God's presence and to trust God in creating their future."

"The praise and worship I've witnessed at prisons is very powerful," said Pulvermacher. "You realize the blessings you have when you see their circumstances. When they turn to God in their darkest hours, you see that freedom comes from inside rather than outside."

Pulvermacher, who has a bachelor's degree in social work from UW-Green Bay and a master's degree from UW-Milwaukee, is originally from Princeton, Wis. She is the middle child in a family of 15 children.

"There were four older brothers and three older sisters, and four younger brothers and three younger sisters," she said. "In a family that big, you work through the conflicts otherwise there would be constant tension in the house."

Being from such a large family helps her in serving families, she said.

"Mediation can be a useful pastoral tool," she said.

Pulvermacher was a meat cutter for the family business in Princeton before pursuing counseling. She chose to move to Green Bay to be closer to friends she met through Koinonia.

"I always wanted to be a counselor, but I thought I would take too many people's problems home with me," she said. "I had grown enough in my faith to let God take control."

For information on Crossing the Bridges, call (920)712-4526 or e-mail: lois31062@yahoo.com.