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ALTON - Community members are invited to attend a Celebrate Recovery and Broken Chains JC meeting to learn more about recovery through faith.
Starting at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, June 12, 2024, at 1422 Washington Avenue in Alton, attendees can enjoy barbecue from Steve’s Old Cabin BBQ, live music by the Forever Family from Celebrate Recovery Granite City, and a testimony from Chris Pfaff. Pfaff, the Missouri representative from Broken Chains JC, explained that the goal is to reach people, encourage them to share their stories and choose recovery.
“We are a fellowship of bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts who have found hope and healing in Jesus Christ. We are a ministry of Christian recovery, helping others to realize that change is possible,” Pfaff said. “Everybody needs Jesus. Even the toughest of the bikers.”
Pfaff and Broken Chains JC have teamed up with the Alton chapter of Celebrate Recovery for this event. Chaplain Marc Lane, who leads Celebrate Recovery in Alton, noted that the outreach event will encourage more connections between Celebrate Recovery and Broken Chains JC.
“It’s just an opportunity for our people to grow their circle and improve those relationships with individuals,” Lane said. “This is not group therapy. It’s not a counseling session. It’s a support group. And so the first step is to allow individuals to lead us, for us to begin to work on that relationship, and allow them to be able to share without having concern for it going anywhere. Anonymity and confidentiality are at the top.”
The event will begin with a “meet-and-greet-and-eat,” Lane explained. The band will play their set around 6:45 p.m., followed by Pfaff’s testimony at 7:30 p.m. Afterwards, Celebrate Recovery will break into a men’s group and a women’s group so people can share what resonated with them.
Lane emphasized that people don’t have to share, though it is a confidential space if they decide to. Ultimately, Pfaff and Lane want people to know that they are there to listen.
“We don’t try to go and shove anything down their throat,” Pfaff said. “We are just simply there, for anybody and everybody, if they need somebody to talk to or they’re struggling with something. They just need to know that we’re there for them.”
Only one-third of people who attend Celebrate Recovery meetings have a history of substance addiction. This nationwide program is modeled after Alcoholics Anonymous but targets a wide variety of “hurts, hang-ups and habits.” Not only do participants address the behavior — the habit — but they also look at why they’re drawn to the behavior and what purpose it serves in their lives, all through a Christian lens. For more about the Alton chapter of Celebrate Recovery, visit their official website.
While Broken Chains JC is aimed toward bikers and motorcycle enthusiasts, the group is for anyone who wants to recover with Christ. For more information about Broken Chains JC, visit their website at BrokenChainsJC.com.
“You can find sobriety through AA and NA, any sobriety group,” Pfaff added. “But you can only find hope and healing through Jesus Christ.”
To learn more about the event on June 12, check out the official Facebook event page.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
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