• CELEBRATE RECOVERY IS A CHRIST-CENTERED, 12 STEP RECOVERY PROGRAM FOR ANYONE STRUGGLING WITH HURT, HANG-UPS, AND HABITS OF ANY KIND.
• CELEBRATE RECOVERY IS A SAFE PLACE TO FIND COMMUNITY AND FREEDOM FROM THE ISSUES THAT ARE CONTROLLING OUR LIFE.

September 01,1991

Celebrate Recovery started in 1991 at Saddleback Church in Lake Forest, California. At that time, the church was meeting at a high school gymnasium. John Baker wrote Pastor Rick Warren the “now-famous, concise, 13-page, single-spaced” letter outlining the vision God had given John for Celebrate Recovery. After reading John’s letter, Pastor Rick said, “Great, John — go do it!”

READ MORE ABOUT THE CELEBRATE RECOVERY TIMELINE

The first night 43 people attended, and Celebrate Recovery was born. Beginning with only four Open Share Groups — Men’s and Women’s Chemical Dependency and Men’s and Women’s Codependency — the ministry has grown to over 14 groups today. Over 27,000 people have gone through the program at Saddleback Church. Many of them are now serving in Celebrate Recovery and the Church. Celebrate Recovery is the number one outreach ministry at Saddleback Church, with over 70 percent of its members now coming from outside the church.

The first 10 years were the birth stage of Celebrate Recovery, and now God is calling us to take it to the world. There are now 35,000 Celebrate Recovery churches around the world, and that number continues to grow. We are part of a movement that is bringing the healing power of Jesus Christ to the hurting and broken through working Celebrate Recovery’s Step Studies, The Journey Begins, and The Journey Continues. To date, over 5 million individuals have completed a Step Study.

In addition, Celebrate Recovery is not just growing in churches, but in recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons around the world. New Mexico was the first state to adopt Celebrate Recovery into its state prison system and now has Celebrate Recovery pods in all its state prisons. In August 2004, Celebrate Recovery was announced as California’s state-approved substance abuse program for prisons. This is an exciting and growing outreach opportunity for every Celebrate Recovery.

We are a part of something much larger than one church’s Celebrate Recovery. We are part of a movement that God is blessing.

Living in a broken world we all deal with life’s hurts, hang-ups, and habits. No one has the ability, nor should they attempt to face their hurts on their own. Celebrate Recovery is a beautiful community of strugglers that courageously enter this safe and beautiful space to get honest about our pain, and the negative ways we may see ourselves, God and others. In this process we come to accept that some of the habits we may have developed to escape our pain has caused destruction in our life and those close to us. 

Celebrate recovery is a biblically balanced approach to help bring sustainable recovery and healing to our hurts. It guides us toward new healthy truths and life-giving habits as we repair our broken relationships. Join more than 7 million hurting people across the globe who now walk in freedom through the power of Jesus Christ as we walk through the 8 principles of celebrate recovery based on the Beatitudes in Matthew 5.

Read below to see some of the issues people find freedom from in Celebrate Recovery.

Anger- Codependency- Eating Disorder - Food Issues - Love & Relationship Addiction - Physical, Sexual, and/or Emotional Abuse - Drug Addiction - Alcoholism - Sexual Addiction - Gambling Addiction - Childhood Dysfunction - Grief - Mental Health

Don’t see the issue you’re struggling with? Don’t worry many CR’s have Mixed Issues groups.

What does this mean for you? Most importantly, you're always welcome at HMBC Celebrate Recovery. We're saving a seat for you. Wherever you're at in your faith journey, you'll always be accepted as part of the Hope family.

Beyond that, if you're ready to plan your first visit, click here. If you want to learn more about our beliefs as a church, click here. Or if you'd simply like to get in touch with a person on our lead team directly, click the button below.