Partner Churches

What is a recovery ministry?

A recovery ministry is a specialized, focused ministry designed to support hurting people in their healing process. Depending on the resources, expertise, and passion of a church, recovery ministries actually can be quite diverse.

One thing unites all recovery ministries: they are trying to do what Jesus did and become who he called us to be – attentive, compassionate and equipped – able to act as ambassadors for Him. Recovery ministries believe that people can be healed, restored, and fit for God’s big dreams for them.

Stereotypically, recovery ministries are viewed as places where alcoholics and drug addicts go to get clothes and a hot meal. Recovery ministries can also focus on: financial mis-management, eating disorders, health issues related to addiction, parenting and marriage training, discipleship, support groups, employment training and placement, grief counseling, legal aid, divorce care, counseling, and worship. Yes, sometimes recovery ministries serve food and have resources for basic human needs. But effective recovery ministries do more then hand out band-aids – they provide emotional, medical, and above all – spiritual resources that can result in solutions in the form of life transformation.

Who is likely to attend such a specific ministry?

Anyone willing to admit they have a hurt, habit or hang-up – an essential pre-requisite – is a candidate for recovery ministry. Recovery ministries have a huge challenge: understanding what to do with the hurting once they show up on our doorstep.

If we’re not careful, we’ll keep some people away. We need to know ourselves, and the people we hope to serve. We need to be ruthlessly honest about every single thing we do within the confines of the ministry. If we aren’t careful, our own prejudices and limitations in the area of compassion may cause our recovery ministries to falter.

Examples: Hurting people smoke – sometimes that’s the least of their worries. Can a hurting person stand outside our church and smoke? Hurting people often are driven by shame. Is there anything we do to contribute to that feeling? Does our church look too perky? How will our community respond if a pedophile shows up in the ministry?

Why establish a recovery ministry?

How can we not? The harvest is plentiful… (see Luke 10). Jesus called us to go where the harvests is plentiful. Jesus is giving us our only option – we are called to work where the harvest is plentiful (and the workers are few).

How does one organize a recovery ministry?

• You can make it a department in your church – like a youth group or a Sunday School department.

• You can make it a ministry of your church ~
• Focusing on the needs in your congregation
• Focusing on the needs in your community at large
• You can do both

This is a crucial decision. Pause to prepare and pray about who God is calling you to serve. If you’ve got a congregation open to sharing their hurts, habits and hang-ups with each other – then housing it within the walls of your church will be effective. If you believe your church isn’t reaching the hurting in your community, then it may make more sense to start an “off site” ministry. There are pros and cons to each model. Can you do both? Maybe. But I suspect you’ll lean in one direction or the other. Time will morph who is willing to come. If the power of God is made manifest in your group, and families are restored and lives changed, after awhile how you organize may be less crucial. But in the beginning – it matters.

• You can partner with a treatment facility, psychiatric hospital, or other residential care programs in your community. This may include developing alliances with therapists who specialize in addiction issues.

• You can align yourself with other recovery ministries in your community and become a referral center for them.

• You can have recovery in your basement. (By this I mean, you can invite AA and/or NA organizations to hold meetings in your church. So sometimes it’s a joke in recovery ministries that they have a “basement ministry.”)

When is a church ready to start a recovery ministry?

• Have you got the passion?
• Who is prepared?
• Passion, without preparation is dangerous and ill-advised. But. God doesn’t call the equipped so much as He equips the called. So if you have the passion, there are several ways to get prepared. You can do it! Just pause to prepare, and don’t rush.

Where can I go to learn more about starting a recovery ministry – or sustaining one?

If you’re interested in starting a recovery ministry, or boosting the one you have – contact us.  We’ve got some resources and connections – perhaps we can hook you up with someone in your area to cheer you on!