Plenary Sessions

If God is for Us (Romans 8)

Dr. Paul David Tripp is a pastor, international event speaker, and a best-selling and award-winning author. With more than 30 books and video series on Christian living, Paul’s driving passion is to connect the transforming power of Jesus Christ to everyday life.
Paul was born in Toledo, Ohio, and his parents had recently come to faith in Christ and were very excited about parenting as believers. Even though the Tripps were committed to having daily family worship and attending church whenever the doors were open, Paul's family was not without significant struggle. God used these experiences to build in Paul a desire to see the Gospel applied to the realities of life in a fallen world.
Paul attended Columbia Bible College (now Columbia International University) and majored in Bible and Christian Education. He went on to receive his M.Div from the Reformed Episcopal Seminary and his D.Min in Biblical Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary.
Throughout his life, Paul has planted a church, founded a Christian school, wrote worship songs and toured with a Christian band. He was a faculty member at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) for many years, a lecturer in Biblical Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary, a Visiting Professor at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and a pastor at Tenth Presbyterian Church.
Paul launched his own ministry in 2006. He lives in Philadelphia and is hopelessly in love with his wife of more than 50 years, Luella. They have four grown children and six grandchildren.

Pierre has served as the sixth dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry since 2022. He has authored several books, including *When Home Hurts: Responding Wisely to Domestic Abuse in Your Church* (Christian Focus, 2021), *The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life: Connecting Christ to Human Experience* (New Growth Press, 2016), and *The Pastor and Counseling* (Crossway, 2015). He also wrote the children’s storybook *God With Us: A Journey Home* (Shepherd Press, 2021) and has contributed to other journals and books, including *Scripture and Counseling* and *Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling*. His writing has been featured in Tabletalk Magazine, 9Marks Journal, Baptist Press, and The Gospel Coalition. He speaks at various engagements in the U.S. and overseas and serves on the board of directors for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Pierre is an elder at Clifton Baptist Church, where he has served on staff in various roles. He and his wife Sarah raise their five children in Louisville, Kentucky.

Jeremy Lelek serves as the founder and president of the Association of Biblical Counselors and Metroplex Wellness and Counseling. He has been a counselor since 1999, and has been a Licensed Professional Counselor since 2003. He holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Education and Supervision, an M.A. in Counseling, and a B.A. in Psychology.
Jeremy is also a Certified Provider with IASIS, a Micro-Current Neurofeedback system that offers cutting edge treatment to the brain. IASIS treatments are a naturopathic alternative to psychotropic medications, and are designed to impact the parasympathetic nervous system in such a way that symptoms such as depression, anxiety, anger, inattention, impulsively, addiction, and insomnia are positively impacted in a relatively short period of time.
Jeremy’s aim as a counselor is to impart the divine truth of Scripture in a relevant manner to those he serves, and do so in such a way that it reveals the true nature of their problems (be it marriage, parenting, depression, anger, anxiety, addiction, homosexuality, sleeplessness, etc.).
Jeremy is the author of Biblical Counseling Basics (2018), co-host on the podcast, Speak the Truth, a council member for the Biblical Counseling Coalition, and a long-time member of Fort Worth Presbyterian Church (PCA).
Dr. Lelek is happily married to Lynne, and they currently have the joy of loving and parenting their four children.

John Henderson serves as an Associate Pastor at University Baptist Church in Fayetteville, Arkansas, primarily overseeing the counseling, equipping, and family ministries of the church. John joined the biblical counseling faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in 2020, and continues to serve as a council board member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and a board member of the Association of Biblical Counselors. By God’s grace he has written *Equipped to Counsel*, a training curriculum in biblical counseling, *Catching Foxes*, a book for marriage preparation, and a number of articles, booklets, and book chapters. John and his wife Ruth live with their five children in northwest Arkansas.

Plenary 1: ”New Life” - Paul Tripp

Plenary 2: ”Adopted Heirs” - Jeremy Pierre

Plenary 3: ”Future and Present Glory” - Jeremy Lelek

Plenary 4: ”Immutable Security” - John Henderson

Pre-Conference

Counseling through God’s Attributes (Lamentations 3:21-26)

Pastor Dwayne Bond is an elder and serves as the Lead Pastor, Teaching Pastor, and Visionary of Wellspring Church. As a native of the Washington DC area, he and his family relocated to Charlotte to plant Wellspring in 2006. After settling into the city, Pastor Bond, along with the plant team, launched Wellspring in March 2007. In January 2007, he became a member of Acts 29 Church Planting Network in which he currently functions as the Charlotte Area Coordinator.
Prior to receiving a Ph.D. in Professional Counseling from Liberty University in 2014, Pastor Bond also graduated from Capital Bible Seminary (M.A. in Christian Counseling & Discipleship), Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary (M.A. in Religion) and University of Maryland (B.S. in Finance). In addition to pastoring, he has a passion for equipping the next generation of Biblical counselors. For over ten years, he has served as an Adjunct Professor within seminaries. Currently, he is teaching in the Pastoral Counseling Department of Liberty University.
He has been married over thirty-five years to his beautiful wife Leslie and has three wonderful children. He enjoys reading, writing, traveling, gardening, cooking, basketball, ping-pong, billiards, vegan food, entrepreneurship, and having fun. He looks forward to meeting you.

Brad serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC. He also serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition, has authored several books including God’s Attributes: Rest for Life’s Struggles, and served as general editor for the Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused (churchcares.com) project.

Shauna loves opportunities to write and teach God’s Word, She has a passion to encourage, equip & empower others to walk more faithfully and joyfully in the midst of their circumstances. Shauna desires to teach others to have a deeper knowledge of God's Word and through obedience to the truth, to start living radical lives of freedom and purpose.
Shauna is married to Michael, a discipleship pastor in Texas, and they have two sons Dustin and Jaxson.

Jonathan Holmes is the Founder and Executive Director of Fieldstone Counseling. He also serves as the Pastor of Counseling for Parkside Church Bainbridge and Green. Jonathan graduated from The Master’s University with degrees in Biblical Counseling and History and his MA from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author of *The Company We Keep: In Search of Biblical Friendship*, *Counsel for Couples: A Biblical and Practical Guide for Marriage Counseling*, *Rescue Skills* & *Rescue Plan.*
Jonathan has written for a number of sites and organizations including *Christianity Today*, The Gospel Coalition, Biblical Counseling Coalition, the ERLC, and the *Journal for Biblical Counseling*. Jonathan serves on the Board of Directors for CCEF (Christian Counseling Educational Foundation) and the Council Board for the BCC (Biblical Counseling Coalition). He is a frequent speaker at conferences and retreats. He and his wife, Jennifer, have four daughters, Ava, Riley, Ruby, and Emma.

Session 1: God’s Love - Jonathan Holmes (v21-22a)

Session 2: God’s Mercy - Brad Hambrick (v22b-23a)

Session 3: God’s Faithfulness - Shauna Van Dyke (v23b)

Session 4: God’s Goodness - Dwayne Bond (v24-26)

Track Options

ABC offers specialized tracks taught by leading practitioners in the field. Each of the following tracks will include eight insightful sessions. Attendees will choose one track during registration, and will attend all sessions in that track throughout the duration of the conference.

Note: Track sessions are listed in the order that they will be delivered.

Track A - Mental Health: Biblically Unpacking Diagnoses

We live in a culture where psychiatric diagnoses dominantly serve as the basis of most mental health treatment protocols. While diagnostic impressions may be helpful from a descriptive vantage point, they do extraordinarily little to help us effectively minister to those labeled as such. This track is designed to help biblical counselors wisely consider such prevalent diagnostic impressions while bringing to bear biblical and empirical truth that may help serve people diagnosed with some of the most challenging diagnoses in the mental health field.

Several of these diagnoses offer little hope for the sufferer when reading the research literature, but does the Gospel offer a hopeful alternative? Our aim is to show that it indeed does.

Objective One: Consider how Scripture may interpret symptoms associated with psychiatric diagnoses.

Objective Two: Provide empirical data and analysis of specific psychiatric diagnoses.

Objective Three: Provide practical methodologies to apply to varying psychiatric diagnoses.

Matthew LaPine is from Duluth, Minnesota. He is the Director of Christian Education at Citylight Church in Omaha, NE. He has been an adjunct professor for the last four years at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (2019-22) and Reformed Theological Seminary (2022), where he taught Old and New Testament, Theology, Hermeneutics, Ethics, Apologetics, and Theological Foundations of Counseling (RTS).
He holds a PhD from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL) under Kevin Vanhoozer. He writes on theology, emotion, and mental health. He published his book *The Logic of the Body* with Lexham Press in 2020. It was a finalist for Christianity Today’s book of the year in Theology and Ethics in 2021.
Matt is married to Molly. They have lived in Iowa, Texas, Ohio, and Wisconsin. They have three girls.

Nate Brooks has been counseling for over 15 years in a variety of contexts. He currently also serves as an Associate Professor of Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, NC. Nate and his wife, Kate, live in the Triangle region with their three children.
Nate is a board member of the Christian Trauma Healing Network and has written for Christianity Today, the Biblical Counseling Coalition, The Gospel Coalition, and several academic journals. He is the author of Identifying Heart Transformation and co-author of Help! Our Sex Life is Troubled by Past Abuse. He frequently speaks at conferences and church events on the topic of abuse and trauma.

Beth Claes is the Director of New Heights Counseling. She has a doctorate in psychology from Alfred University, and biblical counseling training from CCEF and ABC. Beth practiced as a psychologist for 10 years before shifting directions, and now practices only as a biblical counselor. She has experience counseling others through anxiety, depression, sexuality, marriage, and parenting concerns. Beth is passionate about helping people see how the gospel tangibly connects with their struggles and suffering. She uses a gospel-centered approach because of the profound hope we have in Christ, even in the midst of deep sorrows and pain.

Below are the DSM-5 diagnoses we will explore together:

Biblically Navigating Psychiatric Diagnoses

OCD: Scrupulosity

Borderline Personality Disorder

Gender Identity Confusion

Schizophrenia/Bi-Polar

Body Dysmorphic Disorder

Dissociative Identity Disorder

Panel Discussion

Track B - Trauma

Objective: True, lasting healing from trauma requires wise, tender counselors who can access and apply biblical truths to the complex effects of terror upon an embodied soul. Through eight sessions together, the trauma track aims to equip counselors at a basic level for perceiving, thinking, and responding to the experience of trauma. After establishing a biblical anthropology of trauma, we will define trauma and trace how traumatic experience develops in a human being before presenting an approach to ministering the gospel of Christ and word of God to various aspects of traumatic experience. The experience of trauma involves a quality of grief, terror, anxiety, confusion, painful reliving, guilt, and shame that only Christ, His Spirit, and His word can remedy.

Darby is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where she has served since 2003. She has a master of divinity with a counseling emphasis from Westminster Theological Seminary. Darby brings particular passion and expertise in helping the vulnerable and oppressed, especially women in abusive marriages. She has contributed to Church Cares and the PCA Domestic Abuse & Sex Assault church training materials. She has counseled in a missionary church setting and has also held leadership roles in women’s ministry. She is the author of Is it Abuse? (P&R, 2020), has written a handful of minibooks, and has contributed to several other books. Darby and her husband John have three children.

Curtis Solomon, PhD. serves as Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Boyce College. He is the author or *Redeem Your Marriage: Hope for Husbands Who Have Hurt through Pornography*. He and his wife Jenny co-founded Solomon Soul Care which offers counseling, coaching, and consulting services.

A Biblical Anthropology of Trauma - Curtis Solomon

Describing the Nature and Development of Trauma - John Henderson

Describing the Experience and Expression of Trauma - Darby Strickland

Entering Their World Marked by Trauma - Darby Strickland

Remembering, Reliving, Retelling, and Reinterpreting - John Henderson

Grief, Lament, and the Mercies of God in Christ - Curtis Solomon

Guilt, Shame, and the Covering of God in Christ - Darby Strickland and Curtis Solomon

Conclusion with Q&A - Panel

Track C - Counseling Children and Teens

Objective: Knowing how to approach children and teens in counseling can be a challenge. Learning how to enter their world and draw them out can sometimes feel difficult. The goal of this track is to begin by providing attendees with a biblical framework for counseling children and teens - and parents. As we build a biblical foundation for understanding the needs of families, we will then demonstrate practical approaches for working with youth in counseling.

Julie Lowe is an author, speaker and counselor. She holds an MA in counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary, is a licensed professional counselor with over twenty-five years of counseling experience, and is a registered play therapist supervisor. Julie served as a faculty member at the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) for over 20 years and has lectured and taught at Missio Seminary and Westminster Theological Seminary.
Julie has extensive experience teaching, speaking, and consulting with churches, schools, and other organizations around the country. She regularly teaches on topics such as marriage, women’s issues, sexual abuse, body image issues, parenting, adoption, and child maltreatment issues. She is trained in leading mandated reporter trainings and provides numerous trainings on child sexual abuse. Julie has a registered therapy dog that she works with both professionally and on a volunteer basis.
Julie has authored several books: Childproof: Parenting By Faith Not Formula, Safeguards: Shielding Our Homes and Equipping Our Kids, Building Bridges: Biblical Counseling Activities for Children and Teens, Helping Your Anxious Child: What to Do When Your Worries are Big, and Teens and Suicide: Recognizing the Signs and Sharing the Hope.

Her work and resources has been widely promoted by organizations like Focus on the Family, The Evangelical Counsel for Abuse Prevention and Paul Tripp’s Connecting Podcast. Julie and her husband, Greg, live in the Philadelphia, PA area and have five children. They have served over 20 years as foster and adoptive parents.

Ron has been married to his beautiful wife Monique for 29 years. They have five children, Hannah 24, Ron Jr. 22, Matthew 20, Leah 18, and Kaitlyn 13. Ron received his MDiv. from Calvary Baptist Theological seminary in 2006. He has been in pastoral ministry for 25 years. Ron currently serves as the Campus Pastor at Faith Christian Academy in Quakertown Pa, where he oversees the Bible Department as well as teaches and offers biblical counseling to students and staff. Ron has been involved in providing and instructing others in biblical counseling for over 20 years. He has instructed on biblical counseling in churches, at the college level, and on short term mission trips in China and West Africa. He is the co-pastor of Allentown Hope Community church located in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

Eliza is the director of counseling at McLean Bible Church located in the Washington D.C. metro area. She holds a Master of Arts in Counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary and has advanced certificates in biblical counseling from The Christian Counseling Educational Foundation (CCEF) and The Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC). She is also a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC/LCP) and is a Certified Clinical Professional Trauma Therapist (CCPTT) and has specialized trauma training in Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR) and Group Traumatic Episode Protocol (GTEP).
She teaches counseling at Metro Baltimore Seminary in Maryland and at Santiago Theological Seminary in the Dominican Republic and is a certifying instructor for the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC) in Virginia. She is also the co-host of the podcast Counsel For Life.
She is the author of The Whole Life: 52 Weeks of Biblical Self-Care, Raising Teens in a Hyper-Sexualized World, Raising Kids in a Screen-Saturated World, Raising Emotionally Healthy Kids, How to Get the Most Out of Your Counseling, Count Yourself Calm, Teens and Anxiety: How Parents Can Help, The World Rejoices (August 2024), I’m Stressed: From Pressure to Peace (October 2024), and a forthcoming book on Trauma with Harvest House publishers (2025).
In addition to having a passion for counseling, Eliza also loves to be out in nature. When she is not in the office, you may find her exploring the beauty of the outdoors. Whether she’s wandering along a trail, soaking in the sunshine near a lake, or simply taking in the peaceful sounds of a nearby river, Eliza finds refreshment in the serenity and beauty of God’s creation. Eliza also loves spending time with family. She has been married for 32 years to her husband Ken and they have three adult children. They also have two daughters-in-law and a brand-new grandson who they adore!

The Importance of a Biblical Worldview for Families - Ron Jones

Significance and Role of Parents - Julie Lowe

Title TBD - Eliza Huie

Critical Issues Younger Children are Facing Today - Full Team

Critical Issues Teen are Facing Today - Full Team

A Biblical Rationale for Expressive Therapies - Julie Lowe

Practical Labs: A Case Study With A Younger Child - Full Team

Practical Lab – A Case Study With a Teen - Full Team

Track D - Fundamentals of Biblical Counseling Methods

Objective: As believers, our call is to care for each other’s souls. But how do we do that? This track is designed to equip you with foundational truths on how to facilitate and cultivate a culture of one another care within your church or ministry. Together we will discuss things such as how to get a counseling session off to a good start, learn how to ask good questions that engages the heart, understand the importance of listening, and knowing the dynamics of the heart. We will also spend time sharing how to bring the gospel into every session, foundational scriptures in caring for others, and the importance of confession and repentance. Lastly, we will address common mistakes and the value of personal stewardship. It will be informative, relational, and interactive…so don’t miss out!

Lee and his family live in Austin, Texas, where he is Pastor of Soul Care Ministries at Radiant Church while also serving as a consultant for Soul Care Consulting. He began pastoral and counseling ministry in 2005 at The Village Church for nearly 10 years. He then spent three year in Canada where he served as the Pastor of Biblical Soul Care in Muskoka. He is member of the Association of Biblical Counselors and a counsel board member for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Lee is married to Andrea, and they have four children, Luke, Abel, Leah, and Miriam.

Emily Dempster is the Biblical Counseling Training Director at Salem Heights Church in Salem, Oregon, where she helps equip leaders and individuals for care in the local church through counseling. She also serves as the Training Center Advisor for the Association of Biblical Counselors (ABC), where she guides and supports training programs nationwide. Emily holds a Master’s degree in Pastoral Counseling from Liberty University and has earned her Advanced Biblical Counseling Certification through ABC. Passionate about the integration of biblical counseling within the local church, Emily loves collaborating with ministry leaders to further God’s work.
Emily and her husband Ryan have been married since 1998, and they are blessed parents of two college-aged children.

**Pete Potloff** serves as the Executive Pastor at Salem Heights Church in Salem, Oregon. In addition to being a part of the pastoral team, he oversees the Biblical Counseling ministry at Salem Heights and is an instructor in their Equipped to Counsel training program which trains individuals from churches throughout Oregon and Southwest Washington. He is also a certified biblical counselor with the Association of Biblical Counselors. He and his wife Holly have three children, Jamin, Jase, and Kyla.

Theology of Care - Lee Lewis

Starting Well: Navigating Initial Counseling Sessions with Wise Assessment – Emily Dempster

Unpacking a Persons Story in Counseling – Lee Lewis

Dynamics of the Heart – Lee Lewis

The Gospel in Counseling- Pete Potloff

The Character of God in Counseling - Pete Potloff

Sharing scripture in Counseling with Wisdom- Shauna Van Dyke

Ending Well: Navigating Closure and Encouraging Continued Growth in Christ - Emily Dempster

Track E - Common Sexual Issues

Objective: When it comes to sex and sexuality, God creates, and sin and the world corrupts. Many counseling issues that we face in the church and in the counseling, room come back to this topic. Helping individuals, couples, and families sort through past abuse, sexual struggles, pornography addiction, etc. are all areas that counselors need to be equipped to address. This track will help provide biblical and practical help for a perennial struggle.

Michael is the Co-founder and Executive Director of Truth Renewed Ministries, a biblical counseling ministry committed to providing free biblical counseling, a training center for ABC, and helping the local church equip biblically informed care through certification and consultation. He is a certified member of ABC and has been counseling for the last nine years. He is also the host of the podcast, Speak The Truth. He is a current student at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary pursuing his MDiv in biblical counseling. Michael loves helping others apply the depth of the gospel of Jesus Christ to their specific sufferings, brokenness, and sinful struggles. He is married to Shauna Van Dyke. They live in Fort Worth with their two sons, Dustin and Jaxson.

Cecelia is a senior counselor at CCEF, where she has served since 2004. She holds a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary and has earned the advanced counseling certificate from CCEF. Cecelia has counseled in the local church context and held leadership roles in women’s and singles ministries. She has a particular burden for counseling victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Dr. Robert Jones serves as Professor of Biblical Counseling, and Chair of the Department of Biblical Counseling and Practical Theology at Southern Seminary. Prior to coming to Southern in 2016, Dr. Jones served as a Lead Pastor in West Virginia and then Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, North Carolina. Dr. Jones is a fellow with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors, a certified Christian conciliator with the Institute for Christian Conciliation, and a founding council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Dr. Jones serves as an elder and adult teacher at Hunsinger Lane Baptist Church in Louisville, Kentucky. He is married to Lauren, and they have 2 children.

Biblical Foundation of Sexuality - Jonathan Holmes

Examining Methods of Biblical Change for Sexual Sin - Robert Jones

Dealing with Adultery in Marriage - Robert Jones

Sexual Addiction: Transforming Perverted Patterns into Purposeful Worship - Michael Van Dyke

Helping Couples with Past SexualTrauma: Part 1 - Nate Brooks

Helping Couples with Past Sexual Trauma: Part 2 - Nate Brooks

Singleness in an Over-Sexualized Culture - Cecelia Bernhardt

Pursuing Intimacy in an Affection-less Marriage - Cecelia Bernhardt

Track F - Pastors & Church Leadership

Objective: This track seeks to serve and equip pastors and church leaders at three levels–personal, ministry, and leadership. We will teach and coach you on issues you face or want to address in your ministry. The track leaders, who have decades of experience as lead, executive, and care pastors, will teach collaboratively and engage interactively during each workshop.

He earned his Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy. He earned his Master of Divinity and Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theology Seminary.
He enjoys teaching and equipping church leaders and members for discipleship and care through community. One of his greatest joys is seeing God's people come alive as they engage in gospel ministry.
He also serves as a Sojourn Network Strategist in the area of care and as a Council Member for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He is author of Restore: Changing How We Live and Love and God Redeeming His Bride: A Handbook for Church Discipline. He enjoys life with Karen, his wife of thirty-nine years, and their three grown children, two sons-in-law, and four adorable grandchildren.
Robert has served as Pastor of Care at Sojourn Church Midtown for over sixteen years, where he and Karen equipped the church to care for one another in community. They have cared for couples for over twenty-seven years and are passionate about training couples to disciple other husbands and wives through life's realities. They also have had the privilege of serving missionaries abroad, training leaders and team members to live in gospel-centered communities.

Garrett Higbee, Psy.D.
Garrett is the director of Lead Healthy Retreats for Twelve Stones Ministries. He is also a leader care specialist for the Great Commission Collective. Garrett is a seasoned counselor, teacher, and trainer with over 30 years of experience. He was trained as a clinical psychologist with a specialty in marriage and family counseling but had a radical conversion in 1992, which led him to trust in Christ and His Word for all things related to life and counseling. He helped start Twelve Stones Ministries, a biblical counseling retreat in 2004. In 2018 he founded Soul Care Consulting. He and his team have developed a highly effective church-based model of discipleship and soul care engaging every believer. He is dedicated to helping churches thrive both in their leadership cultures and as an authentic community. Garrett is a founding board member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He has been married to Tammy for over 25 years and they have three children, Rachel, Zach and Sarah. They live in Westfield, Indiana. His intensive retreats for leaders can be found at leadhealthyretreats.com and his training resources can be found at soulcareconsulting.com.

**Joe Keller** (DMin, Westminster Theological Seminary) has served in Christian ministry and leadership development for more than 25 years. He currently serves as the executive pastor at Grace Baptist Church in Santa Clarita, California, and is a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He is married to Heidi and they have four children.

Personal Life

Abiding: The Key to Bearing Fruit and Avoiding Burnout - Robert Cheong

Leading Healthy: Stewarding Mind, Body, and Soul - Garrett Higbee & Dwayne Bond

Shepherding & Ministry

Lead Pastor As Champion of the Discipleship and Care Culture - Dwayne Bond & Garrett Higbee

Leading Leaders: Equipping Strategies for Gospel Ministry - Joe Keller & Robert Cheong

Leadership

Redefining Success: When Leading Looks More Like Christ - Dwayne Bond & Joe Keller

Pastoral Friendship: Cultivating Meaningful Friendships in and Outside the Church - Garrett Higbee & Joe Keller

Having the Hard Conversations: Catching Leadership Problems Early - Robert Cheong & Dwayne Bond

Panel Discussion

Track G - Understanding Emotions: Shame, Guilt & Regret

Objective: In Understanding Emotions: Guilt, Shame, and Regret, you will learn to differentiate and minister gospel-based hope to this set of emotions that are too often experienced as synonyms. When it comes to applying the gospel to our lives, there may be no more important trio of emotions to differentiate than these three. Life will never be as neat or tidy as our categories, but confusion about these emotions may cause us to misapply the Bible as much as any other factor in counseling.

Andrew Dealy serves as the executive director of The Austin Stone Counseling Center and is the director of soul care at The Austin Stone Community Church. As a licensed professional counselor with a focus in biblical counseling, Andrew’s passion is to display the glory of God in the darkest moments and places of peoples’ lives to help them see that the Lord’s ability to save, heal, restore, and redeem is not hindered by the severity of their circumstances or weaknesses. Andrew has been married to his wife, Tricia, for 14 years, and they have three sweet children.

Shannon is the Director of Biblical Counseling at her church in California. She is certified by the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and has a Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling (MABC) from The Master’s University.
She's the author of Help! I’m A Slave to Food and contributing author to Women Counseling Women. She is a retreat and conference speaker and serves as a council member, blogger, and book reviewer for the Biblical Counseling Coalition.
Shannon graduated from the College of Charleston with a BA in Biology and a BS in Cytotechnology from the Medical University of South Carolina. She works as a Cytotechnologist (screening pap smears under a microscope) for a medical laboratory.
Shannon is passionate about Jesus Christ and all that He offers for every believer. Through counseling, writing, and speaking, she has the privilege of coming alongside women and couples applying the hope of the gospel in their difficult seasons of life.

Defining Our Terms: Guilt, Shame, and Regret - Brad Hambrick

Finding Freedom from Legitimate, Sticky Guilt - Jeremy Pierre

Learning to Let Go of False Guilt - Andrew Dealy

Embracing God’s Freedom from Self-Imposed Shame - Shannon McCoy

Navigating Other-Imposed Shame - Brad Hambrick

Guiding Grief and Regret Over Personal Sin - Andrew Dealy

Processing Grief and Regret Over an Experience of Suffering - Shannon McCoy

Conversations about Counseling Guilt, Shame and Regret - Panel

Track H - Spiritual Abuse

Objective: Join us as we seek to understand what spiritual abuse is, what it isn’t and the subtle forms it takes. We will also learn to recognize when it’s happening and appreciate the grievous damage it causes to individuals and church communities. We will then provide biblical ways of responding to promote healing and growth.