Celebrate Recovery started in 1991 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. At that time, the church was meeting at a high school gymnasium. John Baker wrote Pastor Rick Warren the “now-famous, concise, 13-page, single-spaced” letter outlining the vision God had given John for Celebrate Recovery. After reading John’s letter, Pastor Rick said, “Great, John — go do it!”

The first night 43 people attended, and Celebrate Recovery was born. Beginning with only four Open Share Groups — Men’s and Women’s Chemical Dependency and Men’s and Women’s Codependency — the ministry has grown to over 14 groups today. Over 27,000 people have gone through the program at Saddleback Church. Many of them are now serving in Celebrate Recovery and the Church. Celebrate Recovery is the number one outreach ministry at Saddleback Church, with over 70 percent of its members now coming from outside the church.

The first 10 years were the birth stage of Celebrate Recovery, and now God is calling us to take it to the world. There are now 35,000 Celebrate Recovery churches around the world, and that number continues to grow. We are part of a movement that is bringing the healing power of Jesus Christ to the hurting and broken through working Celebrate Recovery’s Step Studies, The Journey Begins, and The Journey Continues. To date, over 5 million individuals have completed a Step Study.

In addition, Celebrate Recovery is not just growing in churches, but in recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons around the world. New Mexico was the first state to adopt Celebrate Recovery into its state prison system and now has Celebrate Recovery pods in all its state prisons. In August 2004, Celebrate Recovery was announced as California’s state-approved substance abuse program for prisons. This is an exciting and growing outreach opportunity for every Celebrate Recovery.

Small Group Guidelines

The following five guidelines will ensure that your small group is a safe place.

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts and feelings.

Not your spouse’s, someone you’re dating, or your family members’ hurts and hang-ups, but your own. Focusing on yourself will benefit your recovery as well as the ones around you. Stick to “I” or “me” statements, not “you” or “we” statements.

Limit your sharing to three to five minutes, so everyone has an opportunity to share — and to ensure that one person does not dominate the group sharing time.

2. There is NO cross-talk. Cross-talk is when two people engage in conversation excluding all others. Each person is free to express his or her feelings without interruptions. 

Cross-talk is also making distracting comments or questions while someone is sharing. This includes speaking to another member of the group while someone is sharing, or responding to what someone has shared during his or her time of sharing.

3. We are here to support one another, not “fix” one another. This keeps us focused on our own issues. 

We do not give advice or solve someone’s problem in our time of sharing or offer book referrals or counselor referrals!

We are not licensed counselors, psychologists, or therapists, nor are the group members. Celebrate Recovery groups are not designed for this. It is up to the participants to include outside counseling to their program when they’re ready.

4. Anonymity and confidentiality are basic requirements. What is shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception is when someone threatens to injure themselves or others. 

We are not to share information with our spouses/family/co-workers. This also means not discussing what is shared in the group among group members. This is called gossip.

Please be advised, if anyone threatens to hurt themselves or others, the Small Group Leader has the responsibility to report it to the Celebrate Recovery Ministry Leader.

5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group. 

Therefore, we ask that you please watch your language. The main issue here is that the Lord’s name is not used inappropriately.

We also avoid graphic descriptions. If anyone feels uncomfortable with how explicitly a speaker is sharing regarding his/her behaviors, then you may indicate so by simply raising your hand. The speaker will then respect your boundaries by being less specific in his/her descriptions. This will avoid potential triggers that could cause a person to act out.

1. Emphasize at the close of your meeting that Group Sharing Guidelines stay intact as participants fellowship with each other after the meeting.

We are a part of something much larger than one church’s Celebrate Recovery. We are part of a movement that God is blessing.

Sincerely,

Team CR LifeSong Church

417-272-0440

lifesongCR@gmail.com