Interview with Tim Lane

September 19, 2012

This is an excerpt from an interview with Dr. Tim Lane. Tim is President and faculty member at the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation (CCEF) and has been counseling for more than 25 years. Tim teaches the course "Counseling in the Local Church" at Westminster as well as through CCEF's online program. Tim has co-authored the books How People Change and Relationships - A Mess Worth Making.

What are CCEF's plans for the coming year?
CCEF is excited to tackle the issues of Guilt & Shame at our upcoming National Conference in Chatanooga, TN, October 25-28, 2012. We are excited to frame this important topic within a biblical and theological approach that recognizes God’s great love for the shamed. We would love to welcome any Westminster student or graduate to attend this year.

We are continuing to plan and grow our presence in our own city of Philadelphia as well as in other locations in our country with a network of CCEF trained counselors, pastors and disciplers so that people can find meaningful, wise, biblical help as they grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.

CCEF is continuing to reach out beyond our own national boundaries. This past year we had unique opportunities to speak and teach in Canada, Malaysia, Germany, and France. Next year we are traveling to London and Australia for larger events and teaching. Our hope is to establish a deeper network of counselors, pastors, and students both nationally and internationally as we seek to help biblical counseling take hold and grow throughout the world. This is becoming a reality through our website www.ccef.org, our written materials and our online program.

Describe CCEF's relationship to Westminster from your perspective?
CCEF and Westminster have had a long partnering history as far back as the late sixties, becoming more formal in the 1980’s when Westminster and CCEF entered into a partnership where CCEF taught all of the counseling courses at Westminster. We have cooperated to teach various degree programs and at present provide an M.A. and M.Div. in Counseling. It is encouraging to see so many students who are not in a formal counseling program at Westminster take many of the CCEF courses as electives. We are thankful to have such an important shaping influence in the lives of future leaders serving in various capacities within the local church. We are two separate institutions who seek to partner together for the benefit of the broader body of Christ.

What are some of the new things coming from CCEF faculty (books, etc)?
After a four-year hiatus, we re-launched the Journal of Biblical Counseling this year. It is published online for free in PDF download format, electronic formats (Kindle, iBook, Nook) and in print. The Journal features theologically rich articles that provide counselors, pastors, and leaders with practical helps for inter-personal ministry. Our aim is to continue at the forefront of the biblical counseling movement through regular engagement with the worlds of psychology, psychiatry, and counseling practice and pastoral ministry.

We’ve recently launched a brand new platform for our distance education classes that deliver teaching to students all over the world in video format and user-friendly community boards. People from over 40 countries have enrolled in our online program. Many who begin here end up becoming students at Westminster!

Our writing agenda remains robust as faculty develop new ideas and material. Along with our Journal, we are working on a number of projects over the next year. To keep up with our latest efforts, visit our website www.ccef.org and follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

What are some of the future goals of CCEF?
CCEF desires to mature and grow as an organization. We have sought to bring the grace and redemptive work of Christ into the domain of counseling and pastoral discipleship for over 40 years. Each year we take steps toward that aim. We hope and desire to become wiser in how we apply the truths of Scripture to everyday life in an ever-changing world.

CCEF wants to continue to use the benefits of the digital age in the development of our ministry. We want to have a steady presence in various social media outlets and continue to make our content, faculty, and counselors available to people through our website and online campus.

How can the Westminster community pray for CCEF?
We would appreciate prayer for our internship program. This program provides a path for CCEF students as they move from student to counselor. Each year we continue to add more intern spaces in our program. In the last three years, we have grown from 4 interns a year to 13. Many of whom are Westminster students.

Pray for our faculty who supervise the interns. Pray for wisdom as they mentor the next generation of leaders in the biblical counseling movement.

Pray also for the continued development of our external site counseling program. Last year we began providing free counseling in local churches through our interns. Pray for these church partnerships to grow and deepen as we serve the church by "Restoring Christ to Counseling & Counseling to the Church."

Pray that we would grow in humility and remain teachable as we teach, speak, counsel and write.