Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation 
The information on this page was last updated 5/18/2023. If you see errors or omissions, please email: [email protected]
Summary
Restoring Christ to counseling and counseling to the church.
Christian growth catches fire where life and Scripture meet. We change when, in the midst of our day-to-day joys, sorrows, sufferings, and sins, we encounter Jesus Christ through his Word and find his grace and mercy for our time of need.
We help others change when, in the midst of their day-to-day joys, sorrows, sufferings, and sins, we point them to Jesus Christ through his Word to find grace and mercy for their time of need.
CCEF endeavors to:
connect the dots between Scripture's truth and human experience
explore how God's Word meets us in our both our daily and our darkest struggles, as well as in our fragile and fractured relationships
discern from Scripture how to help and care for another person with love, humility, and wisdom
pursue lasting fidelity to Christ and how he would have us counsel, write, speak, and train
Contact information
Mailing address:
Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation
1803 East Willow Grove Avenue
Glenside, PA 19038
Website: ccef.org
Phone: (800) 318-2186
Email: [email protected]
Organization details
EIN: 231996251
CEO/President: Alasdair Groves
Chairman:
Board size: 11
Founder:
Ruling year: 1968
Tax deductible: Yes
Fiscal year end: 12/31
Member of ECFA: Yes
Member of ECFA since: 2019
Purpose
Our strategic vision-the building blocks at the very core of who CCEF is-describe how CCEF will aim to stay faithful to our calling in the years ahead. We have put together a series of videos to flesh out these building blocks. You can view them by clicking the link below.
Connected to Christ: We must each remain rooted in Christ-personally, corporately, and doctrinally.
Tilling Up New Soil: We aim to till up new soil by creating faithful, fresh, and timely resources that go wider and deeper than biblical counseling has gone before.
Equipping People: Our ministry must include giving hands on feedback and training to effectively equip God's people to grow in counseling.
Critical Contribution: We want to make everything we do as accessible as possible to churches, designed for the benefit of churches, and with the goal of strengthening local churches around the world.
https://www.ccef.org/buildingblocks/
Mission statement
CCEF works to restore Christ to counseling. Each of us has personal and interpersonal struggles. Jesus Christ knows those struggles, he cares about strugglers, and so he enters into our lives. We see him bring about significant change in people's lives every day. Because this is who Christ is, and because this is what he does, he is preeminently relevant to counseling. This conviction is our heritage and heartbeat.
CCEF works to restore counseling to the church. We believe that the body of Christ is God's primary context for change. God uses Christian community to transform his people. CCEF's mission is to equip the church to be this kind of transforming community. We see ourselves as an extension of the local church, and we want to serve and promote its ministry. The good news of the gospel is meant to be preached, taught, and counseled with relevance to individual people. Our goal is to equip Christians to live, love, and counsel.
Statement of faith
We affirm the unique authority of Scripture, and subscribe to the historic creeds of the early church and Reformation (i.e., Apostles' Creed, Nicene Creed, Westminster Confession of Faith, London Baptist Confession, Heidelberg Catechism). And though we are Protestants grounded in the Reformed tradition, we also seek to minister to and with Christians from a range of theological perspectives.
We seek to apply these core commitments of historic orthodoxy in ways that are humble and winsome.
Because God teaches us to see the world the way he sees it, and to see all things as they exist in relationship to him, we are committed to the complete trustworthiness and primacy of the Scriptures.
Because the working of God in human life unfolds historically, we are committed to the narrative perspective provided by redemptive-historical theology, the story line that frames our understanding of systematic theology, practical theology, and church history.
Because God's saving work in Christ Jesus creates a people for his own possession, we are committed to serve the visible church.
Because there is one Body and one Spirit, we are committed to serve Christians of many different denominational associations.
Because God's ways and words are relevant across time, in all places, and to all peoples, we are committed to cultural sensitivity. Because the church is called to move towards the world redemptively, rather than existing in defensive or hostile isolation, we are committed to cultural engagement.
Donor confidence score
Transparency grade
A
To understand our transparency grade, click here.
Financial efficiency ratings
Sector: Christian Growth
| Category | Rating | Overall rank | Sector rank |
| Overall efficiency rating | | 601 of 1104 | 24 of 60 |
| Fund acquisition rating | | 767 of 1105 | 41 of 60 |
| Resource allocation rating | | 565 of 1105 | 23 of 60 |
| Asset utilization rating | | 407 of 1104 | 25 of 60 |
Financial ratios
| Funding ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Return on fundraising efforts Return on fundraising efforts = Fundraising expense / Total contributions | 7% | 13% | 11% | 9% | 12% | 12% |
Fundraising cost ratio Fundraising cost ratio = Fundraising expense / Total revenue | 5% | 4% | 3% | 3% | 4% | 3% |
Contributions reliance Contributions reliance = Total contributions / Total revenue | 81% | 32% | 33% | 35% | 30% | 29% |
Fundraising expense ratio Fundraising expense ratio = Fundraising expense / Total expenses | 5% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% | 4% |
Other revenue reliance Other revenue reliance = Total other revenue / Total revenue | 19% | 68% | 67% | 65% | 70% | 71% |
| Operating ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Program expense ratio Program expense ratio = Program services / Total expenses | 82% | 83% | 83% | 83% | 83% | 84% |
Spending ratio Spending ratio = Total expenses / Total revenue | 96% | 105% | 86% | 80% | 89% | 86% |
Program output ratio Program output ratio = Program services / Total revenue | 78% | 88% | 72% | 66% | 74% | 72% |
Savings ratio Savings ratio = Surplus (deficit) / Total revenue | 4% | -5% | 14% | 20% | 11% | 14% |
Reserve accumulation rate Reserve accumulation rate = Surplus (deficit) / Net assets | 7% | -6% | 17% | 28% | 19% | 27% |
General and admin ratio General and admin ratio = Management and general expense / Total expenses | 12% | 13% | 13% | 13% | 13% | 13% |
| Investing ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Total asset turnover Total asset turnover = Total expenses / Total assets | 1.02 | 1.12 | 0.94 | 0.84 | 1.13 | 1.29 |
Degree of long-term investment Degree of long-term investment = Total assets / Total current assets | 1.40 | 1.37 | 1.34 | 1.37 | 1.62 | 1.88 |
Current asset turnover Current asset turnover = Total expenses / Total current assets | 1.44 | 1.53 | 1.27 | 1.16 | 1.83 | 2.42 |
| Liquidity ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Current ratio Current ratio = Total current assets / Total current liabilities | 8.90 | 5.07 | 6.50 | 7.09 | 3.53 | 3.16 |
Current liabilities ratio Current liabilities ratio = Total current liabilities / Total current assets | 0.11 | 0.20 | 0.15 | 0.14 | 0.28 | 0.32 |
Liquid reserve level Liquid reserve level = (Total current assets - Total current liabilities) / (Total expenses / 12) | 7.11 | 6.28 | 8.01 | 8.90 | 4.70 | 3.39 |
| Solvency ratios | Sector median | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
Liabilities ratio Liabilities ratio = Total liabilities / Total assets | 12% | 15% | 13% | 23% | 23% | 25% |
Debt ratio Debt ratio = Debt / Total assets | 0% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 0% | 0% |
Reserve coverage ratio Reserve coverage ratio = Net assets / Total expenses | 82% | 76% | 92% | 91% | 68% | 59% |
Financials
| Balance sheet | |||||
| Assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Cash | $1,630,537 | $1,474,162 | $2,970,217 | $1,689,834 | $1,170,151 |
| Receivables, inventories, prepaids | $89,545 | $325,086 | $139,030 | $105,423 | $76,265 |
| Short-term investments | $1,577,197 | $1,808,172 | $198,929 | $224,524 | $179,969 |
| Other current assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total current assets | $3,297,279 | $3,607,420 | $3,308,176 | $2,019,781 | $1,426,385 |
| Long-term investments | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Fixed assets | $1,183,177 | $1,162,122 | $1,112,264 | $1,064,039 | $1,044,349 |
| Other long-term assets | $27,241 | $73,632 | $122,834 | $179,525 | $212,804 |
| Total long-term assets | $1,210,418 | $1,235,754 | $1,235,098 | $1,243,564 | $1,257,153 |
| Total assets | $4,507,697 | $4,843,174 | $4,543,274 | $3,263,345 | $2,683,538 |
| Liabilities | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Payables and accrued expenses | $115,403 | $96,475 | $66,804 | $117,576 | $70,812 |
| Other current liabilities | $534,437 | $458,655 | $399,940 | $454,736 | $379,983 |
| Total current liabilities | $649,840 | $555,130 | $466,744 | $572,312 | $450,795 |
| Debt | $0 | $0 | $457,500 | $0 | $0 |
| Due to (from) affiliates | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Other long-term liabilities | $27,241 | $73,632 | $120,022 | $166,413 | $212,804 |
| Total long-term liabilities | $27,241 | $73,632 | $577,522 | $166,413 | $212,804 |
| Total liabilities | $677,081 | $628,762 | $1,044,266 | $738,725 | $663,599 |
| Net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Without donor restrictions | $3,631,652 | $4,136,012 | $3,329,914 | $2,471,868 | $1,898,549 |
| With donor restrictions | $198,964 | $78,400 | $169,094 | $52,752 | $121,390 |
| Net assets | $3,830,616 | $4,214,412 | $3,499,008 | $2,524,620 | $2,019,939 |
| Revenues and expenses | |||||
| Revenue | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Total contributions | $1,520,763 | $1,725,010 | $1,694,154 | $1,260,662 | $1,166,435 |
| Program service revenue | $3,152,936 | $3,236,888 | $2,892,969 | $2,601,653 | $2,621,085 |
| Membership dues | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Investment income | ($92,300) | $65,697 | ($13,838) | $26,002 | $10,110 |
| Other revenue | $225,629 | $265,736 | $237,320 | $275,636 | $207,776 |
| Total other revenue | $3,286,265 | $3,568,321 | $3,116,451 | $2,903,291 | $2,838,971 |
| Total revenue | $4,807,028 | $5,293,331 | $4,810,605 | $4,163,953 | $4,005,406 |
| Expenses | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Program services | $4,213,145 | $3,808,183 | $3,177,380 | $3,072,069 | $2,882,359 |
| Management and general | $641,283 | $578,359 | $494,080 | $471,999 | $431,917 |
| Fundraising | $200,888 | $183,648 | $157,804 | $150,041 | $136,112 |
| Total expenses | $5,055,316 | $4,570,190 | $3,829,264 | $3,694,109 | $3,450,388 |
| Change in net assets | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
| Surplus (deficit) | ($248,288) | $723,141 | $981,341 | $469,844 | $555,018 |
| Other changes in net assets | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 |
| Total change in net assets | ($248,288) | $723,141 | $981,341 | $469,844 | $555,018 |
Compensation
| Name | Title | Compensation |
| Ed Welch | Senior Faculty | $180,600 |
| Michael R Emlet | Senior Faculty | $161,514 |
| Alasdair Groves | Executive Dir. | $143,433 |
| Dave Casey | Dir of Finance | $71,140 |
Compensation data as of: 12/31/2022
Response from ministry
No response has been provided by this ministry.
The information below was provided to MinistryWatch by the ministry itself. It was last updated 5/18/2023. To update the information below, please email: [email protected]
History
The Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF) was founded in 1968 and stands in a long tradition of pastoral care that dates back to the 1st century church and the New Testament. Through the centuries there have been high points and low points in the church's understanding and practice of good pastoral care. High points include the early church fathers, the Reformation, the Puritans and Jonathan Edwards. In principle, for the first 1900 years of the church's existence, the Scriptures formed the basis for diagnosing both psychological-spiritual maladies and interpersonal problems. And Scripture offered a consistent basis for addressing people's problems by rooting our lives in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. So, in many ways, CCEF's ministry is not new, because its theology expresses this heritage of a God-centered understanding of people and a Christ-centered understanding of how God redeems people. But CCEF is doing something new in terms of its application of these time-tested truths to modern problems.
Whether or not the church was doing a good job of pastoral care, for the first 1900 years all Christians agreed that Scripture was the basis for restoring human lives. But a fundamental shift came with the advent of the modern secular psychologies, pioneered by Sigmund Freud in the late 1800's. In a short amount of time, historic biblical categories of creation, fall and redemption were replaced by secular categories of mental health and mental illness.
The main effect of that shift meant that secular psychological thinking excised the personal God from the world he made. In the new theories and psychotherapeutic practices, there was no mention of sin, of God, of the necessity of a Savior, or the promise of eternal life. The solution to our "personal and interpersonal problems" lay within us and counseling involved drawing it out.
Though these were secular theories, they greatly impacted the church. From the turn of the 20th century, a shift took place in pastoral care instruction in seminaries. While many seminaries continued to make the Scriptures primary in the preaching of God's word, they no longer made the Scriptures primary in pastoral care and counseling. This vacuum was filled by a host of alternatives that tended to minimize, change or overshadow the redemptive message of the Scriptures.
Responding to this trend, David Powlison writes in his book Speaking Truth in Love: Counsel in Community :
But as we look more closely at life, it becomes clearer and clearer that Scripture is about counseling: diagnostic categories, causal explanations of behavior and emotion, interpretation of external sufferings and influences, definitions of workable solutions, character of the counselor, goals for the counseling process...These are all matters to which God speaks directly, specifically, and frequently. He calls us to listen attentively, to think hard and well, and to develop our practical theology of conversational ministry.
The Advent of CCEF and Biblical Counseling
In response to these trends in the church and pastoral training, a "biblical counseling" movement emerged in the late 1960's. The initial spokesman for this approach to pastoral care and counseling was Jay Adams. In 1968, Jay Adams and John Bettler started the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation just outside of Philadelphia. For the past four decades, CCEF has been growing and contributing to the biblical counseling movement as that movement has grown in both influence and maturity. For a more detailed history of the biblical counseling movement, see The Biblical Counseling Movement: History and Context by David Powlison.
CCEF's early history was largely prophetic and therefore polemic. The church was challenged to rethink its beliefs about why people struggle and how to help them when they do. CCEF called pastors and seminaries back to the primacy of Scripture as the basis for thoughtful and effective pastoral care and counseling. From the beginning, there was always a concern to define what could legitimately be learned from modern psychology, but Scripture provided the orienting "generalizations": a God-centered view of people and problems and solutions. What was at stake was which source would be primary.
As CCEF entered the 1980's and 90's, it was apparent that the second and third generation of leaders benefited from the strengths of their predecessors as well as learned from their weaknesses. They moved CCEF in a direction of increased sensitivity to human suffering, to the dynamics of motivation, to the centrality of the gospel in the daily life of the believer, the importance of the body of Christ and to a more articulate engagement with secular culture.
As CCEF enters the 21st century, it continues this positive trajectory with a commitment to work out the implications of biblical counseling in many areas of counseling methodology. CCEF continues to emphasize the centrality of the body of Christ as the primary context for care and counseling while recognizing the legitimate place of broader resources within the body of Christ. The relationship between biblical counselors and fellow evangelicals involved in professional, clinical counseling continues to be worked out in the pursuit of cordial relationships in which differences can be constructively discussed. Biblical counseling offers a distinctively Christian understanding of people, problems, influences, suffering, motives, and change processes. These beliefs are continuing to be developed and applied at CCEF.
Program accomplishments
Needs
At CCEF we depend on the generosity of others to move the mission forward. Your support enables our writing, counseling, teaching, and training. In other words, your support is an investment in the work of helping people connect real life to God's Word. As people like you & me find mercy and grace from Jesus in our time of need, you are making a difference.
This year we're dependent on God's people for $1.3 million in donations to continue to invest in the next generation of biblical counseling. We are grateful for your partnership.