Celebrate Recovery Inside

Please call Saddleback Resources at 1-800-723-3532.  

When placing the order you will have to specify what jail/prison facility will benefit from the materials.  Our agreement between Saddleback Church and Zondervan (publisher) requires that these materials be used exclusively for prison/jail ministry. 

For further questions and information on Celebrate Recovery materials for jails/prisons, contact: 

CR Inside Representative
Kathy Deane - Kathy@celebraterecovery.ca 

The following list summarizes all CR Inside products.
Note prices when you order will be in US Dollars and will have additional shipping and border costs.
Must be ordered by a box and not individual copies.
Please have a method of payment available at the time of your call. 

• CR Inside Bible, case of 12 
• CR Inside English 4-in-1 Participant Guide, case of 32 
• CR Inside Spanish 4-in-1 Participant Guide, case of 48 
• Purpose Driven Life English Inside Prison Edition, case of 48 
• Purpose Driven Life Spanish Inside Prison Edition, case of 48 

The Items below are in CDN Dollars and can be ordered through Parasource website.

• Life’s Healing Choices DVD 
• Life’s Healing Choices Workbook 
• Life’s Healing Choices Book 
• Testimonies To Go DVD’s
• Celebrate Recovery Lessons on DVD 
• Testimonies to Go DVD’s
  (NOTE: CRInside Testimonies on Vol. 3/4, Vol. 5/6 , Vol. 9/10 & Vol. 15/16) 

Many prisons are open to Celebrate Recovery and, indeed, in the US there are entire corrections departments or individual institutions that want the program and have implemented it. The need is there. Many of the inmates are open to a program that will help them overcome the problems and behaviour that put them where they are. 

If you wonder if CRInside is something for your institution, you may want to attend a CR program in the community to see how it works. It is also a good way to meet potential volunteers from CR who will be there to direct the program. Click here to find a CR group near you.  You could also attend a CR training Event. 

Every prison or detention center is different and the use of Celebrate Recovery materials and programming elements may be modified for various institutional settings.

The optimum setting would allow CR programming every day, seven days a week in a pod, dormitory or cellblock that is dedicated to a faith community where all inmates live together and program together and have at least two years in the program. In this case, there would be up to 6 ½ hours a day or more for programming. There are institutions which will allow this involvement; however, this is the exception.

Other institutions will allow CR programming for only one hour a week or even once a month and have a large turnover in population. In this case, the options are very limited.

Most programming is somewhere in between and we will discuss possible uses for Celebrate Recovery in these settings.

One other limitation is programming space. Some institutions have areas in which the inmates may meet in several different locations. Others have only one space, and that may be the living unit dayroom. It is not recommended that Celebrate Recovery be conducted cell to cell because of the need for group dynamics and community to complete the steps.

Note: Inmates who begin the program within a cycle start with step one in the Participant Guides regardless of the lesson the group is on during the worship time or open share time. They may be held accountable to work through the “Write About It” questions at the end of every lesson. Volunteers may be able to lead additional step-studies or to help inmates who may be behind the group after the main program cycle has begun. It is especially wise to close step-study groups after step 3 and not to have inmates who have just entered the program involved with those who are beginning the fourth step because of the nature of the inventory sharing and other issues. Trust and community must be built for this part of CR.

1. How long will the inmates be in the program? Is it a short-term or a long-term facility?
2. How long will the institution allow for the programming during a week/month?
3. What kind of programming space is available?
4. What equipment/resources will the institution allow into the facility?

Celebrate Recovery has three distinct components and also has additional training for leaders which may be accomplished in the institutional setting, if possible.

1. Worship

Worship is usually held once a week and has 3 to 4 songs, prayer, the reading of the 12 Steps or the 8 Principles, teaching from the Leader’s Guide or testimony, Serenity Prayer and closing song. The full program should take between forty-five minutes and one hour. This format can be modified to have worship one week, a step-study the next. If there are fewer songs, the time with the materials can be increased.

A time should be set aside for inmates to give testimony to what God is doing in their lives. If it is difficult to get this started you may ask leaders from CR groups in the community to have someone come and give a testimony or use the volunteers. Transparency is essential to a deeper work to let God change the individual from the inside out.

2. Step-study

Step studies may be conducted alone or with the worship component. If inmates are in the institution only a short time, and you have only an hour a week with them, you may wish to conduct only a step-study, one lesson a week. If you have more than one hour, spend it on a short worship period followed by working on the steps. If a little more time is available, increase the number of worship songs. In all cases begin with prayer and either the 12 Steps or the 8 Principles of Celebrate Recovery. All of the lessons can be completed in about six months, if this is the only option.

3. Open Share Small Groups

If you have the luxury of having a two hour block of time at least once a week, you can have the worship period and either a small share group or a step-study following that. You also may have one hour for open share each week and use the other hour for the lesson from the Leader’s Guide one week and a step-study the next week.

If the inmates will work on their own issues during the week in the participant guides and then share, this is preferable. Depending on the length of time the inmates are in the institution, you may have either a six-month or one year period to go through the programming. If you can have all three components with a sufficient amount of time (at least four hours a week) you will be able to complete the entire program and inmates will benefit more from this experience.

4. Life’s Healing Choices

For shorter term facilities that have a large turnover, the 8 week Life’s Healing Choices DVD study works well and can be repeated over and over again.  Each week focuses on one of the 8 Recovery Principles of Celebrate Recovery, based on the Beautitudes.  The Life’s Healing Choices DVD, Workbook and Book can be ordered through Parasource.

5. Leadership Training

At another time during the week or even once a month, if you are able, you may have a training session with those who have been through the steps, either in CR or in one of the other 12 step programs. Consider those who will be with you the longest to train, especially those who have taken the program seriously and worked all of the steps. You may even be able to have a full T.E.A.M. that you can provide training for that will give strategic leadership to the program. The more you can help inmates conduct and become involved in the presentation of the program, the less you will have to rely on volunteers from the outside, except to be there in support of the inmates as they work the program. It is also better because the participants make the program their own. 

“Good Evening. My name is _____________ I am a believer that struggles with _____________.

Welcome and Opening prayer

(Option, short version of the serenity prayer: God Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.)This meeting is specifically for those that struggle with______________, and for those who are exploring this area of recovery for themselves.

Introductions

“Let’s take a minute now to introduce ourselves. I’ll begin, and we’ll go around the circle. “My name is_______________; I’m a believer that struggles with _______________.

Read group guidelines

Before we open the meeting for sharing, we have group guidelines.These guidelines are designed to provide a safe and productive meeting for everyone. Please listen carefully and honour these guidelines throughout the meeting.

”SMALL GROUP GUIDELINES”

• Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts, feelings, and actions.
• Please limit your sharing to 3-5 minutes.There is NO cross talk please.
• Cross talk is when two people engage in a dialogue during the meeting.
• Each person is free to express feelings without interruptions.We are here to support one another.
• We will not attempt to “fix” another. Anonymity and Confidentiality are basic requirements
• What’s shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception is when someone threatens to injure themselves or others.
• Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group, including no graphic descriptions.

Leader’s focus

Leader reads through lesson acrostics from large group teaching then presents the topic question(s). (Testimony topic: What part of the testimony touched you the most?)

Ask those who would like to respond to the focus question

to share first, and then transition the meeting to open sharing for those remaining.

Wrap up

After sharing time, thank everyone for participating. Optional: Individual prayer requests as time allows.

Closing Prayer

“Now, after a moment of silent prayer for those who are still struggling, let’s close in prayer.” (Or pray specifically for the person on one’s right or left.)

Start your meeting on time

1. Welcome and Opening Prayer
2. Explain Small Group Expectations (Initially when a new meeting starts)
3. Introductions
4. Read the 8 Recovery principles/12 steps and the biblical comparisons
5. Read Group Guidelines (below)
6. Read a devotional from Life Recovery Bible.  Choose from any of the following: Recovery Profiles, Twelve Step Devotionals, Recovery Principles, Serenity Prayer, Reflections.
7. Read lesson from the participant workbook and take turns sharing answers to workbook questions. End sharing and thank members for their participation.
8. Announcements: (optional Celebrate Recovery related/program related)
9. Assign group related tasks
10. Encourage Accountability Teams, Accountability Partners and Sponsor
11. Prayer Requests
12. Close in prayer

Thank you for your service!

SMALL GROUP GUIDELINES

1. Keep your sharing focused on your own thoughts, feelings, and actions. Please limit your sharing to 3-5 minutes. 
2. There is NO cross talk please. Cross talk is when two people engage in a dialogue during the meeting. Each person is free to express feelings without interruptions. 
3. We are here to support one another. We will not attempt to “fix” another.  
4. Anonymity and Confidentiality are basic requirements. What’s shared in the group stays in the group. The only exception is when someone threatens to injure themselves or others. 
5. Offensive language has no place in a Christ-centered recovery group, including no graphic descriptions. 

Only part of the task is done when Celebrate Recovery is taken into prisons. It is wonderful to see the changes in people as Christ, the Higher Power, works in them. The prison environment becomes a healing environment and those who have made a commitment to follow Christ find others who are walking beside them in faith. 

But then time for release comes and what then? New problems, new and old people to deal with, stress added by havng a criminal record. Temptations from old addictions or behaviours. This is where the rubber hits the road. The Celebrate Recovery experience in prison was a downhill coast compared to what is to be faced. It will be much harder, like rowing a boat up the stream. 

This is where the Celebrate Recovery programs in the community should shine like a light: You are the light of the world—like a city on a mountain, glowing in the night for all to see. Don’t hide your light under a basket! Instead, put it on a stand and let it shine for all. (Matthew 5:14-15, NLT) 

Every Releasee Needs a Sponsor, some ministries call this person a mentor, but in CR we use the term sponsor.  There may be more than one sponsor, since this can take time to work with the person who has just been released. It should be remembered that the one who has been incarcerated may have been in the institution for months or even many years. The longer it’s been, the more institutionalized we become. 

Some groups have identified a CRI Co-ordinator, that help inmates with the transition from CRInside – OUT. 

Just as we all have habits, most of which are good, such as locking doors when we leave, or turning off lights that are not used to save electricity, an inmate may not have turned off a light as long as they were in the prison or jail—someone else turned them on and off. They may not have closed a door, it may have been opened and closed for them by a corrections officer. They must relearn “outside habits” that most of us take for granted. 

It may be a real temptation to go back to the same addictive behaviours that got the person in trouble in the first place. Relapse is a real possibility, especially within the first six months. Jobs may create stress, or a lack of a job can cause stress and may tempt the ex-offender to slip back, even with a strong Christian commitment. Family issues, especially trying to assume too quickly the role of the head of the household from a wife who has been doing it all, may complicate things. Divorce is extremely high among those who have been released from prison. 

The desire to go back to what was familiar is also very strong. Most of us don’t feel comfortable when we are in unfamiliar surroundings. A CR group for the ex-offender and their family, as well as a sponsor and strong accountability team can help the them make this big adjustment well