E-note 3/5: Update on Biblical Counseling

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

By now you may have heard that the conference, "God's Heart for the Church," has been postponed. Dr. Powlison needed an emergency stint last weekend and will not be able to teach until later this Spring. We are hoping for a late April date for the conference. Should the conference not happen, all 200 registrants will be refunded their fees. Also, if you can not make the new date, your fee will be refunded.

Even though the conference was postponed, yesterday the Upper Valley Reformation Society kept their appointment with two special guests affiliated with the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation (the organization providing the conference). Mr. Alasdair Groves and Mrs. Robyn Huck are two CCEF trained and certified biblical counselors. There was joy and excitement among the eight pastors who gathered yesterday because Alasdair and Robyn will be launching a much needed biblical counseling center in the Upper Valley this summer. Many pastors have prayed for years for a professional counseling ministry to be established here that was committed to the biblical vision of human suffering and human redemption in Christ. Such a ministry is now on the verge of becoming a reality. Alasdair, husband to Lauren and father to Emily, is a recent graduate of Westminster Theological Seminary with a counseling degree and CCEF certification. Alasdair knows the Upper Valley well. He graduated from Dartmouth and then spent two years on staff with Navigators at Dartmouth. His father, Al, also pastored for a little while in West Fairlee before migrating to Westminster where he became a Professor. Mrs. Robyn Huck, who is a long time member at First Congregational Church in Woodstock, has just completed the CCEF distance-certification program. She will work under and alongside Alasdair in this new counseling center that will have a professional status but closely associated with the gospel-driven churches of the Upper Valley. We are all anticipating a fruitful ministry where hurting and broken people will be skillfully cared for in counseling and therapy with the interests and the possibilities of the living Christ under girding all things. Rejoice with us over the kindness of God to the Upper Valley! We even anticipate an enormous opportunity here for the gospel to reach out into the lives of non-Christians with broken marriages and broken homes and broken minds.

Now on another matter altogether. As promised, the elders have completed their write up of their recent retreat. Just follow the link below and you can access a PDF document of the report. Hard copies will be available on Sunday. We have leaned heavily toward transparency in this report. We also want you to know we see it as unfinished reflections. It is not policy. Your reflections and communication is needed to bring it further to completion. Yours in Christ, John