<![CDATA[Islamic Religious Counselors who serve as civil servants (PNS) at the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) play an important role in providing religious guidance and counseling to the community. However, the limited number of counselors often results in a high workload, which may affect the effectiveness of religious counseling services. This study aims to analyze the workload of Islamic Religious Counselors and the effectiveness of religious counseling programs at the Office of Religious Affairs (KUA) of Tamansari District. This study employed a descriptive qualitative approach. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, observations, and documentation, and were analyzed using the interactive model of Miles and Huberman, which consists of data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The findings indicate that Islamic Religious Counselors at KUA Tamansari District experience a heavy workload as they are responsible for various duties, including Marriage Guidance (Bimbingan Perkawinan/BIMWIN), fostering Islamic study groups (majelis taklim), providing religious counseling to diverse community groups, coordinating with cross-sectoral stakeholders, and completing administrative and reporting tasks. Nevertheless, the implementation of religious counseling has generally been effective, as reflected in the consistent implementation of counseling programs, the counselors' ability to adapt the materials to community needs, and the establishment of collaboration with various stakeholders. Supporting factors include the counselors' commitment, the existence of permanent target groups, and support from the Ministry of Religious Affairs, while the main obstacles include the limited number of counselors, the extensive coverage area, inadequate facilities and infrastructure, and substantial administrative demands. Therefore, increasing the number of counselors and improving supporting facilities and infrastructure are necessary to further enhance the effectiveness of religious counseling services.]]>
