History of the Biblical Counseling and Educational Center
The history and development of BCEC is a testimony of God’s direction and provision. The vision for this ministry was born in the heart of Dr. Bob Somerville (former pastor of Visalia Evangelical Free Church) and his strong conviction that the Word of God is the only reliable resource for bringing about genuine, permanent change in the lives of people. Through his years of ministry and personal experience Dr. Somerville knew that local churches and individual pastors needed to be equipped to shepherd and disciple their flocks to handle personal problems biblically. He also knew that this counseling needed to come from within their own church ministries.
To begin to meet this need, valley wide biblical counseling seminars were offered with nationally recognized speakers. Through these seminars and along with Dr. Somerville’s influence the need for a training center for biblical counseling was made known and in September of 1989 BCEC was formally established.
The early days of BCEC were difficult but God demonstrated His support by providing a gift of $10,000 to cover the start-up cost and later that year another $40,000 to provide for a full-time Administrator.
BCEC has formalized its organizational structure by the establishment of a Board of Directors, the certification of the National Association of Nouthetic Counselors and the International Association of Biblical Counselors to certify counselors, development of training courses which equip layman and pastors to do biblical counseling and the development of a policy manual which provides guidelines for the functioning of the counseling ministry. BCEC has the conviction that local churches are to be the resource for sound biblical counseling and is developing working relationships with numerous churches in the Valley.
Today God is continuing to bless BCEC as individuals come for counseling and believer’s are being equipped to use God’s Word as the only reliable resource for change. The Board of Directors, counselors, instructors, and others have put in many long hours to make this ministry possible. May God be glorified by the faithfulness of His servants.
