Speakers
This year we have 19 presenters, including authors, pastors, professors, and counselors.
Ed Welch
Ed is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Ed holds a Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology with a Neuro-psychology specialty from the University of Utah, as well as an M.Div. degree from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed has been counseling for over 30 years and has written many books and articles on biblical counseling including, When People Are Big and God Is Small, Addictions: A Banquet in the Grave, Depression, Running Scared, Shame, Interrupted, and Side by Side:Walking with Others in Wisdom and Love. He and his wife, Sheri, have two married daughters and seven grandchildren. In his spare time Ed enjoys hanging out with his wife and extended family, and playing his guitar.
David Powlison
David is as CCEF’s Executive Director. Read more.
David serves as a faculty member and the Senior Editor of the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, as well as an M.Div. degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. David has been counseling for over thirty years. He has written numerous articles on biblical counseling and on the relationship between faith and psychology. His books include Speaking Truth in Love; Seeing with New Eyes; Power Encounters: Reclaiming Spiritual Warfare; and The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context. David has taught across the United States and in Korea, India, Brazil, Europe, and Sri Lanka.
Mike Emlet
Mike is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Mike holds an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania and an M.Div. degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He worked as a family physician for twelve years before joining CCEF. Mike has counseled for many years and is the author of CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet, which explores the use of Scripture in counseling. Mike is married to Jody, and they have two children. He is active in his urban church and, when he has time, creates beautiful pieces on a potter’s wheel.
Julie Lowe
Julie is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Julie is a Licensed Professional Counselor with over fifteen years of counseling experience. She holds an M.A. in Counseling from Biblical Theological Seminary. She has extensive experience with women’s issues, body image issues, parenting, conflict resolution, and child maltreatment issues and regularly speaks at events regarding these issues. She is completing training as a registered play therapist and has developed a play therapy office at CCEF to better serve families, teens, and children. She is a trained facilitator for Stewards of Children, a nonprofit organization that provides trainings on child sexual abuse. Julie and her husband, Greg, have five children and serve as foster and adoptive parents.
Cecelia Bernhardt
Cecelia is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Cecelia seves as the director of counseling at CCEF. She has earned the Advanced Counseling Certificate through CCEF and holds an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary. She has worked in various Christian ministries for many years, including women’s ministries at her church. She enjoys her large family, reading, music and flowers—live and in watercolor.
Todd Stryd
Todd is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Todd serves as the Counseling Coordinator at CCEF. He holds a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology from Immaculata University, as well as an M.Div. from Westminster Theological Seminary and a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art Education. His dissertation work explored the relationship between a reformed Christian narrative and the experience of schizophrenia. He has experience as a hospital chaplain, crisis worker, and university counselor. He is married with three children. He considers himself a coffee connoisseur, and fills his off days with reading Winnie the Pooh and making Lego creations.
Alasdair Groves
Alasdair is a faculty member at CCEF. Read more.
Alasdair is the Director of Counseling at CCEF New England. He holds an M.Div. in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Alasdair has also served as a pastoral counselor at Westerly Road Church in Princeton, and prior to seminary was a campus minister with the Navigators Christian Fellowship at Dartmouth College. He has a passion to foster genuine relationships in the local church, especially through counseling and counseling training. Alasdair and his wife, Lauren, have three children. Alasdair is a fiction enthusiast, plays ultimate frisbee, and loves to produce and enjoy both good food and good music.
Aaron Sironi
Aaron is a faculty member at CCEF. Read More.
Aaron is a Licensed Clinical Professional Counselor, and is Director of Counseling at CCEF Montana. He holds an M.S. in Marital and Family Therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary. Aaron has also counseled in community mental health and psychiatric hospital settings. Aaron has a passion for building deep relationships with local churches and loves to come along side pastoral ministers through consultation, training, and counseling services. He speaks Spanish and loves living in the Big Sky Country, enjoying all of its outdoor activities with his wife, Kellie, and their three energetic sons. Read his article Becoming a Biblical Counselor: A Skeptics Journey. Click here to watch his testimony.
Darby Strickland
Darby is a counselor at CCEF. Read more.
Darby teaches Counseling Abusive Marriages at CCEF. She has a B.S. in Psychology from the University of Chicago and a Masters of Divinity degree, Counseling Emphasis, from Westminster Theological Seminary. Darby has been counseling at CCEF for over 10 years, specializing in marriage, abuse, anxiety, family issues (including children with developmental delays and disabilities), and depression. In addition to her work at CCEF, she also counsels at her local church, where she runs a support group for women in abusive marriages. Darby has over 15 years of ministry, teaching, and counseling experience. She is married to John, and they have three children.
Robyn Huck
Robyn is a counselor at CCEF New England. Read more.
Robyn is a regular Bible study leader and has spoken at many women’s events. She has a passion for teaching the Bible to women and helping connect biblical truths and comforts to the challenges of life. Robyn and her husband Karl are parents to three grown children and have two fabulous daughters-in-law and four grandchildren! They enjoy big band music, fox trot and swing dancing, tandem bicycling, traveling, the outdoors, and time with their family.
Guest Speakers
Deepak Reju
Deepak Reju is Pastor of Biblical Counseling and Families at Capitol Hill Baptist Church in Washington, DC. Read more.
Dr. Reju serves as the president of the board of directors of the Biblical Counseling Coalition and a trustee of the Christian Counseling and Education Foundation. He is the author of several books and articles, including Great Kings of the Bible: How Jesus is Greater than Saul, David and Solomon (Christian Focus) and On Guard: Preventing and Responding to Child Abuse at Church (New Growth Press). His third book (co-authored with Dr. Jeremy Pierre) is The Pastor and Counseling: The Basics of Shepherding Members In Need (Crossway; April, 2015). His passion is for studying God’s Word, loving his family and shepherding God’s people. His 24-hour, 7-days-a-week privilege is to be Sarah’s husband (since 2001) and father to five adorable children.
Ken Sande
Ken Sande is the founder of Peacemaker Ministries and Relational Wisdom 360. Read more.
Trained as an engineer, lawyer, and mediator, Ken has conciliated hundreds of family, business, church, and legal conflicts. As president of RW360, he now focuses on teaching people how to build strong relationships in the family, church, and workplace. He teaches internationally and is the author of numerous books, articles, and training resources, including The Peacemaker, which has been translated into fifteen languages. He is a Certified Christian Conciliator, an Editorial Adviser for Christianity Today, a Certified Relational Wisdom Instructor, and an Emotional Intelligence Certified Instructor. He and his wife, Corlette, have two adult children and a grandson, and love to hike and ski in the mountains near their home in Billings, Montana.
Ellen Dykas
Ellen Dykas is the Women’s Ministry Coordinator for Harvest USA. Read more.
Ellen is the co-author of Sexual Sanity for Women: Healing from Relational and Sexual Brokenness, and a mini-booklet, “Sex and the Single Girl: Smart Ways to Care for Your Heart.” At Harvest USA she oversees discipleship to women and is a part of the teaching & equipping team. In both roles she delights in mentoring, teaching God’s word, and spiritually nurturing women to walk deeply with Jesus. She has previously served as a missionary in Romania and as Missions Staff at her church. She received her M.A. in Biblical Studies from Covenant Theological Seminary in 1999. She enjoys teaching in a variety of settings, having previously taught at CCEF’s National Conference (2009), the 2014 Gospel Coalition Women’s Conference, as well as being a guest on “Family Life Today”, and “The Bible Answerman”, addressing issues of sexuality.
Dave Harvey
Dave Harvey is the Pastor of Preaching at Four Oaks Community Church. Read more.
Dave Harvey (D. Min., Westminster Theological Seminary) has served in pastoral ministry since 1986. He is the founder of Am I Called.com which is a leadership resource site helping pastors, leaders and men who sense a call to ministry. Dave chairs the boards of CCEF & Sojourn Network and travels nationally and internationally preaching on marriage, leadership, and local church life. He is the author of When Sinners Say ‘I Do’, Am I Called? and Rescuing Ambition. Dave lives in Tallahassee, Florida with his wife, Kimm. They have four children.
Steve Midgley
Steve is the Senior Pastor of Christ Church, Cambridge. Read more.
In addition to pastoring, Dr. Midgley also serves as the Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK, a new initiative to help promote biblical counselling in UK churches. He worked as a Psychiatrist in London before leaving to serve full time in church ministry. Steve teaches biblical counselling at Oak Hill Theological College and leads a two year certificate course in Biblical Counselling offered jointly with CCEF. He and his wife Beth have three children who, in different ways, are all at the ‘leaving home’ stage. To relax, Steve enjoys a good row (that’s row as in river, not row as in argue).
Matthew Mitchell
Matt Mitchell is a pastor, author, husband, and father. Read more.
For the last 18 years, Matt Mitchell has pastored Lanse Evangelical Free Church, a 123-year-old rural church. Matt is a graduate of Moody Bible Institute, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and Westminster Theological Seminary (D. Min., 2012). He is a frequent contributor to the Journal of Biblical Counseling and the Biblical Counseling Coalition website. Matt is the author of Resisting Gossip: Winning the War of the Wagging Tongue. He is Heather’s hubby and daddy to Robin, Andrew, Peter, and Isaac. The Mitchells live in the woods of Central Pennsylvania with a flock of free-range chickens. They love to read books and go for long hikes.
Kellie Sironi
Kellie has experience as a lawyer and is a mom of three energetic sons. Read More.
Kellie Sironi studied Business Administration and Economics at the University of Montana and received her law degree from the University of Colorado – Boulder in 1998. She worked for the United States Senate and a large regional law firm as a commercial litigator before opening a specialized practice in real estate property, construction, and commercial trial work. Her focus now is on her husband and CCEF faculty member, Aaron Sironi, and her three energetic sons who daily invoke her adjudicating skills when a fight over Legos erupts.
Matt Mason
Matt serves as senior pastor at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. Read More.
Matt has led musical worship for nearly 20 years. He writes for TGC Worship, a blog hosted by The Gospel Coalition, and he contributed a chapter to Doxology and Theology: How the Gospel Forms the Worship Leader. Matt is married to Paula, and they have three children.
Mike Wilkerson
Mike Wilkerson is the Founder of the Redemption Group Network. Read More.
Mike Wilkerson is the author of Redemption: Freed by Jesus From the Idols We Worship and the Wounds We Carry (Crossway: 2011). Mike spent ten years as a staff pastor in a large, multi-site church, developing discipleship and biblical counseling ministries. He emphasized training church members to minister to one another with biblical counseling skills in settings like standard small groups, or in Redemption Groups, which are a more focused group format for biblical counseling. He now helps other churches develop Redemption Groups and similar ministries through Redemption Group Network. Mike is married to Trisha and they live with their six children in the Seattle, Washington area.