The vision of the Institute for Biblical Counseling
& Discipleship is to see God's people turn to His Word for
solutions to personal and family problems. Our goal is to train
Christian laymen and ordained leaders in the basic principles and
practices of Biblical counseling and to point out the error of modern
psychological systems. This is a needed and exciting way of fulfilling
the Great Commission. A scripturally-sound counseling ministry is one
of the best formats for evangelism of unbelievers and for edification
of the church. We want all the members of your congregation, especially
your leaders, to be able to counsel biblically, with confidence, on a
wide range of issues.
History
The Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation began in 1968 as an outgrowth of the ministry of Dr. Jay E. Adams, then Professor of Practical Theology at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia. In 1964, Jay began counseling people so that his students could observe Biblical counseling firsthand.
George Scipione studied under Jay Adams for two years and later founded the West Coast branch of CCEF in San Diego in 1982. In May 1998, the name was changed from CCEF/West to the Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship. Before moving west, Dr. Scipione pastored a church in New Jersey. He served as Adjunct Professor of Pastoral Counseling at Westminster Seminary in Escondido until 2006 and holds an M.A. from Temple University, an M.Th. from Westminster Seminary in Philadelphia and a Ph.D. from Whitefield Theological Seminary. He is planting a church in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church denomination in South Carolina.
Andrew Peterson, another instructor at IBCD, holds an M.A. from U.C. Berkeley and a Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh. He worked for six years as a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania and taught in the Psychology Department at Grove City College. After that, he served as Director of Educational Services and a counselor at CCEF/West for five years. He is now Vice President for Distance Education at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Education
Our Certificate Program trains Christians to counsel biblically. The instructors of IBCD, Dr. George Scipione and Dr. Andrew Peterson, offer a sequence of courses:
- Introduction to Biblical Counseling
Marriage and Family Counseling
Methods of Psychological Counseling
Advanced Seminar on Biblical Counseling
Observation, Role Play & Tutorial
Counseling
Counseling is available for a wide range of personal, family, church and workplace problems. People from all walks of life and a variety of churches come to IBCD for help, which gives us a wonderful opportunity to edify and evangelize. Offering real hope and help, we are a Biblical alternative to the psychological, psychiatric and therapeutic approaches of the mental health counselor. We strive not to compromise the wisdom of the Bible with the "tradition of men" (cf. Colossians 2:8). Ideally, we would like to have the pastor or an elder come to the counseling sessions to observe our work and prepare to shepherd the counselees in the future.
The Supporting Church Program
Equipping the church at large to be ready with an apt word for a wide variety of personal and family problems is far beyond our meager talent and strength. We need partners to help carry out this biblical vision so that the church will once again be the place of change for those who become overwhelmed and rebellious in the face of life's trials. We offer a number of benefits to those churches who invest in our work.
Benefits
- 50% discount on tuition for all IBCD courses for members of your church.
- 50% discount on IBCD courses on video or audio tape, purchased for use in the church.
- Free registration for our annual Summer Institute of Biblical Counseling for each of the full-time ministerial staff, plus invitations to the Pastors and Speakers Luncheon at the conference. 50% discount on registration for members of your church.
- Priority consultation privileges with IBCD staff either in person or by phone.
- Subscription to The Journal of Biblical Counseling. The Journal, published by CCEF in Philadelphia, keeps pastors and counselors abreast of current research and counseling developments.
- The Sufficient Word, the quarterly newsletter of IBCD, will be mailed to the church.
Contributions
Plan A
The above services are available to the church with which a
particular partnership has arisen with IBCD in the promotion and
exercise of biblical counseling through IBCD. Churches which meet that
standard are churches that invest budgeted or general funds of at least
$1000 per year (or $5 per member, whichever is more) in contributions
for the ministry of IBCD.
Plan B
Because IBCD exists to serve the church, our primary task is
helping to equip pastors to do biblical counseling. Cost is one of the
factors preventing many pastors from taking the courses and moving
their churches ahead accordingly. We believe that this service should
be offered free of charge to pastors, yet it costs IBCD nearly $200 per
credit hour to offer this training.
To successfully move in this direction, IBCD needs churches willing to invest in our organization at high levels (in the $2400 per year range). As churches develop both numerically and spiritually to a point that they choose to invest in IBCD at that level, we will have the resources to offer training in all of our courses to the full-time pastoral staff of that church. This provision of free training for the pastors reflects the responsibility IBCD has to churches who have chosen to make a special commitment to us.
The Procedure
If your congregation is interested in joining IBCD's family of supporting churches, you should take the following steps:
- Arrange for a presentation of IBCD's ministry to your board, budget or missions committee.
- Officially make the decision to enroll in the program, with a specific dollar amount of pledged support (at least $100 per month).
- Send a letter to IBCD's office confirming your congregation's decision.
- IBCD will send a letter of confirmation and acceptance of the relationship.
- Inform the congregation and pastoral staff of the benefits available to them.
- Make arrangements for ongoing prayer support and ways to
help the people sense the partnership with IBCD. Plan to invite an IBCD
speaker at least every two years.
Please contact IBCD at 619-462-9775 if we can be of any service to you or your church, or if you have suggestions of how this program might be tailored to better meet the needs of your people.
The population of southern California, whether Christian or not, desperately requires Biblical help from God's people. Is there any need to give the familiar litany of social statistics on divorce, depression, child abuse, etc.? There are sound solutions for all these problems and any others we might face, if only Christians will study and apply God's Word (II Timothy 3:16, 17). That is what we are trying to help people do. Will you join us in this crucial work as you are enabled by the Lord?