Gospel ministry is challenging. Living out the gospel is difficult. It is easy to separate gospel ministry and life but is that God’s design?

As Christians, we believe the gospel is powerful enough to save us from our sins. But when it comes right down to the mess of life, do we really believe the gospel is enough to deal with the difficulties of life? The church has pretty much turned over the hard and demanding work of care to those outside the church who have specialized training and who are available to meet someone every week for however long it takes to work through issues to achieve some measure of change. Pastors and church members have essentially lost confidence in how God and his gospel truths speak directly to the tough struggles we face in everyday life.

This conference is called, The Gospel: Counseling and the Church. What does the gospel have to do with counseling? What does counseling have to do with the church? Why should the church be involved with counseling? Sojourn and every church throughout the world are called to be involved in the relational ministry of the Word known as counseling. God is doing a mighty work, not only in bringing His church back to the gospel for both Christians and Non-Christians, but also equipping and mobilizing His people to build up the body of Christ and to advance the kingdom of Christ in and through the gospel-through what most of us would call counseling.

Our overall desire for this conference is to showcase the gospel. Our specific desire is to share a vision to you as pastors, church planters, ministry leaders, and church members in how God is working to transform individuals, couples, and families. God is showing us as his church how the deeply pervasive and powerful realities of the gospel can and should be used to engage the most difficult personal issues of life to bring about reconciliation and transformation.

We invite you to a conference hosted by the church, for the church, and designed to give you a vision for equipping and mobilizing the saints to engage in gospel ministry. We have invited pastors from churches across the country to lead tracks designed to give you an understanding of how the church can help those struggling in the areas of marriage, parenting, addictions, and homosexuality. A mercy track is also being offered to show how the church is called to intentionally engage with our neighboring community, tackling the tough realities associated with impoverished hearts and homes.