Breakout Session: Soul Rest for Today

Cecelia Bernhardt is a senior counselor at CCEF, where she has served since 2004. She holds a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary and has earned the advanced counseling certificate from CCEF. Cecelia has counseled in the local church context and held leadership roles in women’s and singles ministries. She has a particular burden for counseling victims of childhood sexual abuse.

Breakout Session: Mercy in Darkness: Gospel Rest for Downcast Moms

Christine Chappell is a certified biblical counselor and host of the Hope + Help Podcast for the Institute for Biblical Counseling & Discipleship. She is the author of Midnight Mercies: Walking with God through Depression in Motherhood as well as several minibooks, including Postpartum Depression: Hope for a Hard Season and Help! I’ve Been Diagnosed with a Mental Disorder. Her writing has been featured at Desiring God, The Gospel Coalition, and Risen Motherhood, and she currently serves as a council member for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Christine is a regular speaker at women’s events and biblical counseling conferences, and lives in South Carolina with her husband and three children.

General Session 7: Eternal Rest Today: Practicing Sabbath as a Foretaste of Our Future

Mike Emlet is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where he has served since 2001. He holds a doctor of medicine from the University of Pennsylvania and a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary. Prior to joining CCEF, Mike worked as a family physician for eleven years. He has particular interests in working with ministry leaders and with those who struggle with anxiety, depression, and OCD. He has published numerous books, including CrossTalk (New Growth Press, 2009), Descriptions and Prescriptions (New Growth Press, 2017), and Saints, Sufferers, and Sinners (New Growth Press, 2021).

Breakout Session: Neurodiversity & Rest

Michael Gembola is an adjunct faculty member at CCEF and consulting editor for the Journal of Biblical Counseling. He is an ordained minister and a licensed professional counselor (LPC) and serves as Executive Director of Blue Ridge Christian Counseling in VA. He holds master’s degrees in biblical studies and in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and has done continuing education in trauma recovery. He teaches counseling courses at Westminster, the Blue Ridge Institute for Theological Education, and Santiago Seminary. He is the author of After an Affair: Pursuing Restoration (P&R Publishing, 2018) and Anxious about Decisions: Finding Freedom in the Peace of God (New Growth Press, 2022).

General Session 2: Resting Is Harder than It Looks

Alasdair Groves is the Executive Director of CCEF, as well as a faculty member and counselor. He has served at CCEF since 2009. He holds a master of divinity with an emphasis in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary. Alasdair cofounded CCEF New England, where he served as director for ten years. He also served as the director of CCEF’s School of Biblical Counseling for three years. He is the host of CCEF’s podcast, Where Life & Scripture Meet, and is the coauthor of Untangling Emotions (Crossway, 2019).

Breakout Session: Friendship: The Rest of Being Genuinely Known

Breakout Session: Vacations & Sabbaticals: Getting Out of the Sprint-&-Crash Cycle

Brad Hambrick serves as the Pastor of Counseling at The Summit Church in Durham, NC. He also serves as Assistant Professor of Biblical Counseling at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary and as a council member of the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He has authored several books, including Mobilizing Church-Based Counseling, and served as general editor for the Becoming a Church that Cares Well for the Abused (churchcares.com) project.

Breakout Session: Creating a Culture of Rest in Your Ministry

Breakout Session: Rest, Sleep & the God Who Never Slumbers

Jonathan Holmes is Executive Director of Fieldstone Counseling and a visiting faculty member at CCEF. Jonathan graduated from The Master’s University with degrees in biblical counseling and history and earned his master’s from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He is the author and contributor to a number of books, including The Company We Keep, Counsel for Couples, Rescue Skills, Rescue Plan, and Grounded in Grace. Jonathan serves on the board at CCEF and on the council board for the Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC). Additionally, Jonathan is an instructor at Westminster Theological Seminary in the Master of Arts in Counseling program, and he speaks frequently at conferences and retreats. He and his wife, Jennifer, have four daughters

Breakout Session: Transforming Weariness into Wisdom

Robyn Huck is the Counseling Mentor at CCEF New England with more than twenty years of ministry experience including counseling, speaking, and leading Bible studies. 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, foxtrot and swing dancing, tandem bicycling, traveling, the outdoors, and time with their family.

General Session 3: Have I Done Enough? Navigating Limits as a Good of God's Creation

Breakout Session: Practices for Cultivating a Healthy View of Our Limits: Rhythm, Gratitude & Rest

Kelly Kapic is Professor of Theological Studies at Covenant College, where he has taught since 2001, and holds a PhD in Systematic and Historical Theology from King’s College University of London. He has written or edited over fifteen books, including You’re Only Human: How Your Limits Reflect God’s Design & Why that’s Good News and Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain & Suffering, both of which have won awards. In 2014, Kapic received a Templeton Grant to be part of The Center for Christian Thought, studying the topic of Psychology and Spiritual Formation. He has served as part of the Core Research Teams for Templeton funded studies called “Project Amazing Grace” and “Christian Meaning-Making, Suffering and the Flourishing Life”. He is currently part of a group studying the practice of lament.

Breakout Session: Finding Rest in OCD

Steve Midgley is the Executive Director of Biblical Counselling UK. For nearly twenty years he was the senior minister of Christ Church Cambridge, where he continues to serve on the staff part time. Steve is a board member for CCEF and on the board of directors of the Biblical Counselling Coalition. He came to Christ in his first year as a medical student and, after qualifying as a doctor, he worked and trained in psychiatry. He is married to Beth and they have three adult children.

Breakout Session: Rest for the Caregiver: Creating Space for What Your Heart Needs

Heather Nelson, MA, is a biblical counselor at Mountain View Christian Counseling in Greenville, SC, where she’s been in practice since its inception in March 2021. She obtained her undergraduate degree from Wheaton College in 2001, and then her MA in Biblical Counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary in 2007. She completed a counseling internship with CCEF from 2006–2007 before helping to launch two counseling practices out of local churches in the Philadelphia area and southeastern Virginia. Heather has counseled women, couples, and families through a variety of life’s struggles, including depression, anxiety, recovery from trauma and abuse, marital and family conflict, and cross-cultural missions debriefing. She is the author of Unashamed: Healing our Brokenness & Finding Freedom from Shame, Domestic Abuse: Help for Victims, and Rest: Creating Space for Soul Refreshment. She and her husband are parents of twin daughters.

Breakout Session: Fostering Embodied Routines in Youth

Breakout Session: The Restless Nature of Technology

John Perritt is the Director of Resources for Reformed Youth Ministries (www.rym.org) and serves as the host for RYM's podcast, The Local Youth Worker. He holds a master of divinity and a doctor of ministry. He has published several books: Your Days Are Numbered (2016), What Would Judas Do? (2017), Time Out! (2018), Insecure (2019), The Gospel-Centered Life in Mark for Students (2019), Not If, But When (2019) and Social Media Pressure (2023). He serves as the series editor for the Track series, which is a collection of booklets used to disciple students. Family Movie Night is his weekly newsletter where he helps parents steward the gift of movies. He has served in youth ministry for over 20 years. 

Breakout Session: A Biblical Theology of Rest

Breakout Session: Rest versus Escapism

Jeremy Pierre is Dean of the Billy Graham School of Missions, Evangelism and Ministry at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he is also Professor of Biblical Counseling and Practical Theology. He is the author of several books, including The Dynamic Heart in Daily Life: Connecting Christ to Human Experience and When Home Hurts: A Guide to Helping Your Church Respond Wisely to Abuse. Pierre’s writing has been featured in Tabletalk Magazine, in 9Marks Journal, and on The Gospel Coalition. He serves on the board of directors for the Biblical Counseling Coalition and is also a pastor at Clifton Baptist Church. Pierre and his wife raise their five children in Louisville, Kentucky.

General Session 6: Created to Do Good Work

Aaron Sironi is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where he has served since 2008. He holds a master of science in marital and family therapy from Fuller Theological Seminary and has earned counseling certificates from CCEF. Aaron is a licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC) and has counseled in community mental health, psychiatric hospital, and outpatient settings. He has a passion for building strong relationships with local churches and coming alongside pastoral ministers through consultation, training, and counseling services. In addition to his work at CCEF, Aaron serves on the board of CCEF Montana, an affiliate counseling office in Billings, MT.

General Session 5: Cultivating Rest amid Ruptured Relationships

Darby Strickland is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where she has served since 2003. She has a master of divinity with a counseling emphasis from Westminster Theological Seminary. Darby brings particular passion and expertise in helping the vulnerable and oppressed, especially women in abusive marriages. She has contributed to Church Cares and the PCA Domestic Abuse & Sex Assault church training materials. She has counseled in a missionary church setting and has also held leadership roles in women’s ministry. She is the author of Is it Abuse? (P&R, 2020), has written a handful of minibooks, and has contributed to several other books.

Breakout Session: Resting in Chaos: Bringing Order to Emotion Dysregulation

Breakout Session: Resting in Your Role: Principles & Practices for New Counselors

Todd Stryd is a faculty member and the counseling coordinator at CCEF, where he has served since 2005. He holds a doctor of psychology from Immaculata University and a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary. He has experience as a hospital chaplain, crisis worker, and university counselor. He has written a minibook entitled Schizophrenia: A Compassionate Approach.

General Session 4: How Lament Leads to Rest

Breakout Session: How Expectations Ruin Rest

Mark Vroegop has been Lead Pastor of College Park Church in Indianapolis since 2008. He previously served as Senior Pastor at Calvary Baptist Church in Holland, Michigan, from 1996–2008. He’s a graduate of Cedarville University (BA) and Cornerstone Theological Seminary (MDiv). Mark and his wife, Sarah, have three married sons, a daughter, and two grandkids. He’s an award-winning author of multiple books, including Dark Clouds, Deep Mercy: Discovering the Grace of Lament, the 2020 ECPA Christian Book of the Year. His newest book, Waiting Isn’t a Waste, releases in June 2024 through Crossway. Mark is a frequent conference speaker and serves on the board of The Gospel Coalition.

Breakout Session: The Paradox of Pain & Rest

Sarah Walton is an author, speaker, and elementary special education teacher. She is the coauthor of the best-selling book Hope When It Hurts, He Gives More Grace, and Together Through the Storms, as well as the author of Tears and Tossings and the children's book, The Long Road Home. As one who's battled Lyme Disease, various chronic illnesses, and a degenerative ankle, she's been learning through the years what it means to lean on Jesus through the best and hardest of days. Sarah, her husband, and their four children live in Colorado Springs.

General Session 1: Faith, Humility & the Way of a Child

Ed Welch is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where he has served since 1981. He holds a doctor of philosophy in counseling (neuropsychology) from the University of Utah and a master of divinity from Biblical Theological Seminary. Ed is a licensed psychologist and has been active in local church ministry for decades. He has written numerous books, including When People Are Big and God Is Small (P&R Publishing, 1997), Shame Interrupted (New Growth Press, 2012), Side by Side (Crossway, 2015), and Created to Draw Near (Crossway, 2020).

Breakout Session: When Parents Feel Like Failures

Lauren Whitman is a faculty member and counselor at CCEF, where she has served since 2010. She holds a master of arts in counseling from Westminster Theological Seminary and a certificate in advanced professional counseling from Missio Seminary. Lauren also serves as the developmental editor for the Journal of Biblical Counseling. Through her work with the Journal, she brings experience and skill for developing authors and their writing. She also has a particular interest in biblical counseling methodology and in marriage counseling. Lauren has published multiple books, including A Painful Past (P&R Publishing, 2020) and A Biblical Counseling Process (New Growth Press, 2021).

Breakout Session: Acedia & the Affliction of Restlessness

Breakout Session: Finding Rest in the Hard Cases

Eamon Wilson is a licensed clinical psychologist in Ontario, Canada. He holds a master of divinity from Westminster Theological Seminary and a doctor of psychology (clinical psychology) from Widener University. After counseling at CCEF for six years, Eamon now works in several rural communities in Northern Ontario, where he both counsels and evaluates children and adolescents for learning disabilities and developmental delays. Other contexts in which he has counseled include a psychiatric hospital, university campus counseling center, and assessment of diaconal candidates. Eamon has taught biblical counseling courses at Heritage Seminary in Ontario and Fondation due Counseling Biblique in Quebec.