Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California Celebrate Recovery teaches Jesus Christ is the only Higher Power - Aug 2012

Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California believes that Jesus Christ is the only Higher Power that should be taught in addiction recovery religious ceremonies. Holding a training Recovery Summit on Aug. 9-11, 2012 based on Celebrate Recovery, 3,600 people attended from all over the world to learn the tips and tricks of the rituals, ceremonies and how to attract and retain prospects. It would appear that at least 3,600 people are not comfortable with the teachings of the adulterous, chemically induced cult of Alcoholics Anonymous that Bill Wilson used to build his empire based out of the Stepping Stones Compound in Westchester County and the Interchurch Center in New York.

Saddleback Church's Celebrate Recovery Summit Highlights Changed Lives

By Alex Murashko , Christian Post Reporter
August 12, 2012|12:32 pm
LAKE FOREST, Calif. – More than 3,600 people from churches in the U.S. and 23 other countries attended the Celebrate Recovery Summit for intensive training and encouragement from leaders of the Christ-centered addiction ministry founded at Saddleback Church.

The three-day conference is designed to help churches start a Celebrate Recovery program of their own or gather tips on improving existing programs. The event held at the Southern California church led by Pastor Rick Warren ended on Friday.

The ministry incorporates biblical principles parallel to the steps of recovery found in Alcoholics Anonymous and specifies the belief that Jesus Christ is the "higher power" who heals chemical addictions as well as other social problems.

"It totally changed my life. When I came to Celebrate Recovery I didn't know how to heal from the past hurts that I had – being sexually abused as a child, having failed relationships, and thinking that all those things that happened to me as a child were in the past and didn't affect me anymore," said Lisa Merry, 51, who is one of many of the ministry's leaders at Saddleback Church. "But the reality was that I was in a lot of pain that I didn't know how to deal with or how to get help, or how to get healed."

Merry, who has been with the ministry nearly since its beginning 21 years ago, has traveled outside the U.S. twice to South Africa, Ukraine, and Russia to help grow Celebrate Recovery programs at other churches and ministries.

Once she began to experience the ministry within the first year, she realized that the program was really a guide on "how to lead a Christian life," she told The Christian Post.

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