For three days, May 8-10, 58 people attended "Blending addiction recovery with recovery along the Gulf Coast" where they heard from several speakers, attended workshops, 12-Step meetings, and Eucharist all while involving themselves in the New Orleans lifestyle.

"One of the things we did to fully experience New Orleans, was purchase three day passes for everyone and used the bus/trolley system to get around," said Eleanor Stromberger, president of Recovery Ministries. "It gave everyone the experience of being with the people of New Orleans."

She explained that the conference, which was open to those with or without addictions, was geared towards "finding those points of commonality" from which "we can learn from each other."

Conference speakers included the Rev. Carol Stewart, assistant to the Bishop of Mississippi for Outreach and Community Development; the Rev. William Livingston, pastoral missioner for the Diocese of Mississippi; the Rev. Bill Terry, of St. Anna's in New Orleans; and Gini Fellows, a certified addictions counselor specializing in pathological gambling. In addition, the Rev. Dr. Joanna Seibert read stories and played her Celtic harp relating it to one of the promises from the "Alcoholics Anonymous -- Big Book."

Several of the speakers agreed that Hurricane Katrina, being the worst natural disaster in U.S. history, did not fit the "mold of disaster recovery as we have known it."

"Usually in disaster recovery, the recovery stage is achieved by three years," Stromberger explained. "People become hopeful and begin seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. However, here in New Orleans, they are almost at three years and experts in this field are saying that this recovery will take 10 years."

This means, Stromberger said, that all of the phases of recovery that people go through -- the honeymoon, the disillusionment, and all those documented recovery stages from disasters -- are much slower to happen.

During the talks, Stromberger said they learned that reconstruction of the casinos has had a negative impact on recovery because it has increased gambling addictions.

"As a result of that pace, they are now seeing an increase in suicide, alcohol and drug addiction, and gambling because people will do whatever it takes to numb those feelings," she said. "And we are all part of this because what hurts one in the body of Christ, hurts all of us."

Stromberger, a recovered alcoholic and co-dependent, said that recovering addicts "know death and resurrection" meaning that in order to recover from addiction "you have to die to self."

"It is accomplished one day at a time," she said. "The motto in recovery meetings is that you 'show up, tell the truth and trust God with the outcome.' So that's a piece of what we brought to the people along the Gulf Coast that yes, you can do this."

She said she hopes participants left with a "sense of hope and renewal" and that they have a way of knowing that "this is a process of reconciliation" and that they are a member of the body of Christ.

"If you stay in it, a lot of hope and healing comes in that process of recovery," Stromberger said.

Recovery Ministries of the Episcopal Church is a national membership organization with a mission to those who, through addiction, have lost their health and freedom. The original concept for its mission dates back to the 1979 General Convention resolution on alcohol.

The ministry seeks to:

• Help the addicted and those who love them connect with spiritual resources and find lasting recovery;
• Witness to Christ's unfailing mercy by welcoming unchurched members of Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12-Step programs into an Episcopal faith community;
• Raise the awareness of bishops, and other clergy and leaders, about the disease of addiction and the redemption and grace found in recovery;
• Strengthen recovering Episcopalians in the work of their recovery and help proclaim the Gospel in the world and carry their recovery into the Church.

The 2009 annual gathering will take place in the fall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Further information on the work of this ministry is available here.

For resources on recovery visit here.