Billy Graham's Grandson Tullian Tchividjian Receiving 'Biblical Counsel' from Paul Tripp in Wake of Extramarital Affair

Jul 01, 2015 11:33 AM EDT

Billy Graham's grandson, Tullian Tchividjian, is seeking "personal healing" and Biblical counsel after admitting to an extramarital affair and stepping down from his position as senior pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian church.

According to a report from The Blaze, Tchividjian, 43, will spend at least a week in "intense counseling" with Christian counselor Dr. Paul Tripp, where he will hopefully work to "process the root causes of what happened in his marriage and to seek personal healing."

"He is seeking God and looking to spend time getting work done on [himself]," an anonymous source told The Blaze, adding that Tchividjian is "seeking wise biblical counsel".

Tchividjian, who has three children with his wife, Kim, resigned from his position as senior pastor of the PCA congregation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida last week after releasing a statement revealing his affair. He said that he was "heartbroken and devastated" when he discovered that his wife had been in an adulterous relationship, and in response "sought comfort in a friend and developed an inappropriate relationship myself."

"Both my wife and I are heartbroken over our actions and we ask you to pray for us and our family that God would give us the grace we need to weather this heart wrenching storm," he said in the statement to the Washington Post. "We are amazingly grateful for the team of men and women who are committed to walking this difficult path with us.

"Please pray for the healing of deep wounds and we kindly ask that you respect our privacy."

In the wake of the scandal, Coral Ridge's Liberate, a ministry founded by Tchividjian focused on bringing God's "inexhaustible grace to an exhausted world," announced that it had decided to close.

"Considering Pastor Tullian's recent resignation as senior pastor of CRPC after admitting moral failure, and his subsequent statement and actions, it is with heavy hearts that our Church Leadership has come to the conclusion to temporarily close LIBERATE," the site reads.

The ministry's 2016 conference, due to take place in February, has been cancelled.

While Tchividjian has not publicly discussed the scandal since the news broke, he has regularly updated his Twitter feed to express his emotions.

"I'm so so sorry. I love you all ... fade to black," Tchividjian noted in a tweet posted on June 23.

"Jesus turns the worst things ever and makes them the best things ever," he tweeted on Tuesday, quoting Paul Tripp.

Meanwhile, Executive pastor of Coral Ridge, Rob Pacienza, revealed that the church was "saddened by the news" but that they were praying for Tchividjian and his family.

"Several days ago, Pastor Tullian admitted to moral failure, acknowledging his actions disqualify him from continuing to serve as senior pastor or preach from the pulpit, and resigned - effective immediately," Pacienza said.

"We are saddened by this news, but are working with and assisting Pastor Tullian and his family to help them through this difficult time, and asking people to join us in praying that God will bring restoration through this process and healing to all involved."