Start a Group

Could your church run a Celebrate Recovery group and bring the healing power of Jesus Christ to all those who are hurting in your church family and community?

Here are six things to do to get started:

Senior Church Leader support is crucial for your success.

Watch the video below and talk to your church leaders about your desire to run Celebrate Recovery.

Purchase the basic curriculum:

– The Celebrate Recovery ‘ Leaders’ Guide’

– The first four Celebrate Recovery Participant’s Guides (often referred to as ‘The Journey’s Begins’)

You can purchase the curriculum direct from Purpose Driven UK.

Contact your nearest Celebrate Recovery Regional Representative to let them know you are interested in running Celebrate Recovery. They can:

– Add you to our friends’ list so you will receive our quarterly newsletters.

– Send you our free ‘Introducing Celebrate Recovery USB – a pack for UK churches’. This contains helpful UK videos and presentations to introduce CR to your team and church and ensure your CR group is a safe and authentic one.

– Support you and your team with guidance and training.

– Answer any questions you may have.

Find out who your Regional Representative is here.

Visit an established Celebrate Recovery group to see the programme in action.

Visit our Find a Group page to find a group local to you.

With the support of your senior church leader, we suggest you recruit a minimum of two male and two female leaders who have recovery experience to join your team to lead the group.

Go through the Participants’ Guides together to familiarise yourself with the programme. The Leader’s Guide and the Introducing Celebrate Recovery USB both explain this.

Useful tools can be found on our CR Tools Page.

With your team, attend the next UK Conference or ‘Introducing Celebrate Recovery’ meeting.

Information about these events can be found on our Events Page.

Once your group has been running for 3 months, your regional rep will check that your group is following the DNA. Once this check has taken place, you can register your group for the website, enabling people in your area to find you, knowing you run a safe and approved ministry.

Come to a Celebrate Recovery UK Conference

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on towards love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 (NIVUK) To me,...

The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery: Key 5 – Curriculum

Curriculum plays a crucial role in shaping the journey through Celebrate Recovery and John Baker knew that the foundation of an effective recovery ministry needed to be firmly rooted in the Bible. Romans 5:4 tells us: “For everything that was written in the past was...

The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery: Key 4 – Fellowship

It's very difficult to determine out of all the seven keys which one is the one that has the most impact on our own recoveries. I would certainly put the 4th Key Fellowship at the top of my own priorities for the following two reasons: · Emotional Support: Life is...

Relapse is not the end of the road

Most of us who are in recovery will have faced, or been very close to facing, relapse back into an unhelpful and/or unhealthy habit, that we thought we had broken free from.  This can feel quite devastating at the time and may even convince us that we will never...

The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery: Key 3 – Senior Pastor’s Support

The third key for growth of your Celebrate Recovery ministry is Senior Pastor support.  I can’t emphasise enough the importance of this key.  When we launched Celebrate Recovery here in Derby in 1998, our pastor was on board from the start, in fact his video is still...

A Church Leader’s View of Celebrate Recovery

As a church leader, I've seen the powerful impact of Celebrate Recovery in our congregation transforming countless lives and our church culture. It's all too common to feel you're the only one who struggles. So just by running such a group, we signal loud and clear...

The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery: Key 2 – Leadership Training

Leadership stands as a cornerstone of all that we do; it is also a skill that requires continuous refinement and development, which is why leadership training is the second key of a successful Celebrate Recovery group. Leadership training plays a pivotal role in the...

May is Mental Health Awareness month

Statistics show that the number of people struggling with mental health has sadly increased over the last few years – with one in four adults, and one in ten children, being diagnosed in the UK – and we all probably know others who don’t feel able to seek help....

The Seven Keys of Celebrate Recovery: Key 1 – Worship

The large group worship time at Celebrate Recovery is the first Key or, as we see in the leader's guide, the first pillar of a strong and vibrant Celebrate Recovery group. Worship points us to JESUS and clearly sets us apart from other recovery groups. At its core,...

Amazing Grace Testimonies

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound,  That saved a wretch; like me!I once was lost, but now am found,  Was blind, but now I see. I love testimonies! I love hearing what a wonderful God we have – loving, seeking, forgiving, full of amazing grace. I...