The Real Picture of Christian Recovery Work in California

The following is a response to an article that focused on only one area and one Christian recovery group: The difficulty with the foregoing article is not its theme of Christian recovery in the "South Bay." It is that it scarecely touches the surface of the vast number of Bible based Christian recovery activities in Orange County and in the Southern California area. We devoted some 25 conferences and visits to the organizations and areas I am about to mention. And we now know there is a growing Christian recovery movement under way. It is not just about Celebrate Recovery. Nor is it just about Teen Challenge and Salvation Army ARCs. And the reader will do well to get in tune with what is really happening and has been prompted by the last two years of growth since a large Christian recovery leader and worker conference at Mariners Church in Irvine, California. Out of that large assemblage of Christian recovery leaders and workers from all over the United States and Canada came a new and different approach. Call it A.A. friendly, Bible friendly, History Friendly, and Christian friendly friendly. It seeks to learn and disseminate not some particular Christian approach, but rather to encourage individuals, fellowships, groups, recovery groups, treatment programs, counselors, sober living facilities, clergy and churches to learn and embrace the real theme that put early A.A.'s Christian fellowship on the map. That is the role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in the origin, history, founding, original program, and astonishing successes of the 1935 A.A. Christian Fellowship in Akron. The progression of this massive Christian recovery backdrop deals with far more than A.A. And let's look at the progression. In the 1850's, five strong groups set the pace for successful Christian recovery by alcoholics and addicts. They were: (1) Evangelists like Moody, Sankey, Meyer, and Folger and later Billy Sunday. (2) Gospel and Rescue Missions founded by Jerry Mc Auley and his Water Street Mission. (3) The Salvation Army. (4) YMCA lay workers and their revivals and conversions throughout New England. (5) The Young People's Christian Endeavor Society - in which A.A.'s cofounder Dr. Bob and his family were active in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. The next step had to do with the Christian upbringing of both A.A. cofounders when they were youngsters in Vermont. See Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml and The Conversion of Bill W. www.dickb.com/conversion.shtml. Both young men went to Congregational churches and Sunday schools. Both were involved with the YMCA. Both had intensive Bible study experience. Both saw and knew the stories of the conversions that cured alcoholics. Both attended Academies (St. Johnsbury Academy and Burr and Burton Academy, respectively) which were dominated by the influence of Congregational Church leaders and daily chapel. The next step was the experience of Bill Wilson that few know: (1) Bill's grandfather Willie had been cured of alcoholism in a conversion experience in East Dorset, Vermont. (2) At his third hospitalization, Bill was told by his physician William D. Silkworth, M.D., that Jesus Christ could cure him. (3) Almost immediately Bill was witnessed to by his old drinking friend Ebby Thacher who had been born again at Calvary Mission in New York and gotten sober - to Bill's amazement. (4) Bill himself then went to the altar at Calvary Mission, gave his life to Jesus Christ, and wrote that he had been born again. (5) Bill then decided to call on Jesus Christ for help. (6) Bill cried out to God, had a white light experience, was healed, and never drank again. (7) Bill's message became: "The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people (Big Book page 191). There is much much more: How the first three AAs got sober as Christians, Bible students, and believers in God before there was a fellowship. How early A.A.'s Christian fellowship in Akron required belief in God, acceptance of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, daily Bible study, daily old fashioned prayer meetings, and Quiet Time with God. We have covered this in a four hour (4 DVD) series "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" www.dickb.com/IFRC-Class.shtml, and in our The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide www.dickb.com/Christian-Recov-Guide.shtml. Also in brief form in "Real Twelve Step Fellowship History" www.dickb.com/realhistory.shtml. The groups we have visited in California and which have heard and embraced the foregoing information or been willing to incorporate it into their programs are these: Rock Recovery Ministries, San Diego Calvary Ranch, Lakeside Neighborhood Alcoholics for Christ, Escondido Celebrate a New Life at San Juan Capistrano Pacific Hills Treatment Centers, San Juan Capistrano Several James Clubs (BigBook Bible Study Christian groups) in Norco, Glendora, Covina His Place Church, Hungtington Beach New Life Spirit Recovery, Inc., Huntington Beach, Lifelines at The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa Steppin Out, Glendora Overcomers Outreach, Inc., Whittier CityTeam Ministries, San Jose and up and down the Coast Golden Hills Community Church, Antioch Cornerstone Fellowship, Turning Point Group, Livermore Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Serenity Group, Oroville Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Men's Group, Auburn Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands And a host of individual Christian recovery leaders located in San Diego, Lakeside, Carlsbad, Sunset Beach, Rancho Santa Margarita, Venice, Claremont, and elsewhere in the Southern California area. The point here is that 12 Step Fellowships contain tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of Christian leaders and Christians in recovery who want God's help and are gathering together for fellowships, prayer, music, Bible study, Big Book study, Step study, Quiet Time, and other successful recovery efforts of the Akron Christian Fellowship of 1935. The next point is that these participants in the new Christian recovery movment are banding together worldwide to foster the principles just mentioned. Their movement is International Christian Recovery Coalition www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition. And is has already established a speaker's bureau and 22 Christian Recovery Resource Centers to meet the growing need for information, direction, and referral to Christian recovery facilities. The aim is not to splinter and go their own way. The aim has been to unite in supporting the single Christian idea of helping alcoholics and addicts get well in whatever situation they begin or find themselves - prison, treatment, hospitals, mental wards, A.A., N.A., VA, military, counseling, sober living, church or Christian recovery fellowships and Christ-centered recovery fellowships. See the mission statement and details: www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com In His Service, Richard G. Burns, J.D., CDAAC, Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition, Kihei, HI

How to Become, and Help Us Serve Through,

How to Become, and Help Us Serve Through, a Christian Recovery Resource Center Dick B. and Ken B. © 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved The new plan to launch Christian Recovery Resource Centers worldwide is now the major project of the International Christian Recovery Coalition: http://ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com/Christian-Recovery-Resource-Centers.shtml Here's what has been happening: First, both the need and the solution emerged from our two years of travel throughout California and Oahu (over 25 meetings and conferences). We have been learning about and studying the Christian recovery resources currently available. We found them in churches, Christian recovery fellowships, Christian counseling work, Christian treatment centers, sober living facilities, bridge groups, study groups, and “James Clubs”—even in A.A. groups and meetings. And we found the Christian recovery efforts to be effective, attractive, full of enthusiasm, and definitely growing as to appeal, membership, and attendance. We also found them to be “Bible-friendly, prayer-friendly, history-friendly, and A.A.-friendly"—a welcome situation amidst the growing tolerance—and even encouragement—of idolatry (e.g., “your higher power can be a light bulb”) among many recovery workers and fellowships today. Second, as we prepared and circulated two items, we learned and published much more. The carefully researched and presented findings are: The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010). (Please see http://www.DickB.com/Christian-Recover-Guide.shtml. The substantially-revised-and-updated third edition contains a very thorough study, with footnotes and bibliography, of the origins, history, founding, original program, successes, and changes in the Christian recovery movement that led up to and developed from Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. This Guide is detailed. It is authoritative. It is now widely available. And it is now in widespread use among Christians and others in recovery. The "Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery" (“IFCR”) by Dick B. and Ken B. (2010) on four DVD's: www.DickB.com/IFCR-Class.shtml. In addition to the four DVD's and IFCR Class Guide for Students included with both available forms of the IFCR class, the IFCR class for Groups and Organizations “site license” also includes the IFCR Class Instructor's Guide, The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., and limited duplication rights. The IFCR class shows the real origins and development of the Christian recovery movement and A.A. Third, at the recent 2010 annual conference of the Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, November 19-21, in Palm Springs, California, I was a major speaker on the topic of establishing Christian Recovery Resource Centers—particularly those which included and enhanced the role of licensed Christian alcohol and drug counselors. The idea of establishing Christian Recovery Resource Centers met with wide interest and approval among the large number of people attending. Fourth, we returned to Maui to formulate and launch the plan for establishing centers—primarily by sending out newsletters that covered the following: Five surveys which asked Christians and others in recovery what they were doing now; how they would respond to setting up a Christian Recovery Resource Center, what counselors and chaplains would do; what their position was on important Bible concepts; and if they would support such centers. Then we formulated and published several different articles that covered what a Christian Recovery Resource Center is; What it can and should do; Who can serve—individuals and entities—in this way; How to establish a center; Whether they would incorporate important biblical ideas and practices; and Whether they would include all of the services needed for newcomers—whether by way of assessment and referral, providing resource information, or actually engaging in counseling, treatment, fellowships, and so on. Now we are preparing The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide by Dick B. and Ken B. It will incorporate all that is needed for an individual, a program, a center, or an agency to establish, maintain, and implement a Christian Recovery Resource Center. Accordingly, we have revised and updated the International Christian Recovery Coalition web site (www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com) so that it gives a picture of what is involved in establishing and maintaining a Christian Recovery Resource Center, what can be accomplished, who can run one, and how to do it. And we are sending out newsletters; we are making announcements on Facebook, Twitter, and our blog; and we are posting articles on web sites. We will continue to fill in the details, reporting the names and programs of those who jump on board. 5. How can you participate: Join the no-cost International Christian Recovery Coalition by providing Dick B. (its Executive Director) with your name, ministry or outreach, city, and state; and you will be listed on that website as a participant. If you have a website URL, we will place that on the links page so that others can click directly to your site. Provide us with some information about yourself: Name, contact person, address, Logo, literature, newsletters, email, URL address, Facebook page address, Twitter page address, blogs, your statement of purpose, and detailed material on what you do. This is a very important way by which we can inform inquirers of exactly what you do, how to reach you, and what your mission and purpose are. It will also help insure that others in the International Christian Recovery Coalition are given substantial information about you, your program, your location and outreach, and special facts you want them to know. Tell us exactly what Christian recovery resources you now provide; those you outsource; and those to which you need access and about which you need information. Agree to be a resource information provider to your own clients or patients or fellowship members, and to the community at large as to how to proceed with a full and effective Christian recovery program—from initial assessment to life-long follow through. The degree to which you choose to reach out in the community can enhance your own program, serve others in the community, and help the worldwide coalition of centers to grow and be more effective. Agree to network with other Centers worldwide so that this information and these resources are widely available to Christians in recovery and others wanting God's help. This does not impose a burden on you. It simply means, again, that the more you inform other Centers, the more you contact them with referrals, the more you contact them for referrals, the more the people who will be served—including you. Make a one-time donation of $500.00 to Dick B. to cover our expenses of establishing the resources, issuing information, publishing our class and books, and working with you. In exchange for the donation of $500.00, we will send you: · The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class for Groups and Organizations (www.dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml); · The Dick B. Handbook for Christian Recovery Resource Centers Worldwide by Dick B. and Ken B. in Microsoft Word 2003 .doc file format as an attachment to an email message when it becomes available—upon request; and · A case of brand new Dick B. books for your library via U.S. Postal Service Media Mail—upon request. We are available by phone and email and regular mail for continued work with you to enhance the effectiveness of this program. And are also available as consultants for those who want specific and unique help in establishing and growing their program and the outreach to Christians in need—whether they are affected by or afflicted with alcoholism, drug abuse, at-risk behavior, and other life-controlling problems. These include domestic, criminal, legal, mental health, and social problems they may not have a solution for. For further information about the new Christian Recovery Resource Centers sponsored by the International Christian Recovery Coalition, please contact Dick B. by email at DickB@DickB.com; by phone at (808) 874-4876; or by regular mail at: Dick B. PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837. Donations may be made by credit card, PayPal, check or money order. Along with the donation, we will also need your name, ministry or outreach, mailing address, telephone number, and email address. To register to become a Christian Recovery Resource Center and make your donation, please contact Ken B. on his cell phone at (808) 276-4945 or by email at kcb00799@gmail.com. Gloria Deo