Mission Debuts Faith-Based Recovery Program

The Cookeville Rescue Mission has a new faith-based twelve-step recovery program, encouraging people to get help with addiction.

Director Will Roberts said the Life Recovery Program is based on the Life Recovery Bible, a version which was edited with drug and alcohol treatment in mind. Roberts said the program is similar to other twelve-step programs but with a strong Christian perspective.

“The three things that you need to do if you’re going to overcome addictions of any kind, and we think addictions come in all forms, but if you’re going to overcome those you need to learn how to trust God, clean up your house, and help other people,” Roberts said. “And the steps are set up in that order.”

Roberts said he was active in various secular recovery programs for thirty years but has felt a calling to bring this program to the mission because of its biblical principles. Roberts said participants focus on one step a month over the course of a year.

“As they stay for the first three months we don’t expect them to get a job or pay any dues or program fees of any kind for the first three months,” Roberts said. “It’s designed for them to get a foundation in a relationship with Christ Jesus and then from there we help them implement the principles of the program to help them get a job and whatever else they need to kind of become functioning members of society.”

Roberts said the next eight steps are designed to teach people how to live out the Gospel in their daily lives.

“And then the twelfth step is pretty simple,” Roberts said. “It says, ‘Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to others, and then to practice these principles in all our affairs.’ So the twelfth step brings us back to the first step which helps us to deal with whatever is next on the agenda for us to put at the foot of the cross, as it were.”

Roberts said they have been offering the program for two months and have about fifteen people in it now.

“It’s a separate program,” Roberts said. “We ask them to stay for a period of time through an evaluation period. We want to be sure and give people every option they can to get better here at the mission.”

Roberts said this program is unique to other recovery programs because it is not designed solely for acute or direct addiction treatment.

“This is a program for life,” Roberts said. “We are attached to other programs in town. Life Recovery in town now has thirty meetings a week. Twelve-step meetings morning, noon, and night at Disciple Central at 155 East Spring Street. And so we’re dovetailing with them and other programs in town.”

Roberts said the original twelve steps for the Alcoholics Anonymous program were designed by the Oxford Group and taken from the Bible.

“The original steps came out of the beatitudes, the book of James, 1 Corinthians,” Roberts said. “And all through the Bible, in this Life Recovery Bible you can see where they’re referenced everywhere in the Bible. But they’re principles that are based in Christian living.”