Core group leaders for Celebrate Recovery at Grace Church
include (from left) David Oglesby, Bonnie Wolff, Donna Croft, Jean Wright,
Scott Chase and Shaun Kerr.
A “Celebrate Recovery” group meets on Friday evenings at
Grace Church in Southern Pines, N.C. Meetings are open to the public.
“This is a safe and trusting place to come to for anyone who
wishes to work through hurts, habits, and hang-ups in a Christ-centered
environment,” says Bonnie Wolff, the group’s leader. “Our group is open to the
community at large.”
Wolff works as a registered nurse, lives in Southern Pines
and is a Grace Church member who has worked for three years with Celebrate
Recovery (CR).
Pastor Rick Warren of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest,
Calif., launched CR over 20 years ago with the goal of “focusing on God’s
healing power through fellowship with others.”
“Celebrate Recovery has helped more than
17,000 people at Saddleback, attracting over 70 percent of its members from
outside the church,” says Warren in a letter (www.celebraterecovery.com).
Warren
notes that most of us have heard the expression “Time heals all wounds.”
“Unfortunately,
it isn’t true,” he says. “As a pastor I frequently talk with people who are
still carrying hurts from 30 or 40 years ago. The truth is – time often makes
things worse. … Time only extends the pain if the problem isn’t dealt with. … Based
on the actual words of Jesus rather than psychological theory, our recovery
program is unique, and more effective in helping people change than anything
else I’ve seen or heard of.”
“We are not a counseling service,” Wolff says. “Our program is
formulated on ‘The 12 Steps.’ It comes directly out of the Sermon on the Mount
and the Beatitudes.”
Wolff says Friday meetings follow the traditional CR format: light
supper at 6:30 p.m. (donations of $3 per meal are anticipated, as all CR's are
self-supporting); next, a time of worship; then, a large-group meeting “where a
lesson or testimony is presented.” After that, at 8 p.m., attendees meet in gender-specific
groups for “share time.” At 9 p.m., all attendees meet in the church café for
coffee and dessert.
Wolff says she leads the ministry with the help of
Pastor David Pratt and the support of Grace Church’s pastoral team and support
staff. Randy Thornton serves as Grace Church’s senior pastor.
Five CR “core leaders” who assist Wolff include Scott Chase,
Donna Croft, Shaun Kerr, David Oglesby and Jean Wright.
“They live and work in our community,” Wolff says.
CR maintains strict confidentiality.
Each attendee must be at least 18 years of age. A variety of hurts, hang-ups
and harmful behaviors are represented at Celebrate Recovery. Examples include
dependency on alcohol or drugs, pornography, low self-esteem, need to control,
depression, anger, co-dependency, depression, fear of rejection, fear of
abandonment, perfectionism, broken relationships and abuse.
For more information about the Celebrate Recovery group, call
Grace Church at (910)
692-6711.
