Music enlivens program battling addiction
July 23, 2008
By J.B. Wogan
Celebrate Recovery’s help is infused with rock n’ roll
Jay Boone performs every Monday night for Celebrate Recovery, an anti-addiction program run out of the basement of Pine Lake Covenant Church. The Redmond resident is a recovering alcoholic who has been dry for 14 years.
“We’ve all done the deal,” said Boone, a singer, songwriter and guitarist. Boone’s Rag Band uses rock ‘n’ roll to promote religion as a way to find redemption in one’s life.
“We’ve got the scars and the battle wounds. We’re not like ‘Pastor Rogers,’” Boone said.
Drummer Stewart Anderson, also a recovering alcoholic, added that the band has no plans to play in bigger venues or earn money for their music. They even play for free.
Anderson explained that the Rag Band’s goals are modest – providing music and inspiration for those in need – and fame doesn’t factor into their motivations.
“We’re not trying to make it,” Anderson said. “We’ve already made it.”
Most of the time, the Rag Band performs in church venues; the band will also play in a show in Occidental Park near Seattle’s Pioneer Square July 27.
Anderson said he supports programs like Alcoholics Anonymous and Celebrate Recovery because they implement specific strategies for combating drug addiction.
“Alcoholism is a cunning and baffling disease. I don’t feel that church by itself can keep you from being an alcoholic,” Anderson said.
Celebrate Recovery offers an organized, community-oriented approach to changing destructive behaviors, from unhealthy levels of anger and anxiety to drug addictions.
Tamara Buchan, a pastor at Pine Lake Covenant Church and its sister church Missiolux, said that all people are welcome to participate in Celebrate Recovery; its services are not exclusive to Pine Lake’s members or to Christians. But Christianity is a central coping mechanism in the recovery program and prayer is part of each Monday night session.
Buchan said membership has, on average, grown since its first meeting January 21. Before summer hit, she estimated about 45 people attended each week. The July 14 session had roughly half that number.
While Boone said his band’s music does not directly address addiction, it relates to the struggles Celebrate Recovery members often face.
“It touches on the shame you carry; it’s about the wreckage you’ve caused and how to forgive yourself,” Boone said.
Live music is one element of Celebrate Recovery that distinguishes it from other anti-addiction programs, according to Betsy Gordon, a founding member of Pine Lake’s Celebrate Recovery program.
“They rock. They make you feel good,” said Debbie Moore, a participant of Celebrate Recovery. Moore added that the entertainment and social aspects of the program work for her in a way that secular programs did not.
Boone, who has sat in on Celebrate Recovery meetings before, said the explicit Christian component of the program was effective in his beating alcoholism.
“I like being able to come to Christian meetings and talk openly about God’s power,” he said.
Reporter J.B. Wogan can be reached at 392-6434, ext. 247, or jbwogan@isspress.com.
Comments
Got something to say?
Before you comment, please note:
- These comments are moderated.
- Comments should be relevant to the topic at hand and contribute to its discussion.
- Personal attacks and/or excessive profanity will not be tolerated and such comments will not be approved.
- This is not your personal chat room or forum, so please stay on topic.
