Addiction & Recovery Ministry

Helping others through the isolation and darkness of addiction

Saint James has embarked upon an addiction and recovery ministry in response to the opioid crisis and struggles with other forms of addiction faced by so many in our community. Oriented toward hope and confidence in the abundance of God’s grace, we seek to develop the resources to respond faithfully to those in our families, our parish and in the community around us who have journeyed, or may be journeying, through the isolation and darkness of addiction.

Addiction & Recovery Masses

The addiction & recovery masses at Saint James are oriented toward hope and confidence in the abundance of God’s grace for those who have journeyed, or may be journeying, through the isolation and darkness of addiction.

ALL are welcome at our Addiction & Recovery Masses—the broken, the suffering, the homeless, addicts, alcoholics, and families who have suffered through the pain of addictive behaviors. This mass is for you—the addict, the friend or family member of an addict—who have known the pain and suffering caused by the disease of addiction. You are not alone.

Through the 12 steps of NA/AA/Nar-Anon we have learned to deal with our disease. We believe this:

SUPPORT GROUPS

Alcoholics Anonymous

Narcotics Anonymous

Gamblers Anonymous

SMART Recovery  (behavior modification focused)

Dharma Recovery  (Buddhist based 12 step)

Celebrate Recovery  (Christian based 12 step)

Al-Anon  (12 step meetings for family members/loved ones)

DETOXIFICATION (Lancaster, PA area)

White Deer Run Support Center (866) 769-6822
PA Adult & Teen Challenge (844) 888-8085

GENERAL INFO (Lancaster, PA area)

Compass Mark

Lancaster County Drug & Alcohol Commission 717-299-8023

  1. We admitted that we were powerless over our addiction (or our addicts), and that our lives had become unmanageable.
  2. We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
  3. We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
  4. We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
  5. We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
  6. We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
  7. We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
  8. We made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
  9. We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
  10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
  11. We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
  12. Having had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to addicts, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

We encourage you to keep an open mind during this mass. Let the words, the prayers, and the music speak to you. If you would like special prayers during communion, please go to the rear of the church where ministers will pray with you and for you.

NA Volunteers Needed!

The Addiction and Recovery Team’s 11th Step ministry at Saint James is looking for compassionate volunteers  to welcome NA members and direct them to the forum room on Tuesday and Thursday evenings from 6:30 – 8:30 PM. Please email Chuck Smith for details.

Click here to read our vision and mission statement

August 28, 2021

May 29, 2021

February 27, 2021

Ministry Leadership

Debbi Miller has been a member of Saint James since October 2015 and currently serves on the vestry. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor and is currently employed as a staff therapist at Samaritan Counseling Center in Lancaster. She holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from Wheaton College (IL) and a master’s degree from Messiah College in clinical mental health counseling. She has many years of experience working with individuals experiencing homelessness, incarceration and poverty and is committed to creating a welcoming, safe place in the church for individuals in addiction or recovery. She believes all humans are created in the image of God and therefore have intrinsic value. She and her husband David have worked in ministry together and have mentored and opened their home to individuals who are often overlooked as a result of the disease of addiction. For more information, email Debbi Miller.