(Listen to this audio podcast by clicking the play button above.)

This week and next we take you back inside a CCEF Training classroom, this time Tim Lane's Counseling in the Local Church class. In a segment of the class titled "Growth in Grace," Tim helps us understand how essential the community of the local church is in the sanctification of each of its members.

(Listen to this audio podcast by clicking the play button above.)

Recently CCEF Executive Director Tim Lane and his wife Barbara traveled to Montreal, Canada, to share CCEF's "How People Change" curriculum with over 500 people at SEMBEQ Seminary in that city. SEMBEQ has formed a partnership with CCEF to assist in their mission of training pastors with a zeal for church planting. The seminary intentionally partners with local churches, and much of the seminarians' training takes place "on the job" in those churches.

Tim & Barbara Lane with Francois Turcotte & Francois Picard of SEMBEQ

During their visit, Tim and Barbara sat down with Francois Turcotte & Francois Picard, two of SEMBEQ's leaders, to discuss their unique vision and mission, as well as how CCEF's teaching ministry has become an indispensible part of the training they offer. This podcast is taken from that conversation.

Guidance For Churches Seeking Outside Help for Counseling

Last week, I laid out four reasons a church should counsel as part of their ministry to their members and as a result, some of you might think that I am implying that a local church should not seek the assistance of “outside” help. Nothing could be further from the truth. Let me nuance my strong commitment for the local church to do counseling with the following qualifications.

Don’t Outsource By Default: There is nothing unbiblical about seeking outside assistance. But just because you feel overwhelmed by a counseling opportunity, don’t immediately think you must outsource your care. When a church immediately out-sources counseling it misses the opportunity to grow both individually and as a community.