Leadership Training
Help your team understand addiction, recovery, the 12 Steps, sponsorship, healthy leadership, personal responsibility, and the role of the local church.
We are responsible TO people. We are not responsible FOR people.
Free Indeed Church Launch
Help Your Church Become a Place Where Recovery Happens.
Free Indeed is a Christ-centered recovery ministry designed to create a safe community for people seeking freedom from addiction, destructive behaviors, unhealthy relational patterns, and the wounds that often exist underneath them.
If your church sees the need for recovery ministry but isn’t sure where to begin, Free Indeed Church Launch provides the structure, resources, training, and support needed to move from:
“We should do something.”
↓
“We’re ready to open the doors.”
Training • Resources • Leadership Development • Launch Support
The Need
Your Church Probably Already Has People Who Need Recovery.
Addiction doesn’t stay outside the doors of the church.
Neither do codependency, destructive behaviors, broken relationships, shame, relapse, family dysfunction, and the deeper wounds that often exist underneath them.
But starting a recovery ministry can feel overwhelming.
- —Who should lead it?
- —What should the meetings look like?
- —How do we use the 12 Steps biblically?
- —What happens when someone shows up intoxicated?
- —How do we handle confidentiality?
- —When does someone need counseling or treatment instead of ministry?
- —How do we create something that lasts?
Free Indeed Church Launch helps your church answer those questions before the first meeting ever begins.
What Is Free Indeed?
More Than a Sobriety Meeting.
Free Indeed is a Christ-centered recovery ministry built around biblical community, honesty, accountability, discipleship, prayer, the principles of the 12 Steps, and connection to appropriate resources.
The goal isn’t simply sobriety.
The goal is spiritual maturity.
Free Indeed recognizes that recovery goes deeper than stopping a substance or behavior.
Recovery involves surrender, honesty, accountability, healing, responsibility, maturity, and a willingness to look honestly at our own lives.
Free Indeed is not therapy, detoxification, medical treatment, or a replacement for professional mental health care.
It is a ministry of the local church designed to help people experience biblical community while learning how to take meaningful next steps toward recovery.
What Church Launch Provides
You Provide the People.
I’ll Help You Launch It.
I work directly with pastors, ministry leaders, and your church’s selected Free Indeed leadership team to help establish the ministry.
Meeting Playbook
Your leaders receive a practical, repeatable meeting structure so they don't have to invent the ministry every week.
- —Welcoming newcomers
- —Meeting guidelines
- —Prayer and confession
- —Celebrating recovery milestones
- —Teaching and discussion
- —Asking good questions
- —Handling difficult moments
- —Starting and ending on time
The goal is to create consistency without turning the meeting into a rigid program.
Biblical Recovery & the 12 Steps
Learn how to use Scripture, the Life Recovery Bible, and 12-Step material without turning every meeting into a lecture.
READ → NOTICE → ASK → DISCUSS → APPLY
The Bible remains the source. Recovery material is a tool. The leader is a facilitator.
Policies, Boundaries & Safety
Healthy recovery ministry requires more than good intentions. Your leadership team will establish clear expectations around:
- —Confidentiality
- —Same-sex sponsorship and mentoring
- —Leader/participant boundaries
- —Communication outside meetings
- —Intoxicated attendees
- —Crisis situations
- —Mental health and professional care
- —Emergency procedures
- —Pastoral oversight
- —Leader accountability
Free Indeed's baseline practices are designed to work alongside your church's existing policies, pastoral oversight, reporting requirements, and emergency procedures.
Local Referral Network
Free Indeed should never try to become everything someone needs. Your church will develop a local referral network that can include:
- —Detox and substance-use treatment
- —Residential recovery programs
- —Licensed counselors
- —Mental health crisis resources
- —Domestic violence resources
- —Food and housing assistance
- —Pastoral care
- —Emergency resources
PRAY. LISTEN. CONNECT. REFER.
Sponsorship & Leadership Development
The weekly meeting is only part of recovery. Your team will learn how sponsorship and intentional Step work can help participants go deeper, and how healthy participants can eventually become sponsors, volunteers, and future leaders.
AttendeeParticipantSponsorVolunteerLeader
The goal is a sustainable ministry that eventually develops healthy people who can help other people.
What Your Church Receives
You Won’t Be Starting With a Blank Page.
Free Indeed Leader Guide
The philosophy, leadership principles, recovery framework, and practical guidance needed to lead the ministry.
Meeting Playbook
A repeatable structure for facilitating a healthy Free Indeed meeting.
Life Recovery Bible Guide
How to use Scripture and 12-Step recovery material while keeping meetings participatory rather than turning them into lectures.
6-Week Launch Roadmap
A week-by-week process that takes a church from initial planning to its first Free Indeed meeting.
Policies & Boundaries Guide
Practical guidance for confidentiality, relational boundaries, intoxicated attendees, crisis situations, referrals, and leader accountability.
Referral Guide Template
A framework for developing local relationships and resources for needs beyond the scope of Free Indeed.
Additional resources in development
- Leader training videos
- Discussion question library
- Pastor / elder guide
- Flyers
- Social graphics
- Announcement copy
- Signage
- Other launch materials
The Six-Week Launch Process
From “We Want To Do This” to Opening the Doors.
Week 1
Understand the Mission
Understand what Free Indeed is and isn't. Discuss addiction, recovery, the 12 Steps, spiritual maturity, and the role of the local church.
Week 2
Build the Team
Identify two or three core leaders. Establish pastoral oversight, leader expectations, boundaries, confidentiality expectations, and communication channels.
Week 3
Learn the Meeting
Learn and practice the Free Indeed meeting format. Train leaders to facilitate discussion, ask good questions, redirect cross-talk, welcome newcomers, and use Scripture and recovery material effectively.
Week 4
Build the Safety Net
Develop the church's local referral network. Review emergency procedures, safety concerns, mandatory reporting, crisis situations, and situations that are outside the scope of the ministry.
Week 5
Practice
Conduct a mock Free Indeed meeting. We debrief together on what worked, what felt unclear, and where adjustments are needed.
Week 6
Launch
Open the doors and hold the first Free Indeed meeting. Afterward, debrief with the leadership team and identify adjustments for the next meeting.
The goal isn’t to make your church dependent on a consultant.The goal is to equip your church to lead a healthy recovery ministry.
A Partnership
What I Need From Your Church
Free Indeed Church Launch is a partnership. The church should be prepared to provide:
- —Support and approval from pastoral/church leadership
- —A designated pastoral or ministry oversight contact
- —At least 2–3 potential core leaders
- —A consistent meeting space
- —Willingness to establish appropriate safety and reporting procedures
- —Willingness to build a local referral network
- —Leaders willing to be trained, practice, and receive feedback
- —Commitment to maintaining healthy biblical, relational, and ministry boundaries
You don’t need recovery experts. You need healthy, teachable leaders who are willing to learn.
About Me
Why I Built This Launch Project
Recovery Coach • Author • Speaker • Podcast Host
I’m a recovered addict, recovery ministry leader, life coach, author, speaker, and host of the You Would Think podcast.
I didn’t create Free Indeed. Free Indeed is a Christ-centered recovery ministry that’s already helping people find freedom in churches. What I built is this launch project—the training, the roadmap, and the support that helps a local church actually get a Free Indeed ministry off the ground.
This project grew out of my own experience with addiction, 12-Step recovery, biblical discipleship, sponsorship, and years of walking alongside people seeking freedom.
I believe some of the people who most need recovery are already sitting in our churches—they simply need a safe place to become honest. That’s why I put this launch process together: to help the local church become that place.
My role in a Church Launch isn’t to become your recovery pastor or permanently run your ministry. My job is to help equip your people to lead it.
Scope & Cost
The scope and cost of a Free Indeed Church Launch can vary depending on your church’s location, travel, the number of leaders being trained, how much of the training is in person, any recovery ministry infrastructure you already have, and whether you want additional training or consultation.
Free Indeed Church Launch packages are designed to be accessible to local churches. We’ll discuss the needs of your church and determine an appropriate launch plan during the initial conversation.
Is Free Indeed Right For Your Church?
Thinking About Starting a Recovery Ministry?
You don’t need to have everything figured out before reaching out.
If your church sees a need for recovery ministry and wants to explore whether Free Indeed could be a good fit, let’s start with a conversation.
We’ll talk about your church, your community, your potential leaders, what you already have in place, and what it would take to launch.
No pressure. No commitment to launch just because we talk.
Talk with Josh about Free Indeed