Integrity-based 12 Step Recovery Group
“ We admitted we were powerless over _____________ - that our lives had become unmanageable…”
At some point in all of our journeys, we have this phrase – this telling of the truth - in common with every other Christian. It is also the entry point into the life-changing and miraculous process of recovery from addictions. Recovery is more than just freedom from substance abuse. It is a journey to integrity. None of us have arrived there completely yet. Immanuel places a high value on Authenticity and Integrity because we believe that these are the core of our God-created character. We do not seek or demand perfection. The first thing to go in addiction is our integrity. We lie to cover our addictions, and with those lies, go our character. A part of recovery is a return to that character, and so our recovery program is designed as 12-step program that also takes principles of integrity and accountability into account. We emphasize God as we understand God as the agent of the grace that allows us to recover.
We have come to understand that it is not the 12 steps that heal us and take away the urge to drink or to use. We have come to understand that it is God alone as we understand God that does that. The 12 steps are the process of becoming a person of character and integrity that we were created to be. We are committed to both of those realities. No one here will tell anyone that recovery is an easy process. The overwhelming majority of addicted people never take that first step of humility and they die in their addiction. But there is hope.
We offer you our hope. And we offer you our fellowship. We promise to walk with you and not to judge you. We will pray with you and for you. We will cry with you. We will hold you accountable to what you say you hope to become, as we ask you to hold us accountable in that same way. We have come to understand that we cannot make it on our own. That, too, is a part of our God-created character. If you don’t know sobriety or freedom from drug addiction, we will help you to get there as you help us stay there. And if you don’t know God or God’s Kingdom in your life, we will do everything in our power to open a door to that for you, and then get out of the way so that God can build amazing things with the ashes of your life. There is hope. It begins with a first step – telling the truth.
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage
to change the things I can, and
the wisdom
to know the difference.
Wednesdays, 7:00 p.m. in the parlor at Immanuel
Our approach to recovery is spiritually-based, community-based, and modeled on the 12-step recovery model. Our program includes a three-pronged approach of: 1) participation in the group recovery program that meets on Thursday nights from 6pm to 8pm at the church. The core of that group leadership has over 100 years of sobriety between them, and the group is designed as a support and encouragement, and a safe place to talk about our problems with people who have been there and deeply understand. 2) One-on-one counseling with Pastor Max Ramsey to set goals and to be held accountable to those goals. Addiction is a spiritual predicament, and the counseling helps to unpack the spiritual issues that keep us enslaved to alcohol and drugs. Counseling can be individually scheduled to accommodate your work and/or family schedules. 3) Participation in community life by, at a minimum, attending worship each week. By getting to know the people in the community, we begin to surround ourselves with healthy, recovering people instead of the people currently around us who have led us to addiction in the first place. This, too, is crucial to our recovery. All three of these components are key to recovery, and are key to our moving ourselves toward the abundant life that God has planned for us and wants us to have.
e-mail: twelvestep@wi.rr.com
blog: Twelve Step Recovery
