Confidential. Peer-led. Interfaith. Support is available.
You Do Not Have to Walk This Path Alone
Recovery is not a sign of failure. It is a sign of courage.
Every day, clergy across the country struggle with addiction, burnout, depression, anxiety, family challenges, trauma, and the pressures of ministry. Many suffer in silence, believing they are alone or that seeking help will jeopardize their calling.
The truth is that thousands of clergy have walked this path before you—and many have found healing, recovery, and renewed purpose.
The following organizations and resources are offered as trusted companions for your journey.
Recovery Fellowship
Clergy All 12-Step Meeting
All clergy, chaplains, licensed ministers, and seminarians are welcome. This is a highly confidential meeting, and all participants are screened to confirm their professional status before receiving the link.
To attend, please contact Pastor Martin-Dent by email to confirm your credentials. She will then send you the meeting link.
Need Immediate Support?
Fellowship of Recovering Clergy
A confidential fellowship of clergy and church leaders recovering from alcoholism, substance use disorders, behavioral addictions, codependency, and other compulsive patterns. The Fellowship provides peer support, recovery meetings, retreats, and connections with others who understand the unique challenges of ministry and recovery.
Center of Addiction & Faith
The Center of Addiction & Faith exists to awaken faith communities to address addiction. Through webinars, conferences, online recovery meetings, training programs, educational resources, and a growing online community, CAF equips clergy and congregations to better understand addiction and support recovery.
Whether you are seeking help personally, supporting a loved one, or leading a congregation affected by addiction, CAF provides practical tools and hope-filled resources.
Center for the Restoration of Impaired Clergy (CRIC)
The Center for the Restoration of Impaired Clergy (CRIC) is an ecumenical ministry dedicated to helping bishops, district presidents, judicatory leaders, church executives, and denominational officials better understand addiction, mental health challenges, trauma, and the recovery process among clergy and church leaders.
Recognizing that many church bodies lack clear policies and training for responding to impaired clergy, CRIC provides education, consultation, resources, and guidance designed to help denominational leaders navigate these situations with greater wisdom, compassion, accountability, and hope. The ministry seeks to move beyond punitive responses toward approaches that support healing, restoration, and, when appropriate, healthy return to ministry.
CRIC works to bridge the gap between addiction professionals, recovery communities, and church leadership so that clergy and church leaders receive the care, support, and recovery resources they need while maintaining appropriate standards of accountability and professional conduct.
Mastering Recovery
Founded by recovery advocate Barry Lehman, Mastering Recovery offers practical tools, coaching, education, and encouragement for individuals seeking long-term recovery and personal transformation.
The organization focuses on helping people build meaningful, sustainable lives beyond addiction.
iTHIRST Initiative
Founded by actor and recovery advocate Jim Wahlberg, iTHIRST equips faith communities to understand addiction as a disease and respond with compassion, education, and practical support.
Its training materials are specifically designed to help clergy and congregations become places of healing and recovery.
.jpg)
Recommended Reading
The Lie That Kills Us: We All Have Elephants
By Ed Treat
An exploration of addiction, denial, trauma, grace, and recovery through the lens of personal experience, faith, and pastoral ministry.
We tend to think of addiction as someone else’s problem—something that happens on the margins. But what if the real danger is closer to home? What if the most destructive force in our lives isn’t the substance—but the silence? The denial? The need to keep pretending?
We tend to think of addiction as someone else’s problem—something that happens on the margins. But what if the real danger is closer to home? What if the most destructive force in our lives isn’t the substance—but the silence? The denial? The need to keep pretending?
Our Stories of Experience, Strength & Hope
By the Fellowship of Recovering Lutheran Clergy
A collection of personal stories from Lutheran clergy who experienced addiction and found their way into recovery. This book offers hope to clergy who are new in recovery, reminding them that their lives, ministries, and faith are not over. It is especially helpful for clergy, judicatory leaders, and church bodies seeking to better understand and support pastors in recovery.
Faith Communities and Addiction Recovery: A Practical Guide for Faith and Community Leaders
By Ed Treat
A practical field guide for congregations, clergy, faith leaders, and community leaders who want to respond faithfully and effectively to addiction. The book helps faith communities understand addiction, reduce stigma, support recovery, and take concrete steps toward becoming places of healing, welcome, and hope.
The Pastor
By Ed Treat
A warm, humorous, and theologically uplifting cozy mystery about a recovering alcoholic Lutheran pastor who solves a crime in his parish. Blending faith, recovery, humor, and suspense, the novel is a good fit for church book clubs and readers who enjoy thoughtful fiction with a redemptive heart.