ABOUT US
our history
Celebrate Recovery was founded in 1991 as a ministry of Saddleback Church by Pastor John and Cheryl Baker. John shared with Senior Pastor Rick Warren a vision God had given him for a new Christ-centered ministry where people could find freedom from their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
The first night 43 people attended, and Celebrate Recovery was born with only four Open Share Groups — Men’s and Women’s Chemical Dependency, and Men’s and Women’s Co-Dependency. Over the years, thousands of people have gone through the program at Saddleback Church. Many of them have gone on to serve in Celebrate Recovery and other areas of the church.
Thousands of churches have started a Celebrate Recovery ministry around the world, and that number continues to grow. Celebrate Recovery is not just growing in churches, but in recovery houses, rescue missions, universities, and prisons around the world. It continues to be a growing global movement.
The need for Celebrate Recovery is unmistakable, being a safe place for people to find freedom from the issues controlling their lives.
our
founders
Pastor John and Cheryl Baker
John and Cheryl Baker are the founders of Celebrate Recovery, a ministry born out of their personal experience and calling at Saddleback Church in 1991. Together, they created a program that has helped countless individuals and families find healing in their lives through Jesus Christ. Side by side, they led CR for 30 years.
In February 2021, John went home to be with his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Celebrate Recovery continues to carry on through their son and daughter in law, Johnny and Jeni.
global
directors
PASTOR JOHNNY BAKER: PASTOR AND GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Pastor Johnny, a nationally recognized speaker and author, has been a part of Celebrate Recovery since the beginning of the program. Serving alongside his parents, the founders of Celebrate Recovery, his life was among the first lives changed by the program. Johnny has served on CR staff since 2004, became the pastor of Celebrate Recovery in 2012, and is now succeeding his father, Pastor John Baker, as the leader of the worldwide movement. As an adult child of an alcoholic who became an alcoholic himself, Johnny is passionate about breaking the cycle of dysfunction in his family and helping other families find the tools that will lead to healing and openness.
JENI BAKER: GLOBAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Jeni is a dedicated leader in the worldwide movement of CR. Her personal recovery journey began in 2013, and she has been actively involved in leadership since 2014. Joining the staff at Saddleback Church in 2022, Jeni is committed to sharing her inspiring story of triumph over codependency and childhood dysfunction, highlighting the hope and and healing she has discovered through recovery and therapy. Married to Johnny since 2000, Jeni and her husband have three children together. One of her favorite Bible verses is 2 Corinthians 1:3-4, and she is thankful for the opportunity to serve in Celebrate Recovery, as it allows her to share the comfort and hope she has received from Jesus with others.
MAC OWEN: GLOBAL DIRECTOR
Mac is the Global Director of Celebrate Recovery, a role he has embraced with passion and dedication. After 14 years of leading a recovery ministry at their church, Mac and his wife, Mary, attended their first Celebrate Recovery Summit in 2004 at Saddleback Church in California. Since then, they have been actively involved in CR, making a significant impact in the recovery community. Mac’s leadership journey includes 17 years as an elder at WFR Church in West Monroe, LA, and his current role as an elder at Impact Christian Church in Woodland Park, CO. His extensive experience in Celebrate Recovery spans several key roles: CR Ministry Leader in West Monroe, LA; CR Louisiana State Representative; CR Regional Director; and CR National Assimilation Coach. Mac and Mary are proud parents of three children and doting grandparents to ten grandchildren. Their commitment to recovery and family remains a cornerstone of their lives.
RODNEY HOLMSTROM: GLOBAL FIELD DIRECTOR
CR Ministries and teams
MENTAL HEALTH
The Mental Health Team’s mission is to equip local Celebrate Recovery ministries to empower individuals to achieve serenity with their mental health. We also aim to raise awareness of mental health, create a safe place to continue conversations and implement Mental Health Ambassadors at each CR location. We encourage Christ-centered sponsorship, provide tools such as the Mental Health Agreement form, Colors of our Mental Health cards, the CR Suicide Protocol along with mental health forums. While Celebrate Recovery may not eliminate Mental Health struggles, these tools are aimed at helping equip leaders and sponsors to walk alongside participants as they learn to struggle well. Celebrate Recovery is not a replacement for professional counseling, therapy, and/or medical treatment. We provide encouragement and support to supplement those efforts.
Mental Health Directors:
Sarah Stanton
Roger Stanton
CULTURAL COMMUNITIES
The Cultural Communities Team’s mission is to cultivate a space where all people experience recovery and reconciliation regardless of ethnicity or race. We facilitate Celebrate Recovery step studies for people of color led by people of color. [Black, Latino, Indigenous, AAPI (Asian American and Pacific Islander) communities] Our goal is to one day eliminate the need for Cultural Communities inside of Celebrate Recovery by bringing everyone along into maturity and unity in our faith.
We know that in every community, families wear badges of honor and pride because of their deep heritage. Unfortunately, there are those in these same families who also wear bandages to cover a multitude of hurts, hang-ups, and habits. Pain, addiction, disappointment, and hopelessness do not discriminate. Neither does the journey that leads toward Christ’s healing power. Life change, fresh vision, renewed strength, restored hope, and relationships are experienced as individuals take intentional steps toward accepting God’s grace and forgiveness.
Cultural Communities Director:
Cheryl Luke
CELEBRATION PLACE ministry
The mission of Celebration Place ministry is to help children experience the love of Jesus as they learn how to love themselves and others while they grow in their relationship with God. We strive to partner with parents to help break the cycle of dysfunction destroying so many of our families. Children also learn healthy coping skills for life’s tough issues.
Celebration Place is the approved children’s curriculum for Celebrate Recovery ministries for children ages 5-13 years of age. This Christ-centered curriculum mirrors the lessons taught in Large Groups for adults.
Celebration Place Director:
Sylvia Chesser
THE LANDING Ministry
The mission of The Landing ministry is to provide a safe place for our junior and senior high school students to process life and the struggles that accompany it, provide tools to help them live emotionally and spiritually healthy lives, and point them toward the freedom found in Jesus Christ.
This curriculum is designed to mirror the same material as the adult Celebrate Recovery curriculum, only packaged for students. A typical night in the Landing will consist of Connect Time, Worship, Teaching Time, Small Group, and Fellowship Time.
Through the Landing, our students can find a safe place to find help, hope, and healing through engaging the recovery principles and growing in relationship with Jesus Christ. Ultimately, this ministry can help students learn how to break cycles of dysfunction and provide tools for them to live free and healthy lives.
The Landing Director:
Andy Petry
CR INSIDE
The mission of the Celebrate Recovery Inside Team is to bring Celebrate Recovery into jails and prisons. CRI encourages those who are incarcerated to find healing from their hurts, hang-ups and habits while they’re inside. Lives are changed as experiences, strengths, and hopes are shared with one another. In addition, individuals become willing to accept God’s grace and forgiveness in solving life’s problems.
CR Inside Directors:
John Molina
Shirley Molina
CELEBRATING PASTOR’S RECOVERY (CPR)
The mission of the CPR Team is to help pastors and their spouses find a safe haven for experiencing the healing power of Jesus Christ for the hurts, hang-ups, and habits of the past, present, and future.
CPR Directors:
Hess Hestor (for men)
Mary Owen (for women)
OPIOID
The Opioid Team serves to change the way we view opioids, by providing individuals with the proper means and necessary resources to be successful in slowing the growth of our nation’s epidemic. We need to take an immediate look at opioid-addiction and overdose prevention on a global scale. The path forward is to increase awareness and prevention to help reduce opioid related deaths. It may be impossible to reverse the effects that we have endured, but by placing Opioid Ambassadors around the globe, we are working to overcome statistics. There is no better way to change the world than by helping to change one life at a time and making a difference in the lives of our fellow humans.
Opioid Director:
Nick Olson
Native Nations
The mission of CR Native Nations Team is to bring the gospel to the over 500 sovereign peoples within the borders of the United States, who are faced with staggering rates of alcoholism, abuse, poverty, and suicide. In that darkness, we see a profound opportunity to walk as the light of the world share the gospel of Jesus through the gift of recovery, and see a generation transformed.
Our hope and intent is to foster the development of Celebrate Recovery ministries within the Native Nations led by Native Americans.
Native Nations Director:
Joe Clark
Welcome Home
The mission of the Welcome Home Team is to help veterans know that Celebrate Recovery is a safe place to work on their hurts, hang-ups, and habits.
Life after the Military does not always make sense. The loss of a sense of brotherhood and the loss of being part of something important and bigger than myself can lead to feelings of frustration, isolation, emptiness, boredom, anger, or loneliness. In an attempt to cope with the pain of these overwhelming emotions, sometimes veterans turn to unhealthy relationships, at-risk behaviors, or substance abuse.
Whether you served during peacetime or war, if you experienced combat, or never heard a shot fired in anger, all veterans are welcome at Welcome Home!
Welcome Home Director:
Tony Campbell
CR International
The mission of the Celebrate Recovery International Team is to bring the ministry of Celebrate Recovery to the world. We desire to take the message of hope to the world as God breaks the chains of darkness, as we work to translate Celebrate Recovery materials into other languages, mentor new groups, and help establish healthy Celebrate Recovery ministries across the globe.
CR International Director:
Richard Cobb
Our International Celebrate Recovery Representatives are ready to assist you, see below for nations represented:
