While she was still a counselor in private practice, Lidia Mocelo had a dream.  She wanted to use counseling to reach the lost and start a recovery ministry at Fellowship Baptist Church.  Finally, after much inquiring of the Lord and waiting for his timing, this dream came true when Mocelo launched the first meeting of a program she titled Celebrate Recovery on September 24th, 2004.

“I can remember praying at the beginning of that first year and asking God for fifty participants by the end of the year,” Mocelo recalls. “He sent us forty-five people the very first day.”

Now, five years later, over one hundred participants and thirty-six lay leaders gather at the Mt. Laurel campus every Thursday at 7 p.m. to celebrate the process of recovering from various addictions. With approximately half of the participants coming from the local community and half from FBC’s body, this ministry has been instrumental in drawing people to the church and introducing them to the power of Christ. 

After participants worship together for the first part of the Thursday night recovery meeting, a leader teaches for twenty minutes about one of the twelve steps to recovery and its coordinating biblical principle, and then participants break into the small groups for their specific addictions.  In addition to the large group assembly on Thursdays, CR also runs meetings called Step Studies throughout the week, which are small, gender-based groups that are focused on living out the 12 steps of recovery. 

“God has used this program in a way that blows my mind,” said Mocelo.  “He has changed so many hearts and lives, restored relationships, and brought people to Himself.  One man just recently came to me and said that after coming to CR for nine months, he made the decision to accept Christ.  God is so faithful.  We hear testimonies over and over again about the way God is using the power of the cross and the tools we offer.” 

This past Monday, Mocelo rejoiced in God’s work by organizing a 5th anniversary celebration to honor her hard-working volunteer staff.  All of these lay counselors have not only completed a year-long training, but have also completed the Step Studies themselves and have demonstrated remarkable progress in their own recovery.  Seven of the leaders have been serving with Mocelo since CR began, and for their awesome dedication, Mocelo awarded them a special certificate. 

“This is truly a calling,” said Mocelo.  “It isn’t just about coming to group meetings two nights a week.  It is about the countless hours they spend on the phone, listening, talking, and counseling; it’s a lot of one-on-one ministry work.  It’s a very sacrificial ministry.  I’m so grateful for our leadership.” 

Since the program’s inception, leaders have been conscientious to change the categories of the groups based on the needs of those attending.  Being responsive to the population they serve has been an important part of the ministry.  Current groups include drug and alcohol dependency; co-dependency; physical emotional, and sexual abuse; sexual issues, struggles and addictions; compulsive overeating and food addiction; anger; family of those who struggle with addictions; and women affected by sexual addiction and betrayal.
Although many needs have changed over the years, one need has always been constant: the necessity for participants to feel as though they can be completely open and completely safe when sharing their struggles with their group.  This requirement is so deeply recognized by the leadership that every Thursday for the past five years, Mocelo has stood in front of the group of participants and reminded them that anonymity and confidentiality are the most important guidelines for them to obey at CR.  In fact, she repeats each week that if anyone breaks this guideline, she will ask them to leave the program.  And in five years, she has never had to ask anyone to leave.

“That shows you the level of safety we have here, which allows people to be honest and be themselves and know they are protected.  We are a family,” said Mocelo. 

Another piece of CR that has not changed is its deliberate effort to not be defined as a behavioral-change program.  The leadership makes it clear that they do not believe Christ ministered to people’s behaviors first, but rather that his first priority was the root of people’s problems.  The phrase CR uses to set itself apart from other recovery groups is this: our goal is not sobriety; it is Christ-likeness. 

“We want to see Christ be formed in our participants, and when he is, sobriety is a no-brainer,” explains Mocelo. “What changes is our heart and the motives we live by.  When participants begin to want Christ more than their victimization or sin, then their behavior changes.  It’s about letting God recapture our heart through the cross.” 

It is obvious that their commitment to these priorities has led the program to tremendous success.  Countless lives have been changed because of Mocelo’s desire to follow the Lord’s leading, and that is certainly something we can all celebrate. 

“We look forward to many, many more years,” said Mocelo.  “It is truly God’s ministry, and we are humbled and very thankful.  Sometimes we just marvel at seeing the power of the cross in people.  It’s really very exciting to see people come to us and in a matter of weeks or months be completely transformed.  It is only God who can do that.”

For more information about how you can be involved with Celebrate Recovery, contact Lidia Mocelo at lidia@fbcnj.org or visit CR’s ministry page on our website.