History of Celebrate Recovery
Celebrate Recovery began in 1991 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. At that time the church was meeting at a high school gymnasium.
After John Baker was unable to share openly about Jesus Christ in his secular recovery meetings and was uncomfortable sharing about his struggle with alcohol in his men's Bible study, John wrote Pastor Rick Warren (Purpose-Driven Life) the now famous concise 13-page single space letter outlining the vision God had given him for Celebrate Recovery. Pastor Rick said, "Great John, do it." Based on the Beattitudes, the Christ-centered recovery program was then written by Warren and Baker.
The aim of the program is to help anyone seeking recovery from any number of life's hurts, habits and hang-ups. What began at one local church has spread to more than 12,000 churches around the globe!
One of the many things that sets Celebrate Recovery apart from other recovery programs is its broad scope. It's not just for those with alcohol and drug problems. In fact, only 1/3 of those who attend CR are dealing with chemical dependencies.
As Pastor Rick Warren says, "We all have sinned, we've all fallen short, we've all been hurt, and we've all hurt others. Everybody needs recovery."
All of life's hurts, habits, and hang-ups are addressed through this one curriculum. Celebrate Recovery is designed to help with numerous recovery areas, such as Adult Children of Alcoholics, Anger Groups, Chemically Addicted, Codependents, Eating Disorders, Financial Recovery, Love & Relationship Addiction, and Sexual Addiction, Women in Relationship with a Sexually Addicted Man, Food Addiction, Same Sex Attraction, Sexual/Physical/Emotional Abuse and Grupo De Hombres En Espanol.
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Celebrate Recovery | Russellville, Arkansas
Russellville's first Celebrate Recovery program began in October 2005 at First Baptist Church. Under the leadership of Nelda & Ron Alexander, the group's core leadership team includes members from several local churches of a variety of denominations.
Now in its 3rd year, the group continues to grow both in its Friday Night meetings as well as those who are actively involved in step studies. But the program's success isn't about numbers; it's about seeing lives changed!
In 2007 Nelda Alexander was named Arkansas's State Representative for Celebrate Recovery. This position has only strengthened the connections between our local group and the many CR programs throughout the state.