Pictured above: The Hope Center, a ministry of First Baptist Church Panama City, provides counseling from a Christian worldview while respecting each client’s individual needs and circumstances. 

Where can individuals and families go for biblically based counseling, focused on healing, restoration and lasting hope? That is the question The Hope Center answers for members of First Baptist Church Panama City and the community around them.  

“The counseling center provides a place where people can receive professional, compassionate, faith-informed care for the emotional, relational, and spiritual challenges they face,” said Joel Britton, associate pastor of counseling and military ministry, First Baptist Church Panama City. “Counseling provides an important ministry through which the church can walk alongside individuals, couples, and families during difficult seasons.”

In addition to helping church members through the valleys of life, the counseling center enables the church to provide hope and share the truth of Jesus Christ to members of the community who may not be connected to a local congregation. “When churches develop strong counseling ministries, they are better equipped to respond to the emotional, relational, and family struggles that are already present within every congregation and community,” said Britton. 

Counselors at The Hope Center integrate faith into evidence-based practices to provide Christ-centered, biblically based counseling for people experiencing depression, anxiety, anger, PTSD, trauma, moral injury, divorce recovery, marriage counseling, sexual brokenness, spiritual formation, grief/loss, and personal growth. 

In 2024, Dr. Craig Conner, pastor, First Baptist Church Panama City felt a burden for the church to provide faith-based counseling with clinical excellence. His vision began to take shape when Kathy Johnson, a faithful church member and licensed mental health counselor shared this burden.

In February 2026, Britton joined First Baptist Church Panama City to help develop the counseling ministry. A retired U.S. Army chaplain, Britton came to the church with a master’sdegree in marriage and family therapy and extensive experience as the family life chaplain at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In his time with the First Special Forces Command, Britton provided faith-integrated, clinically sound therapeutic counseling for service members and their families. 

The first client was seen at The Hope Center in March 2026, and the counseling ministry reached70% capacity as of August 2026. The growth demonstrates that the center is a trusted place of refuge where the church and community encounter hope, experience transformation, and are equipped to live whole, Christ-centered lives.

The Hope Center provides counseling from a Christian worldview while respecting each client’s individual needs and circumstances. Anyone seeking more information may contact the church at 850.392.1295, visit The Hope Center on Facebook or on Instagram.