What 12-Step Programs Reveal About Living a Transformed Faith

What can faith communities learn from 12-step recovery programs? In this clip from his Day1 interview, guest preacher Wesley Rowell delves into the spiritual practice of giving and growing, drawing a parallel between the Gospel of John’s call to bear fruit and the transformative work of 12-step recovery programs. Rowell, a postulant for Holy Orders in the Episcopal Church, illuminates how faith and 12-step both invite us into lives of authenticity and self-emptying grace.

Joined by Day1 host Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime, Wesley reflects on how vulnerability, transformation, and shared healing lie at the heart of recovery and discipleship. Together, they challenge us to consider: How can we embody a faith that keeps joy by giving it away?

Watch the Clip

Sermon Excerpt

Wesley Rowell: In 12-step recovery programs, the 12-step emphasizes that after experiencing a spiritual awakening, one must carry the message of recovery to those still suffering. The only way to keep the gift is to give it away. And John is teaching this scared, anxious, broken crowd that this kind of self-emptying kenosis, or what the Buddhists call the path to enlightenment, is the way forward. His call for repentance isn't about guilt. It's about transformation. It's an invitation to authenticity, to true life. When John commands us to bear fruit, he means turning faith into action. This is what John desperately wanted his followers to understand, no matter their status or in life.
 

Interview Excerpt

Rev. Dr. Katie Givens Kime: Wesley, thank you again for this sermon. I love that you brought up the relevancy of 12-step programs for the Christian tradition. And I'm so excited. I think this is the first time since I've been on Day1 that it's just come up naturally in a sermon. So I'm like elated because what happens in a 12-step program, you come in needing something and you come in knowing that it's your responsibility to give too, rather than the experience you're describing of how we can come into church and feel like, okay, I am a consumer receiving a good. I am a student receiving a lecture. I am a person—I just want, I'm coming for some inspiration. No, you are coming even more vulnerable and needing than that, and you are coming also to give. It's so much more transformational and beyond transactional.

Wesley Rowell: And I think it's like this idea that to be told your story is your greatest gift. What that is, how is that? That is backwards and upside down. And I think about that in our churches we bring our hurts and we think we're the only ones, but when we share that, first of all, we're better. And then somebody who's been totally afraid to say, oh yeah, me too. I think sometimes in church we're afraid to be like, oh yeah, me too, I'm scared too...

Reflection: Faith and Recovery—A Shared Journey

This clip reminds us that faith, like recovery, asks us to give as we receive. Wesley Rowell draws on the principles of 12-step programs to help us see how John the Baptist’s call to “bear fruit” is an invitation to transformation, not guilt. Repentance becomes a way to open ourselves to others, creating a vibrant faith life rooted in grace and action.

For those in ministry, this message holds practical applications: How can we create spaces where people feel safe enough to share their fears and vulnerabilities? How can churches cultivate a “self-emptying” culture of giving and community that mirrors the healing work of recovery groups?

Reflective Questions:

• How does the concept of giving away what we’ve received challenge your understanding of faith and discipleship?
• What might it look like for your faith community to make vulnerability a strength?
• How can John’s call to bear fruit inspire you to serve others this week?

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