A Community Ministry of Calvary Baptist Church
 
The storms of life can overwhelm us
with fear and doubt...often leading to wrong and unhealthy behavior, and destorying relationships.

Reach out and rejoice in your decision to change.
Today's right choice for a better future. 

Addiction Recovery

1.  We admitted we were powerless over our addictions and compulsive behaviors, that our lives                  had become unmanageable. 
  • I  know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. (Romans 7:18) 
2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  • For it is God who is at work in you to will and to act according to His good purpose. (Philippians 2:13) 
3. We made a decision to turn our lives and our wills over to the care of God.
  • Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God-this is your spiritual act of worship. (Romans 12:1)  
4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  • Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord. (Lamentations 3:40)  
5. We admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  • Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. (James 5:16a)  
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  • Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you up. (James 4:10)  
7. We humbly asked Him to remove all our shortcomings.
  • If we confess our sins, He is faithful and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9)
8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
  • Do to others as you would have them do to you. (Luke 6:31)
9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them                or others.
  • Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the alter and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the alter. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift. (Matthew 5:23, 24) 
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, promptly admitted it.
  • So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don't fall. (1 Corinthians 10:12) 
11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only              for knowledge of His will and the power to carry that out.
  • Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly. (Colossans 3:16a)  
12. Having had a spiritual expereience as the result of these steps, we try to carry this message to                   others, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
  • Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. (Galatians 6:1)  
**The words of Christ  
The Twelve Steps are reprinted with permission of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Permission to reprint the Twelve Steps does not mean that AA  has reviewed or approved the contents of this publication, nor that AA agrees with the views expressed herein. 
 

People turn to drugs and alcohol for only one of two reasons.

God has the cure for both. 



Christian Roots of the Twelve Steps

Alcoholics Anonymous began on June 10, 1935, co-founded by William Griffith Wilson (Bill W.) and Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith (Dr Bob). Wilson conceived the idea of Alcoholics Anonymous while he was hospitalized for excessive drinking in December of 1934. During his hospital stay, Wilson had a spiritual experience that removed his desire to drink. In the following months, he tried to persuade other alcoholics to stop drinking just as he had. Wilson found his first “convert” in Smith who was willing to follow Wilson’s method to find freedom from alcoholism. Four years later, Wilson and Smith published the books Alcoholics Anonymous, which contains the Twelve Steps and a spiritually based program of recovery for alcoholism.

THE OXFORD GROUP

Various sources influenced for formation of AA’s program, as developed and recorded by Wilson. Of these, the British –born Oxford Group movement and its American leader, Episcopal clergyman Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr., contributed most significantly to the Christian basis of Alcoholics Anonymous. Both Wilson and Smith attended the Oxford Group meetings and based much of the AA program on this framework.

In the 1920s and 1930s the Oxford Group movement became a revolutionary answer to the anti religious reaction following World War I. Aiming to rekindle living faith in a church gone stale with institutionalism; the Oxford Group declared itself an “organism” rather than an “organization.” Group Members met in homes and hotels, mingling religion with meals. Despite its freedom from institutional ties, the movement was distinctly ecclesiastical and looked to the church as its authority.

Dr Frank N. D. Buchman, a Lutheran pastor is often cited as leader of the Oxford movement. Yet if one were to ask an Oxford Group follower, “Who is your leader?” the reply might be, “The Holy Spirit.” So confidently did the group believe in the guidance of the Spirit that it had no organized board of officers, but relied instead “God control” through men and women who had fully “surrendered” to God’s will. Buchman emphasized the need to surrender to God for forgiveness and guidance and to confess one’s sins to God and others. Oxford Group followers learned to make restitution for wrongs done and to witness about their changed lives in order to help change others.

 

The Oxford Group’s teachings rested on six basic assumptions:

1. Human beings are sinners.

2. Human beings can be changed.

3. Confession is a prerequisite to change.

4. The changed soul has direct access to God.

5. The age of miracles has returned.

6. Those who have been changed are to change others. (1)


In addition, Wilson incorporated into AA’s philosophy

the Oxford Group’s five procedures, which were:
 

1. Giving to God.

2. Listening to God’s direction.

3. Checking guidance.

4. Restitution.

5. Sharing, both confession and witnesses. (2)

EVOLUTION OF THE TWELVE STEPS

While trying to attract more followers to sobriety from 1935-1937, Smith and Wilson attended Oxford Group meetings in New York led by Samuel Moor Shoemaker, Jr. “It was from Sam Shoemaker that we absorbed most of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous, steps that express the heart of AA’s way of life.” Wilson later recalled. “The early A.A. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from Oxford Group and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else.” (3)

(1)  Cantril, Hadley, The psychology of social movements (Huntington, NY: Robert E. Kruger, 1941), pp.147-148

(2)  Kurtz, Ernest, Not God: A History of Alcoholics Anonymous (Center City, NM: Hazelden Educational Materials, 1979) pp.48-49.

(3)   Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age (New York: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1957),  p.199.

Financial Assistance/Budgeting

The telephone rings, a male voice begins to share his story of layoffs and cutbacks. His family has done well financially for almost 10 years but the last 10 months have been another story. Where can he go for help?

The phone rings again, almost immediately an emotional female asks if we can help keep her utilities on. She has been in this spot before but nothing seems to work. If we can’t help, she doesn’t know what she will do. Everyone else she has called is “Out of Funds”. Where can she find hope?

While we are still on Line #1 with our emotional female, Line # 2 rings. A very quiet voice begins to ask about help with her car. If she doesn’t get to work she will lose her job. This is the third job she’s had in ten months. She has a transportation problem. Who can she turn to? 

These are just a few of the actual case stories that we hear every week. Examples of people needing financial assistance, benevolent help, but no place to turn. But you, through your support, have made that change.

Making ends meet can sometimes be a challenge for us all. Calvary Cares has brought together a variety of resources to insure these and others see hope, and experience help. In order to reach out to families during their time of financial struggle, This ministry has taken a Non-Crisis Intervention position. Our staff will begin to meet with each family to assess their needs, both short and long term, and work to design an action plan to reach those goals. Immediate crisis needs are directed to others, whom we’ve researched, in order to find the time necessary to meet, assess, then write the plan.

Our Calvary Cares Financial Planning /Assistance Counselors facilitate families through the writing of budgets, the assessment of priorities, the education of the family and the underwriting of the plan. 

The Bible contains more than 700 direct references to money and hundreds more to indirect references. This ministry uses God’s Absolute Truth, through the scriptures, applied and presented to reach those without hope

 

Grief Support - Workshops & Seminars

Here is a snapshot of a few of the key themes found in our times together.

1. Is This Normal?
  • You’ll discover why your grief experience is harder than you imagined
  • Why the intensity and duration of your emotions are normal and appropriate
  • Despite how you feel right now, there is reason for hope
2. Challenges of Grief
  • You’ll learn more eye-opening reasons why your pain is so overwhelming
  • Some of the overlooked, yet common, effects grief has on your mind, body, and spirit
  • How to get things done when you don’t feel like you have any energy
3. The Journey of Grief – Part One
  • You’ll learn helpful goals to set on your journey of grief
  • How to deal with those who try to rush you through your grief
  • How long the journey of grief typically lasts
4. The Journey of Grief – Part Two
  • You’ll learn why it’s important to put effort into your healing
  • How the events surrounding your loved one’s death affect your grief
  • The best ways to deal with your loved one’s belongings
5. Grief and Your Relationships
  • You’ll find out how the death of a loved one affects your friendships
  • Why solitude can be a blessing and a curse
  • How to deal with friends who don’t understand your grief
6. Why?
  • This session demonstrates that God wants you to share your feelings with Him
  • Why being honest with God is an expression of faith
  • What God has to say to you about your “why” questions
7. Guilt and Anger
  • You’ll learn how to deal with false guilt
  • How to grieve conflicted relationships
  • How to handle grief-related anger
8. Complicating Factors
  • You’ll begin to see how traumatic experiences affect grief
  • How to deal with nightmares and flashbacks
  • How your thinking affects your emotions
9. Stuck
  • You’ll discover how to prevent getting stuck in grief
  • Common misconceptions that hinder healing
  • Why your path to healing isn’t always smooth
10. Lessons of Grief – Part One
  • You’ll become aware of an often-overlooked reason that grief is so painful
  • Why going to church can be so difficult
  • The benefits of helping others
11. Lessons of Grief – Part Two
  • This session provides a more complete picture of who you are now that your loved one is gone
  • Why no one grieves perfectly
  • What grief can teach you about relationships
12. Heaven
  • Session 12 answers questions about heaven and the afterlife, such as what heaven is like
  • Whether you should communicate with your deceased loved one
  • Whether near-death experiences are reliable descriptions of heaven
  • And many more
13. What Do I Live for Now?
  • You’ll learn why moving forward is a necessity
  • Why it’s a process
  • Why peace and pain will always coexist