It was in this spirit that on March 1st, 2008, the New York�Chemical Recovery Ministry conducted "The Eternal Fellowship:" a workshop in which many principles of recovery were taught and expounded on. For many years CR has been an awesome tool for recovery in God's church. As the church has changed, so too, CR needed to "get deeper" in order to be as effective a tool for these times as it ever was.

To this end we�presented some new ideas grounded on the foundation of God's word and�20 years of past experience in the�CR ministry. God has revealed to us principles in his Scriptures that are most relevant to recovery from drugs as well as from all other sins that bind us.
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The day began with heartfelt, spirit filled singing. Following the singing we took a trip down memory lane as Dave Martin spoke on the history of CR. The nostalgia was evident on all our smiling faces as we remembered all of the great things God had done through the CR ministry. The history of CR brought us right up to the present and the Spirit's call for us to reflect on CR and how we could make it the most effective tool for present day disciples to recover from sin as well as all those whom the Lord our God will call.
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Following Dave, Harry Mullan spoke on how for the past three years CR has been conducted in the Lower Westchester ministry. Believing that God is indeed a God of order we have� before us during every group large poster boards with the rules of group as well as the traditions that God has shown us are at the heart of our recovery. Harry took us through some changes that have been made including us meeting in public venues in order to live fully up to one of the CR traditions�outreach. He also spoke about our new emphasis on the eternal fellowship (another of the traditions) and the�deemphasis on people graduating out of CR which has often misled many into believing they were cured from sin and not in need of a fellowship of like-minded believers.

Kevin Davis and Joseph Fusilier spoke in great detail about all of�the CR traditions: The Eternal Fellowship, Total Recovery, Accountability, Truth in Love, Willingness to Change, Outreach, Biblical Authority and Empathy.
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The food was great: physical and spiritual, the fellowship was inspiring and God's presence was felt. The spirit of the disciples at this event was a testimony to the spiritual hunger and thirst in God's church for truth and a deeper, richer and fuller understanding of God, and the desire to commune with�Him more closely.

CR has always been a treasure in a field: full of priceless value. Now we believe that it has become a city on a hill. With outreach as one of our newly identified traditions we are praying God will use us more than ever to give guidance to all in this life as we strive to reach Him and remain in Him forever.
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There are plans in the works for a follow-up workshop, a ramp-up of�the CR website, and a continuation of great fellowship between people in recovery from various parts of the church.
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To God be the Glory

Photos from the workshop are now available to view in the Photo Gallery here.