London—When he visited the Celebrate Recovery group sponsored by Hawk Creek Baptist Church in London last spring, Kenneth Parker had been sober for 10 years. Whiskey, cocaine, marijuana and pills no longer controlled him.

However, he still struggled with a pair of painful losses from the 1990s: A sister who died in a car accident and a younger brother from injuries sustained in a fire.

Though the memories haunted him, until joining the support group modeled after a program from Southern California’s Saddleback Church, Parker rarely spoke in public.

In late February, he gave his testimony to the group which attracts approximately 100 people to its weekly meetings, making it one of the largest in Kentucky.

“It’s a blessing to be able to go and talk to people,” noted Parker, 40, a self-employed mechanic who accepted Christ as Savior last year and is a member of Hawk Creek.

“What it’s all about is to reach somebody,” he said. “Telling others about your situation, people can identify with it and open up. There’s a lot of good that has come from it. People have joined the church and turned away from drugs and violence.”

Some who come to meetings do not think they need to be there.

That is what Shelley Hickcox thought when she brought her disabled sister to the group at Buffalo Lick Baptist Church in Cadiz in the fall of 2006.

Hickcox’s sister, Janet, was in the final stages of a fatal bout with chronic lung disease, and also suffered severe anxiety and panic attacks.

However, after attending Celebrate Recovery, Hickcox discovered she too had problems, particularly her workaholic tendencies. The habit kept driving her even after she retired from a finance company and started a business on eBay, the Internet-based auction network.

“As much as we hate to admit it, we all have problems,” said Hickcox, whose sister died last September. “When I think I was available to help Janet, be with her that last year and be able to hold her and see her go on to heaven, that was amazing.

“In the past, I might have complained about all I had to do instead of appreciating how wonderful it was to be there. I think it’s wonderful for our area that a church will open its doors for something beyond a worship service.”

Such stories are common throughout the Celebrate Recovery network.

Over the past 15 years the program has spread to an estimated 8,000 groups nationwide and another 2,000 on such continents as Asia, Europe and Australia.

The exact number in Kentucky is not clear. The group’s Web site lists 23 host churches, nine of them Baptist, but the list does not include Hawk Creek or several other KBC churches.

Saddleback launched its group with 43 people, designing it as a place to help those struggling with bad habits by showing them the loving power of Christ through the recovery process. Today, nearly 10,000 individuals have gone through Saddleback’s program, about 70 percent from outside the congregation.

Although not billing itself as a Christian version of Alcoholics Anonymous, Celebrate Recovery includes a biblical foundation for AA’s famed “12 Steps” to sobriety on its Web site. It also lists “Eight Recovery Principles” from Matthew’s “Beatitudes” that participants follow as they seek to overcome bad habits.

Because it is a Christian-based program, judges are reluctant to order defendants convicted of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol to attend CR meetings. However, several in Kentucky have listed them as an option to fulfill court-ordered treatment sessions.

“We believe the success of Celebrate Recovery is found in the true ‘Higher Power,’ Jesus Christ,” said Jim Kircher, CR’s national director who is based in Austin, Texas. “When someone finds a relationship with Jesus, people have a great chance of success in turning their lives around.”

That Christian component is a key, according to Dominick Capobianco, leader of Hawk Creek’s group. He predicts that in the coming decade Celebrate Recovery groups in Kentucky will outnumber those sponsored by Alcoholics Anonymous or Narcotics Anonymous.

“My background and support group for years was Alcoholics Anonymous,” Capobianco noted. “When Christ told me, ‘I want everyone to know I am the Way,’ Celebrate Recovery is what He’s wanting people to know. He’s wanting His people to have a chance at salvation.”

Despite its reliance on Jesus Christ instead of the generic “Higher Power” favored by AA, Celebrate Recovery groups are similar in format. Many enjoy a weekly meal and fellowship time before dividing into smaller discussion groups for such problems as addictions to alcohol or drugs. At Hawk Creek, there are also groups for people struggling with food addictions, divorce, and life hurts, as well as one for teens.

Among the small groups at Franklin Crossroads Baptist Church in Cecilia is one for women who are co-dependent, meaning they make excuses for a spouse’s addictions and often enable him to continue that habit.

While it is not a church growth program, sometimes support groups lend themselves to expansion. That is what happened at Hawk Creek, which doubled in attendance to more than 500 since it began hosting Celebrate Recovery more than a year ago.

Pastor Trevor Barton explained that one reason participants find hope is they can identify with others who have been trapped in similar problems but have found solutions.

“It’s not your typical Baptist evangelism ministry,” Barton noted. “But the program is built on the Word of God. We’ve seen numerous people try Christ and become viable, active members of our fellowship and other churches. They’ve got acceptance and hope.”