Biblical Counseling “Spokespersons”
I recently posted about the two original, primary leaders of the “modern” biblical counseling movement: Who Is the Next Jay Adams or David Powlison for the Modern Biblical Counseling Movement.
In that post, I noted that with the passing of Jay and David, there is now no single individual who has taken up that mantle of biblical counseling leadership. I also noted that this is likely a good thing—there are many benefits of diversified leadership.
Today, in this follow-up post, I’m pondering some reasons why David Powlison came along “at such a time as this,” and I’m pondering why we’re not likely to see another David Powlison.
Why Did David Powlison Fill the Role of Spokesperson for the Modern Biblical Counseling Movement?
Certainly, David’s personality as a bridge-builder, David’s wisdom as an insightful student of the application of God’s Word to life, and David’s compassionate, caring, humility all were major influences on his role as a central biblical counseling leader.
But there are also two other significant “situational” factors.
First, David was one of the few individuals to have significant leadership roles in both NANC (now ACBC) and CCEF. David was on the BOD of NANC/ACBC for years. David was the leading writer/speaker/representative for CCEF for years. In these dual roles, David was often able to step into numerous areas of “tension” between NANC/ACBC folks and CCEF folks. David was the “go-to” person to seek to address such tensions, both in writing and in personal connection with other leaders. His Affirmations and Denials document is just one example of his written work building bridges within the BC movement.
Second, David’s leadership/teaching role in the D.Min. in Biblical Counseling at Westminster Theological Seminary (WTS) was crucial in his influence in the lives of scores of biblical counseling leaders. Today, people have numerous options to receive terminal degrees (D.Min., Ph.D.) in Biblical Counseling. But when WTS began offering their D.Min. in Biblical Counseling, they were just about “one of a kind.” Check the bios of most current biblical counseling leaders in the 50-80 age bracket, and you’ll see how many were taught by David at WTS. His “model” of biblical counseling significantly influenced a generation of biblical counseling leaders.
The Situation Is Vastly Different Today
Today, you can earn a BA, an MA, a D.Min., or a Ph.D. in Biblical Counseling from a long list of excellent schools. In 2020, I collated this list of 20 US Schools with Biblical Counseling Degree Programs (four years later, the list would be even larger). At the same time, I collated this list of 17 International Schools with Biblical Counseling Degree Programs (again, the list would be larger today). In 2020, you had at least 37 BC degree-granting programs. That diversity means there is no single person like David Powlison training the vast majority of new biblical counseling leaders.
Additionally, the modern biblical counseling movement is much more diverse internationally now, than in the 1980s and 1990s. You have national biblical counseling organizations in scores of countries, with numerous leaders. I hesitate to even start listing names because I’ll leave out so many. But “just off the top of my head,” I think of international (non-US) biblical counseling leaders like Sascha Mendes, Lucas Sabatier, Anne Dryburgh, Andrew Collins, Kiki Torres, Michael Leister, Steve Midgley, Helen Thorn-Allenson, Andriy Murzin, Adrian Martinez, Juan Moncayo, Narciso Nadal, Arturo Valdbenito, Eric Abisror, Betty-Anne Van Rees, Jason Kovacs, Daniel Henderson, Kyle Johnston, Larissa Ferraro Bezerra, Matthieu Caron, Raja Paulraj, Newton Pena, Luis Mendez, and many, many more, plus the entire team at Overseas Instruction in Counseling (with their focus on equipping national leaders to train their own people). It is a good thing for us to have leaders in each country/culture, rather than an American/Western leader representing every country/culture.
Also, there are many more biblical counseling organizations now than in the 1980s when David Powlison came on the scene. While you had other groups, primarily biblical counseling in the US was represented by NANC and CCEF. Now the “alphabet soup” of biblical counseling organizations in the US and internationally is much broader and much more diverse. Not only do you have these national/international training ministries, you have many more local and regional biblical counseling ministries, plus many “need-specific” biblical counseling ministries (focusing on issues such as trauma-care, domestic abuse, etc.).
A final difference I would note from the 2024 compared to the 1980s, is that the biblical counseling world has numerous female leaders who are equipping others and counseling others. Again, I hesitate to start naming names because I’ll leave out scores of leaders, but off the top of my head I think of female BC leaders such as Kristin Kellen, Eliza Huie, Anne Dryburgh, Julie Ganschow, Amy Baker, Jill Wamsley, Betty-Anne Van Rees, Lilly Park, Larissa Ferraro Bezerra, Martha Peace, Christine Chappell, Ellen Dykas, Jenn Chen, Shannon Kay McCoy, Shauna Van Dyke, Elyse Fitzpatrick, Esther Smith, Darby Strickland, Melissa Affolter, Anna Walker, Esther Liu, Pamela Cubas, Katelynn Wells Brooks, Lucy Ann Moll, Lainey Greer, Krista Dunham, Hayley Satrom, Jennifer Holmes, Caroline Newheiser, Esther St. John, Ellen Castillo, Beth Broom, Jenny Solomon, Ann Maree Goudzwaard, Jessica Thompson, Chelsey Gordon, Sherry Allchin, Sue Nicewander Delaney, Pam Gannon, Bev Moore, Janet Aucoin, Jocelyn Wallace, Debi Pryde, Louise MacMillan, Helen Thorne-Allenson, Kelly Tarr, Julie Lowe, Alex Kocher, Brenda Payne, Vanessa Ellen, Eileens Sipione, Lauren Whitman, Ginny Jacobson, Kelsey Hamilton, Hannah Carr, Karen Gaul, and so many more.
Bottom Line
In summary, I don’t believe we’ll ever have another David Powlison. God sent David “for such a time as this” to help mature the “modern” biblical counseling movement. Now that movement is much more diverse—and for that we can be thankful—even while we are incredibly thankful for David Powlison.
