(K-LOVE Closer Look) -- ‘Meetings make it happen in recovery’ is a time-honored principle of Celebrate Recovery, a 12-step program where people gather regularly in small groups to examine their own ‘hurts, habits and hangups.’ Global pandemic and orders for social distancing could have tossed the ministry into chaos, but instead, CR leaders found another way.
Click below to hear K-LOVE’s Frank Hammond talk with a CR leader about how the ministry operates in a COVID-19 world.
Christe Dejoris, a state representative of Celebrate Recovery, defines hurts as emotional reactions to grief or betrayal, habits as addictions to things like sex, food, cutting, alcohol or drugs, and hangups as negative attitudes we develop to cope, like anger, depression, fear, control or even procrastination.
“We’re all seeking to look more like Christ, and until someone can stand and say ‘When I look in the mirror, I see Christ,’ then we all have something to work on.”
Online meetings on the Zoom platform became key to keeping existing Celebrate Recovery groups and pivotal relationships strong during the Spring 2020 quarantine. Though online meetings had been previously banned by CR, these newly minted meetups required headphones and cameras as part of the ongoing commitment to anonymity and confidentiality. Additionally, if a participant felt afraid or unsafe – or needed to avoid the temptations of pornography, gambling or online shopping – they have the option of watching CR Zoom meetings at the home of a fellow participant. "It ended up being a really good thing for us.”
The relative success of modifying meetings from in-person to online inspired leaders to go forward with the Celebrate Recovery annual conference scheduled for late-July. The switch from a venue to a virtual platform brought the cost per person down to just $49, which Dejoris hopes will make sessions available to even more people than in years past. “We’d like pastors to come, we’d like church staff to come and learn more about CR,” and she is especially hoping people who wouldn’t have traveled for the summit will choose to join the online experience.
“The summit puts a fire in a person for recovery and for spreading the news that healing is possible -- and that as we heal, we find purpose in life -- which just brings joy."
