christian counseling today
Vol. 20 no. 4
57
see anew
Online | Flexible | Affordable
messiah.edu/CCT
717.796.5061
New online class sessions begin every eight weeks.
The Start-up kit and Advanced
Leadership Training (ALT) kit, which
provide trainings and handouts for the
entire program, are also important.
The national team developed Regional
Directors, and there are hundreds
of volunteer state representatives at
the local level to answer questions
and assist churches desiring to start a
ministry program. Celebrate Recovery
Inside (CRI) has gone into jails and
institutions across the United States,
and even has the curriculum in paper-
back form made for use inside these
facilities. In order to be listed on the
national Web site using the registered
trademarked name, Celebrate Recovery,
local groups have to adhere to the DNA
of Celebrate Recovery, which can be
found at celebraterecovery.com.
Another outreach tool, which
certainly was a highlight of 2013, was
the movie, Home Run. Nominated
for the Best Christian Film award in
2013, Home Run is the first of its kind
to include a Christ-centered recovery
program within the context of the
storyline. The film centers on a famous
baseball player, Cory (Scott Elrod),
who gets a DUI and is suspended for
eight weeks, during which his agent
(Vivica A. Fox) says he has to attend
a 12-step program. The only one they
can find is Celebrate Recovery. Though
there are some excellent Christian
films out there, this movie truly has
a professional feel. Cory’s movement
toward Christ and recovery is naturally
woven into the plot and captures how
CR is appropriate for a wide variety of
hurts.
Celebrate Recovery, through
outreach, has been a positive influ-
ence in local communities offering a
faith-based program as an alternative
or complement to what may already be
available. Although CR is not a substi-
tute for professional help, Christian
counselors and therapists are increas-
ingly seeing it as a place to send clients
for assistance in their journey toward
recovery and healing.
If you are looking for results in
meeting the greater needs of those
who are seeking help, I believe this is
a great environment to make available
at the local church level. Sometimes
a sermon is not enough… Celebrate
Recovery offers a comprehensive,
Christ-centered path for healing in
community.
✠
David J. O’Brien
serves
as the Recovery Pastor at Blue
Ridge Community Church in
Forest, Virginia. He was the
Ministry Leader of Celebrate
Recovery for 12 years. David
attended Edmonds Community College and Liberty
University. His testimony appears in the
Celebrate
Recovery Bible
.
