Substance Abuse: Resources for Recovery Programs

Articles, Excerpts, Tips & More
Sample Congregational Survey: This tool will help you determine the level of interest that exists within the congregation for launching a substance abuse ministry.
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Helping Your Congregation Create an Accepting Attitude for Recovery Ministries: The insights from Bill Morris’ Complete Handbook for Recovery Ministry in the Church can help congregational leaders create a welcoming, accepting climate that facilitates effective recovery ministries.
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Types of Drinkers: Not everyone who drinks is an alcoholic. Use this tool to help you to evaluate whether someone needs help.
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Strongholds of Addiction: The Lies that Keep us in Bondage: A helpful list of the feelings that enslave us, the associated lies that we believe about ourselves, and a reminder of the reassuring truth that can free us from our bondage.
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Samaritan Inns: Samaritan Inns: This organization combats homelessness and addiction through a three phase recovery continuum and offers a mentoring partnership network to other organizations interested in developing similar programs.
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Core Competencies for Clergy and Other Pastoral Ministers in Addressing Alcohol and Drug Dependence : A helpful listing of key skills, knowledge, and attitudes for clergy engaged in substance abuse programs.
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Curriculum Review of Celebrate Recovery: This curriculum for adult recovery ministries is based on eight principles drawn from the Beatitudes and contains a Leader’s Guide with start-up information.
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Curriculum Review of Adolescent Recovery Plan: Continuing Care: This workbook, designed for teens that have been in treatment for substance abuse and are returning to their homes and communities, offers practical guidance to the supportive team surrounding the recovering teen.
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Curriculum Review of Black and Recovering: This workbook, designed for African-Americans who are in treatment or aftercare programs, highlights racial/cultural issues that affect blacks in recovery
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Organizing and Starting a Recovery Group: These tips, drawn from Bill Morris’ The Complete Handbook for Recovery Ministry in the Church, will help church leaders understand the key steps involved in launching a recovery ministry.
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Curriculum Review of Stop the Chaos: This workbook for adults is designed for both those struggling with chemical dependency and those concerned about a loved one’s possible substance abuse.
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Curriculum Review of The Twelve Steps—A Spiritual Journey: This personal workbook contains lessons and exercises for participants in Christian support groups that draw from Scripture and the traditional twelve steps.
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The Functional Alcoholic: The Functional Alcoholic: Sometimes spotting someone with a drinking problem can be difficult. This helpful article describes how individuals who appear well-functioning may be in trouble.
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Curriculum Review of Twelve Jewish Steps to Recovery: This resource is aimed at Jews struggling with alcohol or drug misuse and shows how the traditional twelve steps relate to Jewish teachings.
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Recommended Books
Role of the Mosque in Confronting the Epidemic of Substance Abuse: This article describes the role of the mosque as a center of substance abuse prevention and treatment.
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Celebrate Recovery Participant’s Guide Set: Developed by an Evangelical pastor, these resources are used by members of church-based “Celebrate Recovery” groups. This program uses Biblical principles to guide personal growth.
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Stop the Chaos: This secular workbook is geared towards adult substance abusers and their families. It is intended to provide information and tools to help them to recover and to cope with life without alcohol or drugs.
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The Recovery Book: This book is an extremely useful reference guide intended to answer the questions and concerns of recovering alcoholics and addicts. It also helps friends and relatives to understand what the recovering addict is thinking and experiencing while in recovery.
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Toxic Faith and Addiction:  Faith is a key to recovery but counselors need to understand how recovering addicts can distort the role of faith and become addicted to religious behaviors, also called “toxic faith.” This self-study guide walks individuals through research on recovery and toxic faith and offers educational credit hours for some professions.
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Alcohol and the Church: Developing an Effective Ministry: This book is rich with practical advice for setting up a ministry to people struggling with alcohol use.
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Freedom from Addiction Workbook: This resource, popular within charismatic Christian circles, aims at showing addicts who they are in Jesus Christ as a means to finding recovery, healing, and freedom.
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Freedom from Addiction: This book includes the personal testimony of a minister who admitted and eventually overcame his alcoholism, then describes addiction and the recovery processes from a Biblical perspective.
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Self-Evaluation Workbook for Alcohol and Drug Abuse: This workbook is an extended questionnaire that pastors, counselors, and health-care workers can give individuals wanting to explore their relationship with alcohol and drugs to determine if they need to seek further evaluation or professional help.
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The Alcoholism and Drug Abuse Patient Workbook: This workbook contains sets of questions to help addicts identify how addiction has impacted their life and to develop relapse prevention and personal recovery plans.
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Adolescent Recovery Plan: Continuing Care: This workbook is targeted to adolescents who have completed a recovery program. It contains exercises and activities for youth (and their families) to help prevent relapse.
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Measuring Treatment Progress: This book will help directors and staffs of treatment programs pull together accurate outcome information to evaluate the effectiveness of a treatment/recovery program.
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Healing Places: How Faith Institutions Can Effectively Address Chemical Dependency: This book gives provides background on commonly held views in the church about substance abuse and outlines how to set up a team ministry that engages the congregation in supporting people affected by alcoholism and drug abuse.
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Dying for a Drink: A Pastor and a Physician Talk about Alcoholism: A minister and a doctor take turns describing alcoholism from a personal and clinical view. Their book helps readers understand the social, medical, psychological and spiritual elements of this widespread disease.
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The Complete Handbook for Recovery Ministry in the Church: This book walks Christian practitioners through the steps of establishing a recovery ministry: developing a philosophy, defining the purpose, determining a strategy, and deciding on a structure.
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Celebrate Recovery Leader’s Guide: Developed by an Evangelical pastor, this resource describes how to start a Biblically based recovery ministry in a local church patterned after that begun at Saddleback Church in California.
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Recommended Links
Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church: The Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church is an organization aimed at helping those struggling with addictions to find a lasting recovery. It also seeks to raise awareness among church leaders about addiction problems.
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Free-n-one: Free-n-one is a non-denominational faith-based organization that provides training to churches interested in starting a Christ-centered 12-Step recovery program to assist drug addicts, alcoholics, and their family members.
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Christians in Recovery: This site reaches out to Christians who are in recovery from addictions, abuse, and other issues, providing access to information and support.
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National Catholic Council on Alcoholism and Drug Related Problems, Inc.: This Catholic organization is devoted to promoting awareness, prevention, and treatment of alcohol and drug related problems.
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National Association for Christian Recovery: This website offers resources for Christians who are recovering from addiction, abuse, or trauma.
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Genesis Process: Genesis Process offers seminars and counselor training program using a Christian approach to relapse prevention.
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NET Training Institute: This organization offers training (on site and through distance learning) for counselors and others involved in addiction recovery and prevention ministries.
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Teen Challenge: The Teen Challenge website is an extension of their Bible-based treatment curriculum. It offers information on their programs, services, and success stories, as well as the Parent’s Guide to Drug Abuse.
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Fuller Theological Seminary Institute for Recovery Ministry: Fuller Theological Seminary’s Institute for Recovery Ministry was recently created to support, train, and encourage pastors and others who assist those in recovery. The Institute offers three academic programs: a Master of Divinity with a Concentration in Recovery Ministry, a Master of Arts in Recovery Ministry, and a Certificate Program in Recovery Ministry.
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Jewish Alcoholics, Chemically Dependent Persons and Significant Others: This organization reaches out to Jewish alcoholics, addicts, and others affected by their addictions. It provides assistance, understanding, resources and information about alcoholism, drug addiction and recovery.
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