Speaker Bios

Dr. Steve Viars

Dr. Steve Viars has served at Faith Church in Lafayette, IN since 1987. Pastor Viars leads and equips Faith Church as Senior Pastor with a focus on preaching and teaching God’s Word and Faith Biblical Counseling Ministries. He uses his organizational skills in guiding the implementation of the Faith Church mission and vision. He oversees the staff, deacons, and all Faith Church ministries. Dr. Viars serves on several boards, including Vision of Hope, a faith-based residential treatment center for at-risk girls, and the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors. He is a frequent speaker at conferences, colleges, and seminaries in the United States and abroad. Dr. Viars serves as the Vice President of the Board of Directors for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. He is also the author of Putting Your Past in its Place, Overcoming Bitterness, Loving Your Community, Do You Believe What God Says about You?, and is co-author or contributor to numerous booklets. He and his wife, Kris, were married in 1982 and have two married daughters, a son, and five grandchildren.

Dr. Stuart Scott

Dr. Stuart Scott teaches biblical counseling at Bob Jones University and Seminary in Greenville, South Carolina. He also teaches adjunctly in the graduate and post-graduate programs at The Master’s University in Santa Clarita, California, and The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky. He brings more than 35 years of experience in counseling and pastoral ministry, including nine years as associate pastor of family ministries and counseling at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA, serving under John MacArthur. He serves currently as the Member Care Director and a Fellow with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). In addition, he acts as the Executive Director for One-Eighty Ministries. Dr. Scott is the author of The Exemplary Husband, From Pride to Humility, Communication and Conflict Resolution, Anger, Fear and Anxiety; Biblical Manhood, Leadership and Decision Making, The Faithful Parent: A Biblical Guide for Parenting (co-authored with Martha Peace), and most recently, Killing Sinful Habits: Conquering Sin with Radical Faith (co-authored with his wife, Zondra Scott). He has contributed to Think Biblically, Christianity and Counseling – Five Approaches and co-edited Counseling the Hard Cases. Dr. Scott and his wife Zondra have been married for over 36 years and have two grown children, Christa, and Marc, and two grandchildren. They currently live in Greenville, South Carolina.

Dr. Jenn Shiomi Chen

Dr. Jenn Chen was licensed as a clinical psychologist in 2002, after obtaining her PsyD in Clinical Psychology and an MA in Marriage and Family Therapy. She had also pursued advanced training in Christianity, psychology, cutting-edge psychotherapies, and even neuropsychology. In addition, she was a clinical instructor for UCLA, teaching pre-doctoral students, medical students, and social workers, and was busy compassionately helping people in the inner-city of her area.

Then the perfect storm hit. She couldn’t make sense of it all as she faced severe illness with accompanying panic attacks, weight loss, depression, anxiety, and a deep awareness of her limited faith. All her training, everything she’d been taught and everything she knew wasn’t working, including the very therapies and techniques that were supposed to fix her. This brought Jenn face-to-face with biblical counseling. Jenn earned her MABC (Master of Arts in Biblical Counseling) at The Master’s University (TMU) and became an ACBC-certified counselor.

She currently serves as a biblical counselor at Lighthouse Community Church in Torrance, CA, and has taught as an adjunct professor for the online bachelor’s degree in biblical counseling at TMU. She has also written several articles for the Biblical Counseling Coalition. Jenn is deeply grateful for how biblical counseling has transformed her faith, her life, and her counsel. She has been married to her husband Peter since 1996, and they cherish their son Garret.

Dr. Charles Hodges

Charles Hodges, Jr., MD, is a family medicine doctor and genetic medicine specialist with Ascension St. Vincent in Indianapolis, IN. He provides primary care for illness and injuries, genetic disorders, and disease management of chronic health conditions. Dr. Hodges is also the Executive Director of Vision of Hope, a residential treatment facility for women that is a ministry of Faith Church in Lafayette, Indiana, and a counselor instructor in the Faith Biblical Counseling Ministry. He is a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). Dr. Hodges is a graduate of Indiana University with a B.A. in History, and the Indiana University School of Medicine. He is board-certified in family medicine and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Dr. Hodges also holds an MA in Counseling and an MA in Religion from Liberty University. He is a licensed marital family therapist in Indiana. He is the author of Good Mood Bad Mood: Help and Hope for Depression and Bipolar Disorder and a contributor to the book Caring for the Souls of Children. Dr. Hodges and his wife Helen have four children and thirteen grandchildren.

Dr. Andrew Rogers

Dr. Andrew Rogers is passionate about discipleship and equipping God’s people for ministry. He and his wife, Jenny, live in Anaheim Hills, CA, and have four children: two married sons and two daughters. Andrew has been in ministry for over 29 years as a pastor, professor, and missionary. He has earned M.A. and M.Div. degrees from The Master’s University and Seminary and a Th.M. and Ph.D. from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He has served in various churches throughout the United States, as well as a professor at Boyce College in Louisville, KY, and as an adjunct professor at various seminaries worldwide. Additionally, Andrew is a Fellow and Board Member of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and a member of the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS). He has written articles for the Journal of Biblical Counseling, “Man and the Meaning of Life,” in Men Discipling Men, and most recently wrote a booklet on adoption, Counseling Adoptive Families. Andrew currently serves as a pastor at Kindred Community Church in Anaheim Hills, CA, and as Executive Director of Overseas Instruction in Counseling, a ministry devoted to training biblical counseling trainers worldwide.

Dr. Tom Sugimura

Dr. Tom Sugimura is a pastor-writer, church-planting coach, ACBC Fellow, and professor of biblical counseling. He ministers the gospel at New Life Church in Woodland Hills, CA, and hosts Every Peoples Podcast. Tom left engineering for the pastorate and has ministered in the San Fernando Valley since 2004. He is a graduate of The Master’s Seminary and has received a doctorate in Biblical Counseling from The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is author of Grace, Race, and the Church: Sharing our Stories Family Style; Habakkuk: God's Answers to Life's Most Difficult Questions; The Church Behind Barbed Wire: Stories of Faith during the Japanese American Internment of World War II; Soul Care in the Psalms: Projects for Growth from Psalms 1-24; Hope for New Dads: 40 Days in the Book of Proverbs; Ruth: The Romance of Redemption. His passion is equipping the local church for ministry and training indigenous pastors globally. Tom and his wife Amanda have four kids: Trevor, Jordan, Peyton, and Madelyn.

Dr. Julie Ganschow

Dr. Julie Ganschow has been involved in biblical counseling and discipleship for more than 20 years. She is passionate about the critical need for heart change in a person who desires change in their life. Julie has received MA and PhD degrees in Biblical Counseling and possesses extensive experience as a biblical counselor while also being active in training. In addition to her formal education, she is a certified member of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC) and the International Association of Biblical Counselors (IABC). She is also the founder and Director of Reigning Grace Counseling Center (ACBC and IABC Certified Training Center) and Biblical Counseling for Women. Furthermore, Julie is a Commissioned Addictions Biblical Counselor (CABC) and she is on the advisory board of Fallen Soldiers March (FSM). Since 2008, Julie has been writing a daily blog on counseling issues women face. Julie has authored numerous books and materials for biblical counseling and co-authored a biblical counseling training course. She is also a featured contributor in GriefShare and a frequent retreat and conference speaker. She makes her home in Kansas City, Missouri, with her wonderful husband Larry. Together they have raised three sons who have married and begun to bless them with grandchildren.

Larry Ganschow, IABC-C

After struggling with addictions as a teen and young adult, Larry has now enjoyed over three decades of sobriety. With more than 30 years of experience in addictions and substance abuse counseling, Larry brings textbook knowledge, field experience, and personal victories into his counseling. Larry is a credentialed treatment provider for the state of Missouri and is certified in biblical counseling through the IABC. He specializes in drug, alcohol, and porn addiction. He knows as John Calvin has stated, “The heart is an idol factory,” and works tirelessly to lead his counselees to the conviction of sin and to bring them to repentance. Larry serves as a deacon at his Church and he and his wife Julie have three sons and three grandchildren.

Dr. Jonathan Hayashi

Dr. Jonathan Hayashi has a BA in Pastoral Ministry, MA in Congregational Leadership, and a D.Ed.Min. in Biblical Counseling. He presently serves on the Executive Committee at Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri, and on the Board of Trustees at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Jonathan is a contributor for the bi-weekly journal, Pathway (Missouri Baptist Convention), and is the author of Ordinary Radicals: A Return to Christ-Centered Discipleship, as well as Making Lemonade: Turning Past Failures into Gospel Opportunities. He is also a certified biblical counselor with the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC). Jonathan and his wife, Kennedi, have four children: Kaede, Seiji, Anna, and Ren.

Hannah Carter

Hannah serves as the Executive Administrative Assistant to the Provost and Adjunct Instructor of Biblical Counseling at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and Boyce College, in Louisville, KY. She received a Master of Divinity from Southern Seminary and has been counseling and discipling women for over 13 years. Hannah has been a certified member of the Association of Biblical Counselors (ACBC) since 2011. Prior to coming to Louisville, KY, she served as a missionary to an unreached people group in Central Asia for nearly five years.

Wendy Wood

Wendy Wood is passionate about helping women learn to glorify God in every aspect of life. Wendy studied education at the University of Washington and became a certified teacher. She became an ACBC certified counselor in 2013 and since then has been working with women who are struggling with sin or suffering issues and helping them to see how the gospel of Christ offers hope in all situations. Wendy works as the biblical counseling director and female counselor at Snohomish Community Church in Washington State. Wendy has spoken at the Pacific Northwest Biblical Counseling Conference and she made her first trip to teach in Kanazawa and Osaka in March, 2023. Wendy enjoys writing blogs and working on a website that offers free resources for biblical counselors, which you can find at BiblicalCounselingResources.org. She has been married to her husband, Josh, for 28 years and they have two adult sons, Xander and Matt.

Stephanie Schatz

Stephanie Schatz graduated from Prairie Bible College in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada with a BA in Intercultural Studies, and from Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA with a MA in Counseling. She has served with Pioneers in Japan for 15 years, in roles such as cooperating missionary at a JECA church plant, and mobilizingtraining short-term and long-term missionaries. She is currently serving as the Pioneers Japan Area Leader.

Jonathan Smith

Jonathan Smith has been the Director of Technology for Faith Ministries in Lafayette, IN since 2001. Jonathan oversees all technology at Faith's multiple campuses. From 2003-2015, Jonathan served as one of the elected deacons at Faith Church.

In 2021 he added to his professional responsibilities the oversight of MBS, a trusted church and ministry IT consulting and support team, by becoming its president.

He is also an author and in demand conference speaker. He wrote #RUHooked, a book on social media “for teens and the people who care about them” and frequently publishes articles on technology, ministry, leadership and social media.

Before accepting the call to vocational ministry, he worked in several IT and media-related fields including in radio as an on-air personality and commercial voice-over artist as well as with the Star Trek TV franchise in promotions.

Jonathan attended Purdue University and has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Phoenix in Management of Information Technology. Jonathan enjoys traveling, eating and rocket launches. Married in 1999, Jonathan and his wife Heather have two children, Eric (2005) and Becca (2007) and reside in Lafayette, IN.

Tom Grassi

Tom Grassi was born and raised in the San Francisco Bay Area. He and his identical twin brother, Dan Grassi, have served in church music ministry for over 35 years. Tom serves as Minister of Worship & Music at Kindred Community Church, a vibrant and growing church in the greater Los Angeles area. Prior to his appointment at church, Tom was a full-time arranger, composer and editor in the music industry in Nashville, TN.

He is an active composer, arranger and orchestrator with several publishers in the church music industry since 1998. His talent has garnered awards from some of the biggest names in the business, including the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers, Gospel Music Association, Billboard Magazine and the John Lennon Songwriting Foundation. He is a graduate of San Diego Christian College with a BA (with honors) in Music with an emphasis in sacred choral literature. He has also earned his Evangelical Training Association’s Standard Teacher Diploma, and teaches privately. His choral and orchestra works have been performed all over the world. He has composed scores for the Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center debut performances of Big Daddy Weave, Steven Curtis Chapman and Lauren Daigle. Tom’s compositions have been featured in concert venues in Spain, South Korea, Italy, Malaysia and the Philippines. Tom is a weekly video podcaster and host for the podcast Beyond Sunday, and is a contributing composer, arranger and orchestrator for 4 hymnals: One Voice (OVP Publishing), Hymns of Grace (The Master’s Seminary Press), Himnos de Gracia Cancionero (The Master’s Seminary Press) and Psalms of Grace (The Master’s Seminary Press).

Tom’s best friend and beautiful wife is Della. Together, they have 3 children- Dana, Tyler and Danielle, and 2 grandchildren- Owen and Caden. Tom & Della love their home church, southern California weather, walks on the beach and date nights eating at their favorite sushi restaurant.

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