When the coronavirus forced Celebrate Recovery, a faith-based 12-step program, to cancel its Tuesday night meetings, a member went on the group’s Facebook page and read the Serenity Prayer.
For people recovering from addictions or coping with loss or mental illness during the pandemic, the physical separation from support systems left recovery programs seeking other ways to provide social contact virtually during the pandemic.
“In recovery, isolation is a horrible, horrible thing. It’s been really tough because we’re being made to isolate, so kind of the opposite of what’s been ingrained in us,” said Elizabeth Freeman, leader of one of Celebrate Recovery’s small groups.
Meetings were livestreamed on Facebook during the stay-at-home order and program leaders planned drive-thru meals for members. As regular meetings resume later this month, the program expects a spike in interest.
The livestreamed meetings gave members of the recovery community a wider audience to share their testimony.
“I’ve been very excited about the number of people that have been watching … all the way through, and I’m hoping that we will see a lot of them face-to-face soon,” ministry leader Rod Curran said.
Meetings will reconvene June 16 at Rock Point Church. The gathering begins with large group meetings and worship at 6:30 p.m., followed by small group sessions at 7:30 p.m. There is no charge to participants. Due to COVID-19 restrictions, childcare and meals will temporarily not be offered.
The pandemic has disrupted the recovery process for some people who battled drug or other addictions.
“As in so many things, with all the idle time … with just everything the pandemic’s brought to us, we’ve seen a huge increase in relapse,” said Curran, who has been in recovery for more than 35 years.
Before the pandemic, Celebrate Recovery meetings drew as many as 125 people for sessions on addictions and life issues for men and women. Rock Point is among 35,000 other churches that offer the program, which was founded at Saddleback Church in California in 1991.
“We’ve had so many people reach out to us who are struggling in this pandemic,” said Freeman, who spoke about her journey to recovery in a recent livestream.
For more information about Celebrate Recovery, call Curran at 765-376-3495 or Rock Point at 765-362-5494.
