American Association of Christian Counselors

AACC is committed to assisting Christian counselors, the entire “community of care,” licensed professionals, pastors, and lay church members with little or no formal training. It is our intention to equip clinical, pastoral, and lay care-givers with biblical truth and psychosocial insights that minister to hurting persons and helps them move to personal wholeness, interpersonal competence, mental stability, and spiritual maturity.

[Press Release] On Its First Full Day, Biennial Gathering of America’s Christian Mental Health Professionals Takes Race, Head On

Sep. 29, 2017

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) has made racial reconciliation a major focus of its 2017 World Conference, which is currently being held at the Gaylord Opryland Resort in Nashville.

On Wednesday, a newly formed commission focused on racial reconciliation gathered clinical, academic and religious leaders to discuss, strategize and pray for the nation at a time of heightened racial tension.

The commission was formed to advise the AACC on how it can best guide and train its network of nearly 50,000 mental health professionals, Christian counselors, church leaders and other caregivers to foster racial reconciliation. Recently produced AACC curricula has focused on African-American and Latino communities, as well as policing issues. The group committed to reconvene in 2018 in a public and online forum with the hope of exponentially multiplying the impact of their work and research.

Michael Crear, executive director of the Multicultural Division of the AACC and a member of the commission, said that, when it comes to race, “true forgiveness, true repentance, true respect” can only be offered and received by “grasping the love of Christ.” He added that racial reconciliation must go even further than “a color thing to a spiritual, heart thing.”

A documentary presented by the American Bible Society (ABS) called “Unchained: Generational Trauma and Healing” was debuted Thursday evening to a standing-room only crowd. A therapeutic experience in and of itself, the panel discussion that followed on racial reconciliation dissected the issue and welcomed audience comments.

AACC executive board member Dr. Michael Lyles voiced that racism must be explicitly identified by the church as sin, otherwise “we’re not asking a question that Jesus can answer, and that perpetuates the generational problem.”

When asked by an audience member about the AACC’s perspective on recent racial controversies and the government’s role in the solution, AACC executive board member Dr. Diane Langberg replied, “there’s a call to the church here that is way beyond what government not only is doing but can do.”

The American Association of Christian Counselors is committed to supplying the church with the tools needed to fulfill that call.

“Today, we called seven thousand mental health professionals to get directly involved in building bridges of healing across America’s racial divide,” said Dr. Tim Clinton, president of the AACC.

The AACC is the world’s largest and most diverse association of Christian counselors. Its conferences feature some of America’s leading mental health experts, clinicians and ministry leaders. The AACC equips thousands of Christians to care for hurting people and overcome the persistent stigma associated with mental health challenges. More than 7,000 mental health professionals and ministry leaders — including leading psychologists, psychiatrists, professional counselors and marriage and family therapists — are gathered this week in Nashville for the AACC’s biennial World Conference.

Information on the conference, including schedule, keynote speakers, and the full list of workshops, is available here.

Photos of the 2017 World Conference, courtesy of the AACC, are available here.

 

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About the AACC

With nearly 50,000 members worldwide, the American Association of Christian Counselors (AACC) is the world’s largest and most diverse association of Christian counseling professionals. The AACC’s mission is to equip the entire community of care, including licensed professionals, pastors and lay caregivers, with biblical truth and psychosocial insights so they can minister to hurting persons and help them move to personal wholeness, interpersonal competence and mental stability. The AACC accomplishes this mission through its widely attended events, its educational programs through Light University and the AACC’s publications and academic journals. Life, Love and Family, hosted by AACC President Tim Clinton, Ph.D., airs on American Family Radio and is heard Monday-Friday on nearly 300 stations.

Website | www.aacc.net, www.worldconference.net

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