It was only by accident that Recovery Church formed. I never set out to pioneer a new faith community but during lockdown I was very aware of people with addictions not being able to access their usual places of support and so I offered a 20 minute reflection service on zoom using 12 Step prayers and brief reflection which would last until the end of the first lockdown. Just over 2 years later we are still going and we are growing.

Recovery Church is a service and community which always meets on Zoom and people with addictions gather from all around the UK. We share honestly about how things are for us, what we are grateful for, we confess to one another, learn from one another, study together and pray together. We have people with a wide range of addictions and at different stages of recovery. We support each other in the highs and lows of recovery and help one another to listen to God (Higher Power). 

We have had challenges to overcome as there are scant resources and guidelines for planting and growing a purely on-line community but we have experimented and found new ways of doing things and using everyone’s gifts for the benefit of the community. In the summer of 2021 we were able to celebrate a baptism for one of our community in a hybrid way and we hope to offer more baptism opportunities this year. We have been able to mentor members of our community to serve in different ways including hosting services, leading reflections, pastoral care and so on. 

During the week we have an active WhatsApp group where the community share pastoral concerns, wisdom, prayers and the ups and downs of life. This deepens the fellowship we enjoy on line on a Sunday night. There are still some members I have not met face to face but that doesn’t seem to matter.

In March this year we planted a new Recovery Church community, a face to face one, in Newcastle Cathedral as an ecumenical project.