THE RECOVERY FELLOWSHIP MODEL
“We’re on a journey from addiction to real freedom. Come and work your sobriety with us.”
The Opportunity
What It Involves
The Way Forward
Establish a working team. Identify other recovery ministries and groups in your area and see where you might fit in. Order leaders’ guides to some of the major recovery ministries, like Celebrate Recovery, and find out if you are ready to move forward with the congregation.
To increase the odds of success, congregations benefit from having committed and passionate leaders with firsthand experience in recovery, a willingness to tap into existing recovery resources, and a reasonable number of volunteers to start this kind of ministry.
There’s a pipeline of returning citizens leaving jail and prison looking to stay engaged in recovery ministry. Ordinary congregations can employ a turnkey process to launch a significant recovery ministry with a moderate investment of time, resources, and volunteers.
Because it aligns strongly with many aspects of the “GRAND” paradigm we’ve outlined (see introductory section [page 13]), this model is probably deserving of your full attention. Unlike the Service Station model, which is built on the assumption that returning citizens are different from and certain- ly needier than most people in your congregation, the Recovery Fellowship model is built on the conviction that there is a lot of overlap of people who are struggling with the same demons and who are on the same path to transforma- tion and freedom. Research shows a significant correlation between substance abuse disorder and involvement with the criminal justice system. Before getting into the details, it might be helpful to take a step back and take note of a number of different issues. There is a helpful distinction between substance abuse disorder (SUD) treatment and recovery. Treatment involves the physiological dimension (ini- tial detox, medical assistance, etc.) as well as behavioral counseling to begin the process of healing. Recovery is usually understood to be the lifelong holis-
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