The “Family Tree” of the BCC
Did you know that I was Kevin Carson’s great-grandfather, Curtis Solomon’s grandfather, and Garrett Higbee’s father? How?
I was the founding Executive Director of The Biblical Counseling Coalition (BCC), and those three men also served in that role after me: from me, to Garrett, to Curtis, and now to Kevin.
The BCC just announced that my friend, and co-author, Kevin Carson, will be taking on the role of BCC Executive Director. You can read all about it here: Announcing the New Executive Director of the BCC.
Curtis: you did a great job, especially during some trying times in the modern biblical counseling world.
Garrett: It was a joy serving with you and passing the baton to you.
Kevin: I am praying for you as you continue to build on the BCC’s vision.
Fearfully, Wonderfully, and Uniquely Made
Each BCC Executive Director (ED) brings a unique perspective and focus. Of course, I can speak most intelligently about my own passion as the BCC ED. I’ll do that. And I will also share briefly about where I saw the focus of the other BCC ED’s.
Bob Kellemen as BCC’s Founding Executive Director
I sought to emphasize “collaborative relationships and robust resources”—seeking to bring unity to a biblical counseling world that was very fractured in 2009. The two leading biblical counseling organizations of that era—NANC and CCEF—were at odds with each other, both publicly and privately. Building relational bridges between biblical counseling leaders was central to my calling at the Founding Executive Director of the Biblical Counseling Coalition.
Some of the areas of the BCC that I especially enjoyed during my “tenure” as founding Executive Director include:
- Seeing real unity occurring in real time in real face-to-face relationships from 2010-2017. We were working together. We were respectful. We were learning from each other. We were practicing humble iron-sharpening-iron relationships. We were not talking behind each other’s backs. We were not writing public indictments of one another’s credibility as biblical counselors. If we had questions about something a fellow biblical counselor said or wrote, guess what? We contacted each other directly and talked it through face-to-face, or Zoom-to-Zoom, or phone-to-phone.
- Facilitating over three dozen biblical counseling leaders in the 10-month development of the BCC Confessional Statement.
- Working with the BCC BOD to select the first three dozen members of the BCC Council Board (which included Kevin Carson).
- Organizing and facilitating the first six BCC Leadership Summits where, instead of talking about each other, we talked to each other about topics of concern in the biblical counseling world.
- Launching and overseeing the BCC website, including the BCC blogs—which back then we did six days a week—with a wide array of biblical counseling leaders contributing.
- Working side-by-side with David Powlison for those six years: so many wonderful conversations, phone calls, meetings, discussions, joint speaking engagements, and SO many emails!
Garrett Higbee as the BCC’s Second Executive Director
Garrett and I initially served together. To make the transition easier, first Garrett was my Assistant Executive Director. Then, I chose to be Garrett’s Assistant Executive Director.
Garrett especially expanded the BCC’s international focus. Garrett oversaw our first BCC International Conference. He also brought his passion for soul care into every BCC leadership decision.
Curtis Solomon as the BCC’s Third Executive Director
Curtis brought a counselor’s heart for the hurting and a professor’s mind for in-depth understanding of biblical counseling to the BCC. He deepened the BCC’s already robust resources. He also brought his passion for trauma care into his leadership role. Curtis very patiently interacted with people, including those who did not always agree with him or the BCC. Curtis, being quite a bit younger than Garrett and me, brought many younger biblical counseling leaders onto the BCC Council Board and into the BCC blog writing ministry team.
Kevin Carson as the New (and Fourth) BCC Executive Director
Kevin and I “go way back”—at least two decades. One of the joys of my ministry life was working with Kevin as we co-led the oversight of the third BCC collaborative book: Biblical Counseling and the Church: God’s Care Through God’s People. I’ve always appreciate Kevin’s gentle spirit.
I see Kevin bringing his pastor’s heart, his professor’s mind, and his long history with the modern biblical counseling movement to his leadership role. I perceive that the modern biblical counseling movement is, sadly, even more fractured now than it was in 2009 when six of us started discussing the launch of the BCC. Kevin’s tender heart, his bridge-building nature, and his long-time leadership in the biblical counseling world are all factors that I am praying will lead to the same unity that we built from 2010-2017.
