
This afternoon, I had a great reminder of how churches supporting the ministry of Celebrate Recovery can network to support and encourage one another in local fellowship. I'm grateful that Robin and Kari of Grace Covenant called together TEAM members from diverse geographic and denominational points in my hometown, Austin. In addition to existing TEAM members, we also had a couple of groups that are now in their 90 day kick off, and yet another group that is in their rebuilding process.
One of the items discussed, a problem for several groups locally, concerns the key of Senior Pastor Support. We can't stress enough - a foundation of success for any church's Celebrate Recovery ministry is SENIOR PASTOR SUPPORT. It is vital that the Senior Pastor see the outreach possible of helping those who are hurting in the church and community.
A second area we talked about is the importance of sharing testimonies in the local network. It is great to have the "Testimonies to Go DVDs" for those occasions you can't have a "live" testimony, but it is even better to be able to contact a neighboring group and have someone "show up" to share their story on your meeting night.
Keep in mind that, as the Ministry Leader, your responsibility is to read and approve every testimony given at your CR. If someone says, "why do you need to review my testimony, I've already given it in six other area churches", be especially alert. There are many places to review the importance of writing and reading a testimony in CR. You can look at this blog's archives to see more detail.
The key to take away from today's entry is to help your neighbor CR groups, and to do so through healthy networking. Resist any temptation to isolate your group or do this ministry in your own strength. The competition is not the church down the street!
Celebrating Recovery - each day in Christ! - Jim
.jpg)