MADISON — New Hope Southern Baptist Church on Main Street in downtown Madison will begin its Christ-centered recovery program for people dealing with various addictions and personal problems starting every Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at the church at 335 Main Street. “We start with a time of refreshments and fellowship, followed by a time of praise and worship, recovery study and discussion,” said the church Pastor John Harden. Over the past year, the church has been doing a lot of renovation and recently expanded its facilities. “We had to get our building completed and in order, but we know that addictions are hurting our youth, families and our community,” said the church Pastor John Harden. The program, Celebrate Recovery, will be an ongoing ministry. “It’s basically a 12-step recovery program for people who are in recovery from addictions, from alcohol to drugs to co-dependency,” Small said. “We want to address any and all addictions. So, it is really going to expand from there to sexual addiction, which would include pornography and other things. It’s kind of a holistic approach, it’s a biblical approach. It takes people from anywhere they are, whatever they’re addicted to, and through the program holds them accountable and sets them free from addiction.” Other addictions include smoking, eating and “any sort of addictive behavior,” Harden said. “We like to label certain kinds of behavior, but really, any behavior that controls us is an addictive behavior,” Harden added. Participants go through the traditional 12 steps, but the methodology is Christ-centered rather than the generic “higher power” that Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) employs, Harden said. Small said his church wanted to do the Celebrate Recovery program because many people in the community, especially today’s youth, have addictions. “Really, it’s a ministry that we have opened up it to the community, to help people in the community,” he said. “We want to help the family members of those with problems as well.” “Jesus said, ‘They that be whole (healthy people) need not a physician, but they that are sick…for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners…,’” Harden said. Celebrate Recovery is the brainchild of California pastor John Baker, whose church, Saddleback Community Church, has been using it for about 10 years. Baker oversees the program but Rick Warren is the pastor of the church. Celebrate Recovery is now used in 800 churches nationwide. For more information on Celebrate Recovery at New Hope Southern Baptist Church, stop by the church on Main Street in downtown Madison, just past the Coal Museum and Boone Heritage & Arts Center. For more information, call them at 304-687-0018 or 304-752-3971. On the internet, visit www.celebraterecovery.com