- desires to change due to dysfunction, addiction, or abuse
- desires to better his or her relationship with God and others.
We operate through the Huntsville Central Seventh-day Adventist Church, Huntsville, Alabama, U.S.A.
Our parent organization, Regeneration Ministries, is an
international, non-profit, self-supporting network
founded and directed by Seventh-day Adventist Pastor Hal
Gates, of
Bothell, Washington, U.S.A.
In His Steps uses a Christian form of the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and models AA’s meeting structure. For example, Jesus is the Power referred to in Step Two: “Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.” As in AA meetings, only first names are used, and respect for privacy is expected. Members are encouraged to share strength and hope through personal experience, but do not analyze another’s experience(s) or offer advice.
Gates, a former attorney, lived a life filled with alcohol, drugs, and searching before he chose to change. With God in his life, Gates saw God’s law within the concepts of mercy and forgiveness. Regeneration Ministries (SDAxA—Seventh-day Adventists for eXtinction of Addiction) is the result of a specific prayer dialogue Gates’ had as he sought the Lord’s guidance in his first full-time pastorate with the Washington Seventh-day Adventist Conference in the late 1980s. (1)
In 1987, the General Conference Study Commission on Chemical Dependency
concluded the Twelve Step program would be an asset in ministry. The
Commission recommended that pastors become familiar with the Twelve Step
process, become comfortable in referring people to such programs, and that
pastors incorporate the Twelve Steps within church ministries and
outreach. By 1990, more than 60 churches in North America had developed
support groups using the Twelve Steps and Regeneration model.
Ben and Jane took Regeneration facilitator training in June,
2000, in Baltimore, Maryland, and a small group began meeting at Huntsville
Central in October, 2000. Ben and Jane adopted the “In His Steps”
phrase for the Huntsville Central group from material they received during the
training. They believe the phrase aptly describes the process of admitting
one is out of control (Step One), choosing Jesus as one’s Restorer (Step
Two), and turning over one’s will and life to Him (Step Three).
(1) Summarized in part from “God Help Me!” by Maylan Schurch, Signs of the Times, September 1995, p. 16-19.
________