Celebrate Recovery

John Baker, a believer who struggles with alcoholism, found help through Alcoholics Anonymous and began healing. After a year of sobriety, Baker sensed God leading him to develop a plan for a Christian 12-step recovery program, and he presented it to Rick Warren, his pastor at Saddleback Church. Warren said, “Do it!” Baker did, and Celebrate Recovery was born.

More than 35,000 churches around the world currently have a Celebrate Recovery ministry, and more than 5 million people have completed a step study.

At Celebrate Recovery, we explicitly name Jesus Christ as our higher power and the word of God as our authority. Our step study guidebooks refer to Scripture for instruction. At every large group meeting, we begin by worshiping our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, through music and prayer.

A wide variety of hurts, habits, and hang-ups is represented at Celebrate Recovery. Examples include dependency on alcohol or drugs, pornography, low self-esteem, need to control, depression, anger, codependency, fear of rejection, fear of abandonment, perfectionism, broken relationships, and abuse.

Ask yourself:

• Are there things in my life that I do that hurt others?
• Is there something I wish I could live without?
• Is it time to stop my denial and admit I am not in control of my life?
• Do I have a painful hurt, habit or hang-up from which I need to be freed?
• Am I struggling to forgive someone who has hurt me?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we urge you to attend a Celebrate Recovery meeting to see if it is for you.

Recovery is the grace-filled process of moving from brokenness toward wholeness, from bondage to freedom, and from self-sufficiency to dependence on Christ.

We are diligent about confidentiality and anonymity—what you hear and whom you see at Celebrate Recovery stays here. The rules protect all of us from judgment and being “fixed.” You can take off your “mask” and be real and honest without fear. You are in complete control of when and how much you participate.

Absolutely not—until you are ready to do so. You can pass anytime you wish and for as long as it takes for you to become comfortable.

The Celebrate Recovery leaders are men and women who have gone through similar hurts, habits, and hang-ups, and have completed a CR step study. The leaders are not counselors, and do not offer professional clinical advice.

The large group meeting typically lasts one hour. It includes worship, teaching, and a testimony every other week. The large group is followed by gender-specific, open share small groups, which last for an hour. 

Step studies, which meet on a different night, are usually offered as well. A step study requires a long-term commitment to the members of the group. It will typically take 12 to 18 months to complete. After completing the step study, you may want to consider becoming a CR leader and ministering to others in their struggles.

Childcare is not available at this time.

You are welcome to come when you can for worship, large group and open-share small groups. However, if you join a step study, you are expected to participate each week until you complete it. The more effort you put into Celebrate Recovery, the more you will benefit.

Celebrate Recovery is a ministry outreach for anyone who is interested in a Christ-centered recovery program that will enable them to recover from life’s hurts, habits, and hang-ups. Many attendees are not members of any church, but CR encourages people to be a part of a local community of faith—and we would love to have you worship with us at Trinity.

Men and women meet together for the large group meeting and then break into open share groups, men with men and women with women. All step study meetings are gender-specific.

Open share small groups meet immediately after the large group meeting, and provide a place for participants to connect with other Celebrate Recovery attendees. This is a safe place where participants can be in gender-specific groups and issue-specific groups.

We have just a few rules that help us maintain a safe, comfortable environment where people can be vulnerable about their struggles: 

1. Your sharing is focused on your own thoughts and feelings, and is limited to 3-5 minutes. 
2. There is no cross-talk. Cross-talk is when two individuals engage in dialogue to the exclusion of others. This enables each person to express feelings without interruption. 
3. We are here to support one another. We will not attempt to “fix” another person. 
4. Anonymity and confidentiality are essential. What is shared in the group stays in the group. 
5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered group.

After you’ve attended Celebrate Recovery for a while, you will be encouraged to join a step study. The step study small groups are for those who are ready to delve deeper into their past and the choices they have made. This is where participants will see real, lasting changes start to happen. Step studies take place another night of the week and are gender-specific.

No. A free-will offering is taken at large group meetings, but giving is voluntary.

We ask that step study participants purchase their own set of participant guidebooks (about $20), but financial assistance is available for those who need it.