A house RESOLUTION

TO RECOGNIZE AND HONOR "CELEBRATE RECOVERY" AS THEY BEGIN THEIR TWENTIETH YEAR OF SERVING RECOVERING INDIVIDUALS AND FAMILIES IN THE AIKEN COMMUNITY AND TO EXPRESS THE UTMOST GRATITUDE FOR TWO DECADES OF DEDICATED SERVICE TO THE CITIZENS OF AIKEN.

Whereas, the South Carolina House of Representatives is pleased to learn that Celebrate Recovery begins its twentieth year of serving the Aiken County community; and

Whereas, Celebrate Recovery is a biblical-based twelve step program that exists to equip the local church in providing a safe place for families to celebrate changed lives and freedom from hurts, habits, and difficulties through the power of Jesus Christ; and

Whereas, Celebrate Recovery was born in 1991 at Saddleback Church in California when John Baker wrote a letter to Pastor Rick Warren describing how God provided healing in one man's life and outlining the vision God had given him for Celebrate Recovery. He was excited to share the principles of Recovery with others. Other churches and prisons heard of the program, and soon Saddleback Church began training and equipping churches worldwide with materials to create a successful Celebrate Recovery in their community; and

Whereas, today there are over thirty-seven thousand churches worldwide and forty-two state prisons across the nation that have gone through the Celebrate Recovery program. Allendale Correctional Institution is one such prison; and

Whereas, in January 2004, along with Pastor Richard Swift, Anna Younts, and Eric DeBarique (Bogie) started a Celebrate Recovery program at Cedar Creek Church in Aiken which, since 2009, has been led by Ray and Claire Levesque under the guidance of pastor Phillip Lee; and

Whereas, to commemorate reaching the milestone of twenty years of service, Cedar Creek Church will host a celebration of fellowship and Christian music on January 27, 2023, for old and new members alike; and

Whereas, grateful for the years of service that Celebrate Recovery has devoted to the Aiken Community and for the countless people their service has impacted, the South Carolina House of Representatives extends best wishes for many more years of its fine service to Aiken County and beyond. Now, therefore,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That the members of the South Carolina House of Representatives, by this resolution, recognize and honor Celebrate Recovery as they begin their twentieth year of serving recovering individuals and families in the Aiken community and express the utmost gratitude for two decades of dedicated service to the citizens of Aiken.

Be it further resolved that a copy of this resolution be presented to

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