June 2009
The Celebrate Recovery Program Driven by a Purpose of 200 in a high school auditorium, to the international high profile it enjoys today.
By Elias Crim The remarkable story of the Celebrate Recovery Program starts with evangelical pastor Rick Warren whose Saddleback Church caught the full glare of national media attention on August 16, 2008. That was the date of the presidential debate between candidates John McCain and Barack Obama at the church of the man who six years earlier had authored one of the biggest best-sellers in modern publishing history, The Purpose Driven Life (30 million copies in print by 2006). Rick Warren gained even greater visibility the following January when was selected to give the invocation at the inauguration of President Obama. Those events led many Americans to take a first close look at Warren and his ministry, including his books and his mega-church in southern Orange County, California, where weekly church attendance averages 20,000. Saddleback is the eighth-largest church in the United States. Better informed evangelicals were already familiar with Warren and with Saddleback’s success—from its humble beginnings in 1980, when Warren gathered a crowd
Elias Crim is a freelance writer in Chicago, Illinois.
Freed from the “Hurts, Hang-ups and Habits” Part of Saddleback’s success—and one of the most visible of its 156 (!) different ministries—is the program known as Celebrate Recovery. An off-hand but not entirely inaccurate description of Celebrate Recovery would be to call it Alcoholics Anonymous powered by the Sermon on the Mount. Begun in 1991 by Saddleback pastor John Baker, Celebrate Recovery (or “CR” as participants often call it) is a program that uses a version of the famous Twelve Steps developed by the group Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) and first described in 1939 in “The Big Book,” the bible of A.A. During the past seventy years, twelve-step programs have been created for a wide range of addictions, and A.A. now reaches an estimated two million people worldwide. For instance, in the greater Chicago area alone, over 2,500 A.A. meetings are held weekly. A Google directory search for the name Alcoholics Anonymous turned up 726 links to various A.A.-related groups. Saddleback’s CR is independent of the A.A. organization and it is about recovering from virtually every kind of addiction, from the familiar burdens of alcohol, drugs, gambling, and pornography to newer types of addictive behavior such as overeating, shopping, workaholism, and even hoarding. As the CR materials put it, the program aims to free people from their “hurts, hang-ups and habits.” Among the major hurts addressed are divorce, sexual abuse, codependency and domestic violence. Unlike A.A. and similar programs, CR is (as one participant put it) “very specific about God”: the program is based on eight principles taken from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, also known as the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:310), each of which has been translated into a principle of personal recovery. (See sidebar.) The program has evolved until it now comprises continued on page 2
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an extensive series of programs supplemented by a well produced collection of leaders’ guides, participants’ manuals, an introductory DVD, sermon CDs, and other materials, all moderately priced. A small church can start a CR program for just a few hundred dollars. National meetings are held to train CR team leaders and a grassroots network of churches offering a CR program now numbers over 10,000—almost all evangelical—reaching 500,000 individuals according to a Saddleback Church estimate. To get a sense for the role CR can play in the life of an individual struggling with various addictions, consider
“I wanted something with a wider scope, that asked bigger questions, that offered some specificity about God.” Jeff W., a computer analyst who attends a 3,000-member Bible church in College Station, Texas. Jeff had participated in other spiritually based recovery programs but said, “I wanted something with a wider scope, that asked bigger questions, that offered some specificity about God.” Jeff says he struggled before finding CR, adding, “We’re like the apostle Paul—we know the good but sometimes we just can’t do it.” If being sober for five years is the measure of success, then less than four percent of all alcoholics in the U.S. and Canada achieve success, according to the website AddictionInfo.org , which draws on research from publications like the Journal of Alcohol Studies. The success rate is even lower when you define “success” as AA does—as lifelong abstinence. Looking into programs like A.A. or N.A. (Narcotics Anonymous), Jeff had to ask himself, “Is there recovery without Christ in it?” For Jeff, the answer was clear. Of course, people join CR and similar 12-step groups for a variety of reasons: Some may be lonely and just want to be a part of something beyond themselves. Others feel desperate—even suicidal—in their addiction. Still others feel pressure from a friend or spouse—or a
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judge—who told them to attend. “Most people come in pretty broken and beat up,” Jeff says of participants in his CR group. Most CR participants know people who are unable to accept help. Jeff describes a college professor he knew who was an international expert on the science of addiction. “This guy had hundreds of thousands of dollars of the most prestigious research funding available in this field. He was tenured and well respected in his field internationally.” He had a thorough knowledge of the mechanisms of addiction, having studied the effects of cocaine, heroin and other substances. But the professor was a “real” alcoholic, as Jeff puts it. He went to a treatment facility three times and still couldn’t get sober. Nothing else mattered to him when he was drinking—not his career, his reputation, or his family. “The treatment centers tell you that God better be real or you will die, and this guy wouldn’t accept the God part. So he died. Of alcohol poisoning.” But even beyond those suffering from severe chemical or psychological dependencies, what about the rest of us? Jeff cites pastor Rick Warren’s comment that CR could probably help about 90% of all Christians in the world today, as most people struggle with one or more weaknesses. CR as a Recovery Model Another way to describe Celebrate Recovery is to characterize it as an example of a “recovery model.” Contemporary mainstream recovery approaches to overcoming substance abuse or mental disorders encourage
Rick Warren delivers the invocation at the inauguration of President Obama.
individuals to see themselves as on a personal journey, developing hope and a sense of self, finding supportive relationships and building skills to cope with life’s problems. CR has adopted much of this approach. A Wikipedia article puts it well: “Originating in programs to overcome drug addiction, the use of the concept in mental health emerged as deinstitutionalization resulted in more individuals living in the community. It gained impetus due to a perceived failure by services or wider society to adequately support social inclusion, and by studies demonstrating that many can recover. The Recovery Model has now been explicitly adopted as the guiding principle of the mental health systems of a number of countries and states.” Not far from Saddleback Church is a treatment facility called Sober Living by the Sea (SLBTS), located in Newport Beach, California. Just steps from the Pacific Ocean, this facility provides treatment for alcoholism, drug addiction, eating disorders and the mental health problems accompanying them. SLBTS combines a communitybased twelve-step model with treatment from licensed counselors and psychiatrists who guide clients to recovery. The recovery process includes individual counseling and group discussions—and periodic and random drug and alcohol testing. For clients who request it, SLBTS offers a Christian track, which features participation in Celebrate Recovery’s “open-share” groups combined with the CR daily curriculum and weekend services at Saddleback Church. SLBTS Program Administrator David Hickman, an ordained Baptist pastor, is a strong supporter of CR. The CR Director at SLBTS is Charlie Graham, who spent several years working with Saddleback Church’s CR pastor, John Baker, the program’s founder. SLBTS caters to a largely upscale clientele (it was voted one of Forbes’ “Top Ten Most Luxurious Places to Dry Out”), but about 10% of the facility’s clients are on scholarship or pro bono. “We often work out a payment partnership between the individual, the family, and the church,” Graham notes. Graham admits the addictions and compulsions clients face can appear overwhelming, not least because clients believe their problems are theirs alone. “One of the biggest challenges we face,” Graham comments, ”is helping the family realize that the disease of addiction affects all of its members and as such all need help. Many times the client is the only identified patient.” His description of the CR program illustrates the way it differs from a non-Christian recovery program. While CR features continued on page 4
Celebrate Recovery’s Program Principles (Based on the Beatitudes and developed by pastor Rick Warren) 1. Realize I’m not God; I admit that I am powerless to control my tendency to do the wrong thing and my life is unmanageable. (“Happy are those who know they are spiritually poor.”) 2. Earnestly believe that God exists, that I matter to him, and that he has the power to help me recover. (“Happy are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.”) 3. Consciously choose to commit all my life and will to Christ’s care and control. (“Happy are the meek.”) 4. Openly examine and confess my faults to God, to myself, and to someone I trust. (“Happy are the pure in heart.”) 5. Voluntarily submit to every change God wants to make in my life and humbly ask Him to remove my character defects. (“Happy are those whose greatest desire is to do what God requires.”) 6. Evaluate all my relationships; offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others except when to do so would harm them or others. (“Happy are the merciful,” “Happy are the peacemakers.”) 7. Reserve a daily time with God for self examination, Bible readings and prayer in order to know God and His will for my life and to gain the power to follow His will. 8. Yield myself to God to be used to bring this Good News to others, both by my example and by my words. (“Happy are those who are persecuted because they do what God requires.”)
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typical group discussions and patients have a sponsor and accountability partners, CR also offers quiet time with God, Bible reading, prayer, and a home church. Graham adds: “What we do address that churches cannot are the chronic relapsers who go to CR, have a mountain top experience, and then have a relapse followed by shame and guilt. We are there to work through the process of cravings and relapse to work CR every day, come to the Large Group Meetings every week, and church services every week for 12 weeks. I am there to reach out for the one lost sheep.” CR in Alaska, in Colorado, and in prison Charlie Graham has a story that helps explain CR’s program proliferation. “A young woman in our recovery program was supported by her grandfather who came down from his home in North Pole, Alaska, a real town and a suburb of Fairbanks. As her treatment was coming to an end and we were discussing an aftercare plan, he
“The treatment centers tell you that God better be real or you will die, and this guy wouldn’t accept the God part.” asked if continuing the CR program was just a good idea or whether it was essential to her recovery. I told him that it was essential. But there were no CR programs in North Pole, Alaska – or in the greater Fairbanks area—at the time. So the man took his granddaughter back home and he started a CR program for her and others in his own home church. That is the way many churches get started with CR.” Graham notes that individuals who grow accustomed to the CR program in a recovery facility benefit when their churches begin offering similar CR programs. He says, “Many of our former clients are now CR leaders in their home churches.” The conviction and enthusiasm that participants come to feel for the CR program is likely due to what’s called the “helper therapy” effect, in which individuals who have completed a recovery program act as sponsors for new members. “We’re there to give each other grace,”
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Rick Warren in action at Saddleback reflects Carol Jones. She and her husband lead a CR group at Radiant Church in Colorado Springs. Jones began with another Christian recovery program but wanted the larger resources that CR offered. Her church’s group numbers about 20 to 25 on a Friday night. She acknowledges that some people drop out, even from a highly effective program like CR: “It’s hard work. Some people just don’t recognize the need for consistent accountability, for checking in with self, God, and another person, doing amends and keeping our side of the street clean. These things take humility, persistence, and prayer.” Clearly the participants in CR’s programs are self-selecting, but Saddleback Church estimates that 85% continued on page 6
Celebrate Recovery adapts the classic Twelve Steps by relating them to Bible verses: 1. We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors. That our lives had become unmanageable. (“I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out.” Romans 7:18:) 2. Came to believe that a power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity. (“For it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.” Philippians 2:13) 3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God. (“Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship.” Romans 12:1) 4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves. (“Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the LORD.” Lamentations 3:40) 5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being, the exact nature of our wrongs. (“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.” James 5:16a) 6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character. (“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” James 4:10) 7. Humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings. (“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” 1 John 1:9) 8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all. (“Do to others as you would have them do to you.” Luke 6:31) 9. Made direct amends to such people whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others. (“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.” Matthew 5:23-24) 10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it. (“So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!” 1 Corinthians 10:12) 11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and power to carry that out. (“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.” Colossians 3:16a) 12. Having had a spiritual experience as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to others, and practice these principles in all our affairs. (“Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.” Galatians 6:1)
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male prisoners (cited on the “Celebrate Recovery Inside” website) reported that the recidivism rate dropped from 80% to 26%.
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of them remain involved in CR and/or other ministries. The ultimate goal of the CR program, beyond recovery, is discipleship. Still, in Carol Jones’ view, “numbers are not the goal. The challenge is to stay right with God, stay available, stay connected with each other.” Jones’ group and many other CR groups work with Prison Fellowship, the group founded by Charles Colson. Several years ago Saddleback’s Rick Warren and Chuck Colson issued a joint statement announcing that both groups would cooperate with one another, and this has led to a new variation on CR, one that aims to serve the 80% of the U.S. prison population suffering from drug or alcohol addictions. CR programs inside prison seem to be working. One study of a group of 124
Conclusion Celebrate Recovery is an important recovery program. Because many recovery programs are not faithbased, or not substantially faith-based, it is all the more noteworthy for its holistic approach, which integrates physical and psychological help with attention to human spiritual needs. Celebrate Recovery represents one of the more dramatic examples of how faith-based initiatives in the nonprofit sector work to benefit our society. They need our personal encouragement because, as former President—and reformed drinker—George W. Bush remarked on meeting CR’s co-founder, John Baker, “Government is not good at changing hearts.”
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