Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church
April 26-29, 2023 - in person gathering
"From Basement to Sanctuary, Recovery and the Church"
Keynote speaker: Stephen R. Haynes, author of "Why Can't Church be more like an AA MEetng? And other questions Christians ask about Recovery?"
location: Barbara C Harris Conference Center, Greenfield, NH
Details
Email
April 26-29, 2023 - in person gathering
"From Basement to Sanctuary, Recovery and the Church"
Keynote speaker: Stephen R. Haynes, author of "Why Can't Church be more like an AA MEetng? And other questions Christians ask about Recovery?"
location: Barbara C Harris Conference Center, Greenfield, NH
Details
Next meeting: This network is on hiatus. Look for more information in 2023.
Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/82605469404 (password: 5)
Zoom link
Mark your calendar for every second Tuesday.
Network description:
The Episcopal Recovery Ministries seeks to smash the taboos around alcoholism and addiction within the Church. The Roman Catholic Church has been rightly censured for covering up the sex abuse scandals that left thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of people broken and disillusioned. It’s devastated their church and has led many to leave the faith altogether. But the Episcopal Church is also guilty of cover-ups and not dealing with dangerous and impaired clergy. Alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addiction…. all kinds of addictions that hurt parishes and dioceses, not to mention the souls of the addicts themselves. And NOBODY wants to talk about it.
There is no us and them when it comes to addiction. There are very few people whose lives are not touched by some form of addiction - themselves, a family member or a friend. It has both strong disease and spiritual components, and is, at its core, a sin of idolatry, substituting the substance or behavior for God. So the Church could play a big part in helping people to face and to heal from not only their addictions but the underlying spiritual maladies.
The Church has not done so. Despite the enormity of the problem, and the 2014 death of a cyclist by a bishop who was known to be an alcoholic prior to her consecration as a bishop, the Church has mostly turned a blind eye -- and this is despite resolution after resolution for the past almost 50 years promising to address this and make it a priority. Why are we leaving recovery to secular programs like AA and its spin-off groups? We need to become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Through our network, we want to confront the Church about its refusal to deal with addiction in its own house. We want to start a conversation that will lead to a loving community of people who want to be part of that solution, one that leads to healing not only individual people but the Church itself. We want to create a safe space and a plan of action for anyone – lay or ordained – who wants help, and a way to help even those who don’t want it if they are in leadership positions.
We hope to provide people and parishes with education and resources – both local and national - for dealing with all kinds of addiction. We hope to share educational information, ideas, strategies, and programs, and to provide opportunities for our parishes and dioceses to connect with each other, and also connect with the wider Episcopal Church.
convener: Debbi Rhodes, Northern Indiana
board liaison: Joanie Smith, Western Michigan
The Episcopal Recovery Ministries seeks to smash the taboos around alcoholism and addiction within the Church. The Roman Catholic Church has been rightly censured for covering up the sex abuse scandals that left thousands, maybe tens of thousands, of people broken and disillusioned. It’s devastated their church and has led many to leave the faith altogether. But the Episcopal Church is also guilty of cover-ups and not dealing with dangerous and impaired clergy. Alcoholism, drug addiction, sex addiction…. all kinds of addictions that hurt parishes and dioceses, not to mention the souls of the addicts themselves. And NOBODY wants to talk about it.
There is no us and them when it comes to addiction. There are very few people whose lives are not touched by some form of addiction - themselves, a family member or a friend. It has both strong disease and spiritual components, and is, at its core, a sin of idolatry, substituting the substance or behavior for God. So the Church could play a big part in helping people to face and to heal from not only their addictions but the underlying spiritual maladies.
The Church has not done so. Despite the enormity of the problem, and the 2014 death of a cyclist by a bishop who was known to be an alcoholic prior to her consecration as a bishop, the Church has mostly turned a blind eye -- and this is despite resolution after resolution for the past almost 50 years promising to address this and make it a priority. Why are we leaving recovery to secular programs like AA and its spin-off groups? We need to become part of the solution, rather than part of the problem.
Through our network, we want to confront the Church about its refusal to deal with addiction in its own house. We want to start a conversation that will lead to a loving community of people who want to be part of that solution, one that leads to healing not only individual people but the Church itself. We want to create a safe space and a plan of action for anyone – lay or ordained – who wants help, and a way to help even those who don’t want it if they are in leadership positions.
We hope to provide people and parishes with education and resources – both local and national - for dealing with all kinds of addiction. We hope to share educational information, ideas, strategies, and programs, and to provide opportunities for our parishes and dioceses to connect with each other, and also connect with the wider Episcopal Church.
convener: Debbi Rhodes, Northern Indiana
board liaison: Joanie Smith, Western Michigan
Resources
2023 Gathering - Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church
April 26-29, 2023
"From Basement to Sanctuary, Recovery and the Church"
Barbara C Harris Conference Center, Greenfield, NH
Details
April 26-29, 2023
"From Basement to Sanctuary, Recovery and the Church"
Barbara C Harris Conference Center, Greenfield, NH
Details
