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** NOTE ** Any individual, any group, or any GroupWatch that registers after September 13, 2023 is not guaranteed to receive the conference box before the conference. We will ship it after the conference.

October 2nd-4th, 2023 – Santa Clarita, CA

LIVING & ACTIVE

Biblical Counseling & the Sufficiency of Scripture

2023 Annual Conference

The world is unified in its belief that God’s Word is unfit to break through the complex problems we face.

Join us in Santa Clarita, CA, October 2nd-4th, 2023 as we explore how God, through His Word, is the only source of life, help, and restoration for all that is broken in mankind.





Benefits

  • 75+ hours of lecture content covering topics like hermeneutics, critiques of counseling theories, counseling from the Psalms etc.
  • Opportunity to watch the conference live and interact with other attendees

  • Over 40 different speakers, including Dale Johnson, Abner Chou, Ernie Baker and more
  • Conference bookstore with discounts on top biblical counseling books

Purchase ACBC Apparel here.

Speakers

  • Dale Johnson

    Plenary Speaker
  • Abner Chou

    Plenary Speaker
  • Terry Enns

    Plenary Speaker
  • Ernie Baker

    Plenary Speaker
  • H.B. Charles

    Plenary Speaker
  • Rick Holland

    Plenary Speaker

Event Schedule

  • Living & Active

    Biblical Counseling & the Sufficiency of Scripture

  • Location

    Grace Baptist Church

    22833 Copper Hill Dr,

    Santa Clarita, CA 91350

  • October 2-4, 2023

Monday, October 2

7:00am-9:30am – Registration and Check In
8:30am-9:30am – Pre-Conference Session #1
9:30am-10:00am – Break
10:00am-11:00am – Pre-Conference Session #2
11:00am-1:00pm – *Lunch
1:00pm-2:00pm – Pre-Conference Session #3
2:00pm-2:15pm – Break
2:15pm-3:15pm – Pre-Conference Session #4
3:15pm-3:30pm – Break
3:30pm-4:30pm – Pre-Conference Session #5
4:30pm-7:00pm – Registration and Check In
6:00pm-7:15pm – Plenary Session #1
7:15pm-7:45pm – Break
7:45pm-8:45pm – Breakout Session #1

Tuesday, October 3

8:30am-9:30am – Breakout Session #2
9:30am-9:45am – Break
9:45am-11:00am – Plenary Session #2
11:00am-1:00 pm – *Lunch
1:00pm-2:15pm – Plenary Session #3
2:15pm-2:45pm – Break
2:45pm-3:45pm – Breakout Session #3
3:45pm-4:15pm – Break
4:15pm-5:15pm – Plenary Session #4
5:30pm-7:00pm – Member Meeting

Wednesday, October 4

8:30am-9:30am – Breakout Session #4
9:30am-9:45am – Break
09:45am-11:00am – Plenary Session #5
11:00am-1:00pm – *Lunch
11:00am-12:40pm – *Women’s Lunch
1:00pm-2:00pm – Breakout Session #5
2:00pm-2:30pm – Break
2:30pm-3:45pm – Plenary Session #6

*If eating on-site, must pre-purchase lunch ticket via your event registration. You can modify your registration if you decide to add lunch tickets at a later date. Lunch tickets must be purchased (via your event registration) on or before 8/31/23.

Sessions

This year’s breakouts include sessions on the following topics:

  • Basics of Biblical Counseling
  • Common Grace / Sufficiency
  • Critiques of Counseling Theories
  • Emotional Issues
  • Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture
  • The Psalms

You can select a session in each time block on a single topic or mix it up!

  • Plenaries

    Dale Johnson

    Terry Enns

    Ernie Baker

    Abner Chou

    H.B. Charles

    Rick Holland

  • Breakout 1

    Basics of Biblical Counseling

    Sean Perron-Jesus as the Model Counselor in the Gospel of John

    Common Grace / Sufficiency

    **Jim Fain-“Ought-ness” vs. “Is-ness”: Is Natural Revelation and Common Grace Enough?

    Omri Miles-Clearly Sufficient: the Inseparability of Scripture’s Perspicuity and Sufficiency for Counseling

    Critiques of Counseling Theories

    **Ernie Baker-What is Trauma Informed Counseling?

    **Rhenn Cherry-A Biblical Critique of EMDR Therapy

    **Marshall Adkins-A Biblical Evaluation of Emotionally Focused Therapy

    Johanna Pressley-Psychological Terminology & Autism Spectrum

    Emotional Issues

    **Brad Bigney-Helping Your Counselee to Confess But Not Obsess Over Their Sin

    Lisa Anderson-Emotions of a Sexual Crime Victim and God’s Love

    Psalms

    **Keith Evans -Resisting Temptation, Psalm 63

    (Women Only) Shelbi Cullen-Looking Up! Counsel For Troubled Souls from Psalm 37:1-11

    Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture

    **John Babler-Using Biblical Narratives in Counseling

    (Women Only) Cheryl Bell-Simple Exegesis: How to Meditate on Scripture with Word Studies

    Tom Sugimura-The Old Testament as Literature

  • Breakout 2

    Basics of Biblical Counseling

    Josh Zeichik-Identifying & Responding to Sinful Pastoral Leadership

    Joshua Greiner-The Values and Qualities of Good Homework

    Eric Abisror-Soul Care in Missionary Care in the Local Church

    Bret Capranica-Transitioning a Church to Biblical Counseling

    Panel-Lawyers and Pastors Tackling Legal Issues Together

    Common Grace / Sufficiency

    **Charles Hodges-Medicine, Common Grace, and Sufficiency

    **Matt Mumma-Relationship Between Sufficiency and Authority of Scripture

    Critiques of Counseling Theories

    Howard Eyrich-Biblical Counselor’s Guide to Counseling Theories

    Seth Leeman-A Critique of the Sexual/Gender Identity Construct

    **Greg Gifford-Mind v. Brain: Cultural Confusion, A Mental Health Epidemic, and What the Bible Says

    Emotional Issues

    **Brad Brandt– “O My Soul: The Necessity of Talking to Ourselves”

    Psalms

    **Robert Jones-Resting Our Hearts in God Alone: Applying Psalm 62 to People Facing Affliction

    Glenn Dunn-Counseling the Soul Who Refuses to Be Comforted

    Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture

    **Kevin Carson-Counsel the Word: The Process from the Text to the Counselee

    **Andrew Rogers-When Application Grows Out of Control

     

     

     

  • Breakout 3

    Basics of Biblical Counseling

    Abby Bearden-How to Become ACBC Certified

    Tom Wells-The Bible is sufficient! … even for financial problems

    Samuel Stephens– How to become a Certified Training Center

    Common Grace / Sufficiency

    **Tim Bryant-Self Esteem Vs. Union with Christ: (Finding Sufficiency through Humility)

    **Jim Newheiser-The place of common grace wisdom in counseling technique

    Heath Lambert-The Sufficiency of Scripture and The Threat of Common Grace

    Critiques of Counseling Theories

    **Javan  Payne-Viewing Trust-Based Relational Intervention Through Biblical Lens

    Timothy Pasma-Psychedelics: The New Frontier in Counseling

    Emotional Issues

    **Lou Priolo-Counseling Lonely People

    Nicolas Ellen-Understanding The Four Categories of Fear

    Scott Mehl-The Three Kinds of Anxiety: Ungodly Fear, Godly Concern, and Habitual Anxiety

    Psalms

    **Keith Palmer-Finding God in Difficult Relationships (Psalm 55)

    Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture

    **Joel Wood-Confession of Sin in the Counseling Office

    **Jacob Elwart-A Little Bit of Truth for a Little Bit of Life

    **Terry Enns-“Take a Letter:  Using the Epistles Biblically in Biblical Counseling”

  • Breakout 4

    Basics of Biblical Counseling

    **Randy Patten -What Makes Biblical Counseling Unique?

    Common Grace / Sufficiency

    **Gabe Powell-The Nature of Man and Sufficiency of Scripture

    John Street-Sufficient Sanctification: Counseling Serious Problems Only from Scripture

    Tom Patton– Biblical Counseling and Spiritual Warfare

    Critiques of Counseling Theories

    **Emily Stahly-Assessing the Duluth Model

    **Mark Shaw-A Critique of Celebrate Recovery

    Emotional Issues

    **Brent Osterberg-Scrupulosity: Religious OCD

    (Women Only) Caroline Newheiser-Helping Women Who Have Eating Disorders

    Shannon Kay McCoy-The Spiritual Impact of Divorce

    Psalms

    **Brian Sayers-How to Sleep in Distress

    Jeremy Pray-Psalm 32 – On Confession and Repentance

    Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture

    **Ken Schultz-Being a Biblical Counselor Who Accurately Interprets and Applies Scripture

    Jim Koerber-Resources for Rightly Handling the Word of Truth

    John St. Pierre-Counseling from Proverbs with Accuracy and Power

    Josh Weidmann-Expository Conversations

  • Breakout 5

    Basics of Biblical Counseling

    **Shannon McCoy-The Crisis of Prayerlessness: Teaching Counselees How to Pray About Their Problems

    Donn Arms-An Overview of the Life and Ministries of Jay E Adams

    Kelli Dionne-Counseling children who fear

    Mark Mann-Discovering the Origin of All Man’s Problems

    Todd Sorrell-Christian or Secular College? Making a Biblically Wise Choice

    Common Grace / Sufficiency

    **Joel Wood-Confronting the Broadness of Biblical Counseling: Noutheteo throughout the Scripture

    **Adam Tyson-Why We Counsel from the Bible Alone

    Critiques of Counseling Theories

    **Jim Newheiser-The Abuse Pendulum — Navigating Current Controversies about Abuse

    Aaron Brewster-A Biblical Response to Emotion Coaching

    Emotional Issues

    **Martha Peace-But I Have A  Chemical Imbalance

    George Sanders-Are Antidepressants Good for Anything?

    Psalms

    **Bill Slattery-Psalms of Lament

    **Rush Witt-A Longing to Escape: How the Psalms Identify and Help the Common Urge to Escape Hardship

    Hermeneutics / Application of Scripture

    **Lucas Pace-Training a Counselee to Study Scripture

    Lilly Park-Applying Scripture for Cross-Cultural Counseling

  • Online Only

    **Lisa Schmidt-Hope for the Depressed from Psalm 42 & 43

**Indicates that these sessions are offered in person and virtually

Conference Pricing

If Registered By midnight, 11:59 PM Pacific Time Zone on:Full Price
Annual and Pre-Conference (In-Person & Virtual)
General Registration$350
ACBC Certified$300
Annual Conference Only (In-Person Only)
General Registration$275
ACBC Certified$225
Pre-Conference Only (In-Person Only)
General Registration$120

Registration Details & Cancellation Policy

WHAT IS THE CANCELLATION POLICY FOR CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONS?

All cancellation submissions must be made by logging into your Cvent account or contacting our office. Please note that refunds will only be given up to September 1st.

Cancellation Fees:

· No refunds will be given after September 1st, 2023

· Prior to that up to a 90% refund will be given

CAN I REGISTER MYSELF AND MY SPOUSE WITH THE SAME E-MAIL?

During registration you can add members to your registration group (spouse, fellow church member etc.); however, each attendee will need a unique e-mail address.

Group Watch Virtual Discount

To make our 2023 Annual Conference as accessible as possible to local churches, ACBC is offering deeply discounted group packages for church and ministry groups of 10 or more.

Hotel Information

  • Arrival date: 10/1/2023
  • Departure date: 10/4/2023
  • Lock reservation in NO LATER THAN 9/1/2023
HotelACBC Room RateCall-in reservation: ask for ACBC Annual Conference room block
Best Western Valencia/Six Flags Inn & Suites$141SOLD OUT 661.255.0555
Courtyard Santa Clarita Valencia by Marriott$179SOLD OUT 661.257.3220
Embassy Suites by Hilton Valencia$179SOLD OUT 661.257.3111
Hilton Garden Inn Valencia Six Flags$169SOLD OUT 661.254.8800
Hyatt Regency Valencia$185SOLD OUT 661.799.1234

Pre-Conference

The principles of Scripture lead to a practical methodology that must be a vital aspect of a biblical counseling approach.

Join us this fall for Show Yourself Approved as we study to see how the book of Philippians can be applied in the counseling relationship.

The pre-conference takes place on Monday, October 2nd from 8:30 am to 4:30 pm and includes 5 plenary sessions.

Philippians 1 — Keith Palmer

Philippians 2:1-18 — Greg Gifford

Philippians 3:1-11 — Marshall Adkins

Philippians 3:12-21 — Keith Christensen

Philippians 4:1-9 — Sam Stephens