PELHAM – For anyone struggling with hurt, pain or addiction of any kind, Lakeview Church is now offering a 12-step Christ-centered program called Celebrate Recovery.

The new program launched on Thursday, May 30, and will take place every Thursday night regardless of the weather and holidays, said ministry leader Jeremiah Mote. The event begins with dinner at 6 p.m., followed by fellowship and worship from 6:30-7:30 p.m. Small group sessions will take place from 7:30-8:30 p.m.

“We break down into gender specific small groups to share and aide in the recovery process,” Mote said. “People take part in this process for a lot more than just dependency issues. Three out of five people are there for other issues like learning to cope with grief, eating disorders and relationship problems. We’re celebrating recovery from any of the hang-ups that life gives you.”

In the future, as the program grows, Mote said the small groups might be broken down even more into categories such as dependency and life issues. To teach the courses, church leaders had to complete their own 12-step leadership program.

“This program is also about fostering leadership,” Mote said. “We hope to grow more leaders out of the people who attend these meetings.”

The church decided to dedicate itself to offering this program because it’s something the county needs, Mote said.

“Our church is about reaching out and finding ways to do missions at home,” he said. “Missions start in your own backyard – it’s not always about going overseas.”

It has been a yearlong process for the church to get the program up and running. Mote said the church wanted to make sure this was something it could sustain for years to come.

“We want it to be successful and we want to do it right,” he said. “Our church family has gotten behind it and our pastor supports this 100 percent. Usually, if you don’t have the support of the church and the pastor, it just doesn’t work.”

The church has sent more than 200 letters to other churches and to the Shelby County Courthouse to help spread the word about the program. Mote said the program will accept individuals with court mandates to complete a recovery program.

“We all need healing,” Mote said. “No one is free of sin. We’ve all hurt others and have been hurt. We all need healing.”

Celebrate Recovery is an international program that got its start in 1991 in California. There are now 35,000 Celebrate Recovery churches around the world, and that number continues to grow.

Lakeview Church is located at 5154 Shelby County 11.