Bishop Endorses 12-Step Recovery

Kim Lawton, managing editor of Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, recently interviewed Episcopal Bishop Gene Robinson...

Q: Earlier this year, you did go into rehab for alcohol addiction. How are you doing now?

A: I'm doing great now. I just celebrated four months of sobriety this week. It's been a total blessing. I can't tell you how wonderful it feels and what I've learned and how my own faith in God has deepened. And, you know, there's something I didn't expect that has come out of this. Going to 12-step meetings has been a great experience. I always knew I would do it because it's -- I was told that it was really important. But I never expected to be so inspired by it. And you know, there are very few places in this culture where you can walk into a room where there are street people and CEOs and teachers and physicians and construction workers and shopkeepers all in the same room, all talking about real things, talking about their real lives and what's going on. You know, the 12-step programs are really about living your life. Only the first step refers to alcohol. All of the rest are about living a life. And what I've discovered is that there is a whole lot more church going on in those 12-step meetings in church basements sometimes than going on upstairs in the sanctuary..."

From this post from Father Jake Stops the World.

Technorati Tags: addiction, alcoholism, recovery, 12-step