Editor’s Be aware: Our August 2024 mini-series on the BCC Grace and Reality weblog offers a have a look at totally different sides of the BCC ministry, written by choose members of our Board of Administrators. On this second article, Curtis Solomon discusses the BCC Annual Management Summit. In different contributions to the sequence, Steve Viars shares in regards to the creation and imaginative and prescient of the BCC Doctrinal and Confessional Statements, John Henderson explains how the BCC occasions calendar aligns with our mission and imaginative and prescient, and Betty-Anne Van Rees describes the distinctive advantages of the BCC Grace and Reality weblog.
Folks usually ask me, “What’s the function of the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC) Summit?” My typical response entails one thing like, “Why does it should have one function?” Whereas the yearly BCC Management Summit at all times serves our broader mission of constructing unity in biblical counseling, the actual manner wherein we pursue that mission modifications from 12 months to 12 months. There are three main emphases we’ve when planning our Management Summit every year: neighborhood constructing, contending, and collaborating. Every of those emphases contributes to the BCC mission in distinctive methods.
The BCC Management Summit
Nothing brings individuals collectively like bringing individuals collectively. The capstone of the BCC calendar is our Annual Management Summit—a three-day occasion the place the BCC Council and particular visitors collect in individual. The time is stuffed with meals (at all times a favourite), prayer time, small group dialogue, massive group dialogue, some free time, and normally some lectures. How we use the lecture and group instances is dictated by the actual emphasis we select for that 12 months. The gathering normally takes place in early December and is usually praised as a spotlight of the attendees’ 12 months.
Group Constructing
Relationships are central to the well being and unity of any group, group, or motion. For this reason relationships have been central to every little thing the BCC has achieved since its founding. These relationships foster unity and strengthen the biblical counseling motion. They result in conversations amongst brothers and sisters in Christ when questions, issues, controversies, or alternatives come up. As certainly one of our founding and present members of the Board of Administrators, Randy Patten, says, “We would like individuals speaking to each other as an alternative of about each other.”
Constructing relationships occurs every year on the Management Summit, no matter whether or not or not that’s the focus of the occasion that 12 months. Attendees develop relationships by breaking bread with each other, likelihood encounters in a hallway or foyer, or small group dialogue instances.
Whereas relationship constructing takes place passively every year, there are years once we actively give attention to neighborhood constructing. We have now had themes centered on ministering to the members of the BCC Council. We have now integrated private testimonies so individuals can study from each other whereas additionally attending to know explicit members on a extra private stage. Generally, we’ve had much less structured time with the actual need that attendees would have extra time to work together personally.
Whatever the explicit format, neighborhood constructing will at all times stay central to the time the BCC Council shares collectively on the Annual Management Summit. Please pray that God will proceed to make use of that point to deepen relationships, develop new ones, and additional unify the biblical counseling motion.
Contending
Selecting a “C” phrase for this explicit emphasis was a bit difficult. I may have gone with “battle,” “conflict,” or “distinction.” Nonetheless, I needed a phrase that denotes distinction with out division. I selected “contend” to speak the constructive perspective of standing up for one thing that’s vital. Our aim is that we’d be capable to come collectively and contend with out being contentious.
The purpose of Summits that target contending is to debate areas the place biblical counselors differ and generally divide. The BCC is a coalition. That essentially means there are variations among the many members who come collectively, however they coalesce round points which might be of better significance.
Every of the BCC Council Members yearly affirms settlement with and dedication to the BCC Confessional Assertion and Doctrinal Assertion. These are the unifying rules we coalesce round. Whereas we acknowledge the unifying nature of those paperwork and attempt for unity, we don’t anticipate to realize uniformity. There are totally different interpretations and functions of the important thing components outlined in these paperwork, in addition to a variety of positions on the plethora of different points that aren’t explicitly lined in them.
Infrequently, we decide a particular space of disagreement because the theme of the Summit. We spend our time collectively listening to differing views and discussing them. We have now achieved so by listening to lectures from individuals who view issues otherwise and having case research addressed by individuals from totally different views to see how every may deal with issues in a novel vogue.
Sometimes, we put aside time on the Summit for reconciliation conversations to happen. All year long, Council Members are talking, educating, writing, counseling, posting, and ministering in quite a lot of different methods. Generally, issues are written or stated that spark debate, and people can generally grow to be heated. Due to the relationships that exist throughout the BCC, we are able to invite the individuals on the coronary heart of the dialogue to satisfy with each other and trusted mentors/mediators. These are fantastic alternatives for biblical counseling leaders to observe what they train others with the aim of loving each other and glorifying God.
Some individuals have voiced a need to contend at each Summit we maintain. These individuals see the worth in discussing our variations with a coronary heart that these variations is perhaps minimized or overcome. Nonetheless, there are two main causes I’ve led away from contending being the annual emphasis. First, as good as it might be for us to have the ability to come collectively every year to debate areas of disagreement and stay uncontentious, the truth is sort of totally different. BCC Council Members are abundantly clever and godly individuals, however we’re all nonetheless sinners. Contending can simply flip contentious. We have now misplaced members as a result of they felt personally attacked, others as a result of extra individuals didn’t aspect with them in a debate, and we’ve misplaced some as a result of there are individuals taking part with whom they disagree strongly. Even when individuals didn’t depart the BCC yearly over contentious debate, the final ambiance created by fixed disagreement would seemingly run counter to our aim of fostering unity. In a coalition, a sure stage of rigidity will at all times be current, however an excessive amount of rigidity can result in fracture.
Collaborating
Collaborating describes the Summits the place we focus our dialogue and educating round a specific subject or the creation of a particular useful resource. Early Summits (then known as retreats) led to the writing of our Confessional and Doctrinal Statements in addition to the BCC trilogy (Christ-Centered Biblical Counseling, Scripture and Counseling, and Biblical Counseling and the Church). Even once we aren’t instantly looking for to create content material, BCC Summits usually result in the creation of sources. After we held our Summit on incapacity ministry and biblical counseling, visitors and Council members collaborated to provide Struggling in 3-D and the Household Incapacity Toolkit.
Generally collaborating takes place apart from the actual subject of the Summit. We work to construct relationships, and people relationships result in collaborative sources. Listed here are a number of examples: The Pastor and Counseling, Rescue Expertise and Rescue Plan, Counsel for {Couples}, Treasure within the Ashes, the 31 Day Devotionals For Life sequence, the “Counseling By means of…” sequence, and lots of extra.
The 2024 BCC Management Summit will give attention to the subject of suicide. This can be a rising downside within the U.S. and lots of locations all over the world. There’s comparatively little written in regards to the situation from a biblical counseling perspective. Please pray for our time collectively and that the Lord would use it to spark the creation of some fantastic sources to assist hurting individuals.
Whether or not we focus our time on neighborhood constructing, contending, or collaborating, the BCC Management Summit is a blessed time. God makes use of it to deepen relationships, create new ones, sharpen and sanctify attendees, and multiply ministry. We all know it’s a important time in our 12 months to additional the mission of constructing unity in biblical counseling.
Be aware: In 2025, we are going to host a particular Summit that you’re invited to attend. December 2-5, 2025, would be the second-ever Biblical Counseling World Summit. We are going to deliver collectively biblical counseling leaders from all over the world to encourage and edify each other and develop relationships that can improve and broaden biblical counseling globally. To search out out extra, go to this hyperlink and signal as much as obtain updates. We hope to see you there!
Query for Reflection
Will you decide to praying for unity and collaboration among the many leaders of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and within the broader biblical counseling motion?
