- Oct 15, 2008
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As a leader in Celebrate Recovery - a Christ based recovery ministry for every hurt, habit or hang-up - I just returned from their annual summit at Saddleback Church in California. Yes, the ministry has Evangelical roots, but the focus was on Jesus Christ and non-denominational, and although being the only Catholic in my branch of Celebrate Recovery (CR), I healed many hurts and grew closer to Jesus in the process which also made me a stronger Catholic - which I why I became a leader.
While at the summit, I inquired at the information booth if there were any Catholic churches that participate in any of the 12,000 churches that facilitate CR. The nice ladies behind the booth laughed so hard and said that I had won the prize for the funniest question. Fine. I sought and spoke to the California rep as I had heard of one Catholic church that may have been involved in their state. Without divulging my faith, the state rep stated that the Cath. church in question no longer supports the CR ministry, furthering that, "...us evangelicals are pretty strict and it just doesn't work in a Catholic setting..."
While confused, hurt and processing those comments, I and 3700 in attendance had the opportunity to premeire the new promotional video of CR that was due for release. In one segment, a woman stated the she "...grew up Catholic and experienced a fear-based God..." I was flabbergasted. It was not an innocuous comment; this was a professional and edited piece. No other denomination was mentioned and that comment was deliberately included.
I am not accusing CR of fomenting anti-Catholic sentiment, but they do nothing to dissuade it and market their brand to capitalize on that comment thread of discontent. I confronted some national leaders with my concern which they discarded.
I feel hurt that I was involved in a ministry for 15 months that had an institutional bias towards Catholicism. I got use to hearing personal testimonies which frequently included the phrase "...I grew up Catholic..." and was always saddened that they experienced my faith that way. I had no idea that this sentiment was rife throughout, and indeed acknowledged by those that should know better.
Denial is a large part of the recovery process and is destructive. I pray that CR looks inward and see the institutional denial that permeates its mission. CR offers a great dealing of healing to broken spirits and souls. I shall pray that they can take steps to heal that facet of their ministry. Until such time, I can no longer be affiliated with the organization as such.
While at the summit, I inquired at the information booth if there were any Catholic churches that participate in any of the 12,000 churches that facilitate CR. The nice ladies behind the booth laughed so hard and said that I had won the prize for the funniest question. Fine. I sought and spoke to the California rep as I had heard of one Catholic church that may have been involved in their state. Without divulging my faith, the state rep stated that the Cath. church in question no longer supports the CR ministry, furthering that, "...us evangelicals are pretty strict and it just doesn't work in a Catholic setting..."
While confused, hurt and processing those comments, I and 3700 in attendance had the opportunity to premeire the new promotional video of CR that was due for release. In one segment, a woman stated the she "...grew up Catholic and experienced a fear-based God..." I was flabbergasted. It was not an innocuous comment; this was a professional and edited piece. No other denomination was mentioned and that comment was deliberately included.
I am not accusing CR of fomenting anti-Catholic sentiment, but they do nothing to dissuade it and market their brand to capitalize on that comment thread of discontent. I confronted some national leaders with my concern which they discarded.
I feel hurt that I was involved in a ministry for 15 months that had an institutional bias towards Catholicism. I got use to hearing personal testimonies which frequently included the phrase "...I grew up Catholic..." and was always saddened that they experienced my faith that way. I had no idea that this sentiment was rife throughout, and indeed acknowledged by those that should know better.
Denial is a large part of the recovery process and is destructive. I pray that CR looks inward and see the institutional denial that permeates its mission. CR offers a great dealing of healing to broken spirits and souls. I shall pray that they can take steps to heal that facet of their ministry. Until such time, I can no longer be affiliated with the organization as such.