Life Choice

            Introduction:    

                                Life Choice is a ministry whose goal is to offer an effective and acceptable alternative to the secular drug, alcohol and criminal rehabilitation programs, and to be accepted by the courts as an accredited program.

            Life Choice will cost the participant a nominal fee of $5.00 per class. According to the court, individual and /or parent, the participant will attend once a week, 3days a week, or 6 days a week.

             Life Choice is a series of that will involve Celebrate Recover, Life Recovery, Life Course Study, and ministry training. Life choice is voluntary. Even if a participant is court ordered to this program, the individual can choose to return to court and seek other alternatives. Life Choice is Christ centered. The most important aspect of Life Choice is that we will teach the Doctrine of Jesus Christ as our higher power. This is not negotiable. The only Course Study in the Life Choice ministry that will not have a direct Christ centered teaching will be the Life Course Study. This is the only Course Study that is required in order to participate in any of the other Course Studies. It is also the one that the courts will acknowledge as an acceptable alternative to A.A., N.A., and other types of structured correction programs.

            Life Choice is primarily outpatient, but that may change as the program evolves. This ministry will be constructed in 3 well-planned phases. These phases are as detailed in the following text.

Phase I

            The Research Phase:

                        I will spend 3 months with each of the existing ministries at West Coast Word Church. This will give me a better understanding of the responsibilities each minister has and the level of commitment involved. It will help me better understand the concept of each ministry and hwo it does or doesn’t relate to Life Choice. This phase should take 18 to 24 months.

Phase II

            The Development Phase:

                        In this phase I will seed to be ordained by the church and licensed by the state of Florida as a minister. This is an outreach ministry and will prove to promote quality church growth. During the development phase, I will begin to gather the resources necessary for the meetings. Such material will include Celebrate Recovery books, Life Recovery Bibles, You’ve Got What it Takes booklets, and pastor (your) approved curriculum.

            In the development phase I will be meeting with the Public Defenders office, Clerk of the Court and select law firms to integrate the program into the court system. We will also introduce this program to the Adult and Juvenile Probation Departments for their endorsements, suggestions, adjustments and general feedback. The development phase will be a constant ongoing phase and will continue even after the Application Phase is launched.

Phase III

            The Application Phase:

                        The application phase is the launch of the Life Choice ministry. It will begin with the Application Course. There are three courses and the ministry program. The three courses are the Application Course (6 weeks), the Participant Course, the Affiliate Course, and the ministry program. In the following text we will briefly go over each of the Courses, and the Course Studies.

            The Courses

• The Applicant Course:

The Applicant Course is free and will be held for an hour after church each Sunday. During the Applicant Course, the applicant will be introduced to each Course Study and all of the other things the ministry has to offer. The Course Studies will be in the Participant Course. The Course Studies are as mentioned earlier in this text. As the ministry evolves, more Course Studies will be introduced for more specific purposes.

Celebrate Recovery will be 15 weeks, Life Recovery will be 12 months, and You’ve Got What it Takes will be 6 weeks. The applicant can sign up for and commit to any of the Course Studies provided he/she is willing to take the required Life Course Study.

            Each Course Study that the applicant applies for is a commitment, or contract that swears in oath to complete with minimal or no absences. If a Participant misses more than 2 classes during a 12-week commitment series, he or she must take the entire Course Study all over again even if he chooses to attend the remaining classes in that commitment series. If there is a significant reason why the Participant cannot continue, we will make exceptions such as bringing the class to him/her or some other accommodation. We all share the commitment.

• The Participant Course is the Course Study (s) that the Applicant has signed up for and committed to. These Course Studies will be outlined in detail during the Applicant Course.
• The Affiliate Course is designed for those who have graduated one or more Course Studies and wish to be a Mentor for Participants. The Affiliate Course is a voluntary Course and will be at no cost to the Affiliate. Every member of Life Choice ministry will be held in accountability. Mentors and protégés   will have no secrets between each other. Even though the protégés and the mentors have no secrets between each other, confidentiality is required. One cannot even share with his/her spouse or pastor. This is between the two only.
• The Ministry Program is for those who have successfully completed one or more 12 step Course, mentored a protégé through a 12 step Course and wishes to go on to be a minister. We will teach the Affiliate to become a minister in one of the existing ministries or we will aid him/her in building his/her own ministry.