I’m excited to share that I’ve accepted the invitation to serve as the new Dean of Faculty with CCEF, the Christian Counseling and Educational Foundation near Philadelphia. Through earnest prayer, wise counsel, and the path of providence, I believe this invitation is the calling of God. I start on September 9.
As the new Dean, I’ve been asked to shepherd, develop, and lead the CCEF faculty in publishing resources to serve the church. This unique team is composed of counselor-authors entrenched in daily counseling and masters-level teaching while producing resources for Christians around the world. It is a surprising privilege to join them, and I truly feel like David in 2 Samuel 7:18: “Who am I, O Lord Yahweh, and what is my house, that you have brought me thus far?”
CCEF is the birthplace of the contemporary biblical counseling movement, a movement seeking to renew our churches in gospel-shaped relational ministry. Within this movement, CCEF remains a key institution carefully mining the depths of Scripture to enrich our practice of the one another’s so that the whole body of Christ builds itself up in love (Ephesians 4:16).
Personally, I’ve been deeply shaped by CCEF’s ministry over the past 20 years, from conferences to books to generational voices like Paul Tripp, David Powlison, and Ed Welch. CCEF has formed and fueled so much of my own sanctification, parenting, shepherding, preaching, teaching, counseling, and discipleship. In the mercy of God, they have long been fluent in the language I most want as my native tongue—the language of grace and truth.
At the same time, CCEF is not living in the past but looking to the future. As an organization, they’re leaning hard toward the local church in coming years, eager to better equip pastors, churches, and church members in bringing the gospel of Christ to the issues of life. So although this new role requires us to leave full-time pastoral ministry at BridgePoint Bible Church in Houston, my earnest hope is that we might become more helpful to the broader church both here and abroad. I’m especially hopeful to write more than I have in recent years, as thoughtful publishing is entrenched in the CCEF mission and ethos.
I’ll be quick to admit that for the Gundersen six, the dynamics of this call truly feel Abrahamic: “By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out… And he went out, not knowing where he was going” (Hebrews 11:8). We know few people in Philly, and no one well. This move will mean a new home, a new church, new schools, a new community, a new coast, a new culture, and new financial dynamics, all combined with saying goodbye to everyone we’ve cared for in Houston these past seven years. Everything known will be left behind, and everything important will be new.
We’re frankly overwhelmed by the sheer scope and speed of it all—especially after a harrowing summer scarred by the sudden death of Cindi’s only brother Charles on family vacation, the cause still known only to God. There’s been no time to grieve properly with the treadmill of transition running strong beneath our aching feet. Yet we know that our Father often calls his children to take our next steps with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts, trusting that he’ll capture every tear in his bottle and every grief in his book (Psalm 56:8). Sometimes, when we think that what we need most is an oasis, a respite, even just a timeout, God summons us on a long march to a fresh field of battle, inviting us to believe that he will set a table before us in the presence of our enemies (Psalm 23:5). And so “we walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7).
As our caravan prepares to move out, we’re looking to the old stories, each reaffirming the steadfast love of the Lord, which never ceases (Lamentations 3:22). These stories tell us that where God guides, he provides. In the wilderness, hunger is met with manna, thirst with rock-water, mapless terrain with a cloud and flame. So in these blindingly busy days, we’re just trying to do the next right thing, trusting that each winding step—so uncertain to us—ultimately fits together as God’s perfect path, laid out for us in love.
For today, I am just grateful beyond words for this new opportunity to serve as CCEF’s Dean of Faculty. I am still surprised I get to do it, starting this fall. I can only say with my namesake David, “The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance” (Psalm 16:6).
davidagundersen.com 