BY PHIL CUSTODIO
Clarkston News Editor
Five Clarkston churches are joining forces to help people in pain find the healing they need.
“What is truly unique about this ministry is that it is a ministry of five participating churches, Clarkston Community Church, Waypoint, Kensington Clarkston, Calvary Lutheran, and Bridgewood, with more to come,” said Jay Steinman, Celebrate Recovery Clarkston ministry leader. “Churches coming together shows a unity in the community. It’s not about church, it’s about helping people get healing.”
“Congregations have been working together during Community Impact Weekends for the past six years – we’ve become tight,” said Christine Scalzo, connections director at Clarkston Community Church. “Each year it keeps growing and growing, with more and more enthusiasm.”
Celebrate Recovery is a Christ-centered life recovery ministry founded at Saddleback Church in California by Rick Warren and John Baker. It is in over 20,000 churches globally with two-thirds of its participants seeking healing from brokenness other than addiction, such as depression, anxiety, co-dependency, anger, divorce, and grief, Steinman said.
“I went through it in 2013,” said Steinman, a Clarkston resident for 22 years. “I had some life brokenness. There was a lot of hurt, a lot of anger and sadness associated with my past. It brought me to Kensington Church in Troy.”
He accepted Christ and joined ministry leadership in Troy.
“I had a calling, we need one in Clarkston,” he said. “It made sense to bring a bunch of churches together.”
Celebrate Recovery Clarkston launches March 29, 7-9 p.m., at Clarkston Community Church, 6300 Clarkston Road.
“It’ll be housed at Clarkston Community Church, but this is a Clarkston group,” Scalzo said.
The meetings will then be every Friday at 7 p.m. at the church.
“Friday is an ideal time, keeping people out of places where they may continue to struggle,” Steinman said.
Meetings will have three parts. The first will include large-group worship, discussion, announcements, milestone celebrations, and testimony; then breakout into open-share tables, with issue and gender specific tables in different rooms; and finally a café time for fellowship, talk, and getting to know each other over coffee. Child care will be available, $3 a child. Otherwise, the program is free. The churches will take turns leading the worship, and all are welcome, Steinman said.
“Some people might be looking for this type of ministry who don’t belong to a church at all,” he said. “Our prayer through this is for people who don’t know the Lord or had a bad experience with church, might start attending.”
Future plans include hosting a meal once a month, starting in the fall, along with ministries for suicide prevention and veterans. For more information, call Clarkston Community Church at 248-625-1323 or Steinman at 248-520-0254.