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christian counseling today
Vol. 20 no. 4
a
We have all been affected by sin and need the healing and transformation
only God provides. In the words of Pastor Warren, “We’ve learned that
every single person—as a member of the human race—deals with a hurt,
a hang up, or a habit at some level, in some form.” Celebrate Recovery is
not just for addiction, it also produces changed lives and healing in other
areas, such as life’s hurts, codependency, sexual purity, eating disorders
and more.
How does it work?
Across the years, a curriculum was developed to help participants work
through the process of recovery and provide tools for guidance. These
resources are the
Celebrate Recovery Bible
and
Life’s Healing Choices
(along
with the Study Guide and Journal). Recently, the
Celebrate Recovery
365-day Devotional
was added.
There are three dimensions that are emphasized.
1. A
large group
time
where men and women gather together for
worship, and a teaching time of the 12 steps and eight principles
broken up into 25 lessons and rotated with testimonies of people’s
stories of life change with Christ and the program.
2. Gender and issue specific
open share groups
using the Guidelines of
Celebrate Recovery.
3. A
step study
that is held on a different day of the week where partici-
pants explore the four guides and work through the steps. This is
a nine to 12-month commitment depending on group size, and is
still gender specific, but can have mixed issues.
The whole family can be involved in growing
in Christ and the healing process. Two other
programs were also developed based on the same
curriculum: “Celebration Place,” a children’s
program for ages five up to 5th grade, and “The
Landing” for junior and senior high students.
What resources are available?
Thousands of churches nationwide use these
programs, and groups can now be found in 34
countries and 24 different languages. There are
also 15 CR One-Day seminars that are held each
year throughout the country. John and Cheryl
Baker, along with the national team, head these
up and invite pastors and church leaders to come
and learn how to start CR at their churches.
They teach the importance of the seven keys that
are necessary for a successful and healthy CR:
1. Leadership Training
2. Senior Pastor Support
3. Fellowship Events
4. New Groups
5. Outreach
6. Curriculum
7. Worship
“Praise be to the God
and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the father
of compassion and the
God of all comfort, who
comforts us in all our
troubles, so that we can
comfort those in any
trouble with the same
comfort we ourselves
have received from God.”
— 2 Corinthians 1:3-4
