Recovery Ministry And The Local
Church
by Dale S. Ryan
If you told me five years ago that
recovery ministry would make as much progress in the Christian
community as it has made during the last five years, I would have said
you were crazy. There is still a long, long way to go of course . .
but significant progress has been make. It occurred to me recently
that I have seen six distinct ways in which local churches invest in
recovery ministry and I think it has some value to distinguish between
these different approaches.
AA In The Basement Strategy
Historically the most common way for
local churches to be involved in recovery ministry is for the church
to allow AA or NA or some other organization to meet in church
facilities. It is difficult to imagine where AA would be today if it
were not for this kind of participation by local churches over the
years. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have begun their
sobriety in AA meetings in church basements. This is a wonderful kind
of ministry for a local church. Even though most of us are very
supportive AA and other 'secular' programs, however, something makes
us anxious about congregations whose commitment to recovery is limited
to this strategy. Why is it that the power for personal transformation
is facilitated by an organization external to the local church while
the local church contributes only space? Why is recovery ministry at
the margins of congregational life rather than at the center? Don't
misread me here - I am not suggesting that the church become more
entangled with AA. What I am suggesting is that if recovery ministry
remains at the margins of congregational life, we will miss enormous
opportunities.
Bridge Strategies
One way local congregations have
attempted to integrate recovery more fully into the life of the
congregation is to develop what I call 'bridge' strategies. Most
Christians in recovery want a way to 'bridge' the 'recovery' world
with the 'Christian' world. Typically local congregations have
responded to this need by developing distinctively Christian support
groups. These groups are not usually intended to replace secular
resources but rather to 'bridge' to them. Literally thousands of
congregations have established such 'bridge' groups in the last five
years. These 'safe places' are a wonderful resource. In most cases,
however, they are still marginalized within the congregation. People
within the 'bridge' group find help, but the life of the congregation
as a whole is only rarely impacted by the ministry.
Recovery Department Strategies
A third approach to recovery ministry is
for a local congregation to develop a recovery ministry in parallel
with it's other ministry 'departments' such as the music ministry
'department' or children's ministry 'departmen.t.' In this model,
recovery ministry becomes one of the mainstream elements of
congregational life. Recovery would not be the central feature of the
congregation but it would be fully integrated into the life of the
congregation. Congregations which take this approach often develop a
wide range of services in addition to 'bridge' support groups. These
might include educational programs, long-term 12 Step study groups,
retreats and other ministries. Connections with counseling ministries
might be part of this strategy as well as employment of pastoral staff
members to supervise and coordinate the ministry. The strength of this
approach is usually the range of resources that are developed and the
impact of the ministry on the congregation as a whole.
Treatment-related Strategies
A fourth, and less common, approach to
recovery ministry is for a local congregation to operate or identify
with a long-term residential treatment program. Victory Outreach is an
example of a network of churches most of which are connected with a
half-way house or other facility for long term care. A lot of good
work remains to be done to adapt this kind of strategy to
congregations in a variety of social and cultural settings but it can
be a particular effective way for a local church to invest in
recovery.
The Church in Recovery
There are not yet many examples of
congregations who have taken an approach I call 'the church in
recovery'. In this model, 'recovery' becomes the central paradigm of
the congregation. Participation in recovery becomes as much a part of
'doing church' as participation in worship services - in some cases
(following Wesley!) participation in recovery groups may be a
prerequisite for participation in large group meetings. It is still
too early, or so it seems to me, to know how effective this approach
to recovery ministry will be. I suspect we may need to make more
mistakes in this direction before we know how to do it well!
The Recovery-Friendly Church
It is important to emphasize that
congregations need not have 'recovery programs' to be actively
supportive of recovery. A congregation that 'does grace' instead of
shame in all of its affairs will be profoundly helpful to people in
recovery even though it lacks support groups or other elements of
recovery programming. I once encouraged a pastor who did not think it
was possible to develop a recovery ministry in his congregation to
change the way he did the 'welcome' at the beginning of each worship
service. This was the smallest part of the worship service and the
part he thought would be easiest to change. His assignment was to
welcome the people who actually came to church. One Sunday, for
example, he said "I know that many people who come to this church
experienced very abusive childhoods and that sometimes an experience
like that makes it difficult to come to church later on in life. If
that fits your situation, I want to particularly thank you for coming
today. I appreciate your trust and value your participation."
That's all he did. The effect was profound. Without inventing new
programs he was soon well on his way to reshaping the congregation
into a place both safe and helpful to people in recovery. Learning to
tell the truth was the key. It is the heart of all recovery. And it
will be at the heart of any local church that wishes to be involved in
recovery ministry.
Go to Dale
Ryan's Articles in STEPS Magazine.
NOTE: Reproduction in any form
without the express written permission of the author is prohibited.
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