LA PLATA, Md. — A new church focused on faith and recovery will officially launch this Saturday in La Plata, giving people affected by addiction a place to worship, connect and find support.
Day One Recovery Church will hold its launch from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at The Dome, located at 9690 Shepherds Creek Place in La Plata.
According to Day One Recovery Church’s website, its motto is “Faith for Every Day. Sobriety for Life.”
Day One Recovery Church Pastor Corri Cusimano said the church has been in the making for around two years, but the idea has been on her heart for much longer.
“We want to become a space where everyone who’s involved in the recovery community, whether you’re someone who works in the recovery community, or if you’re in recovery, or maybe you haven’t found recovery yet, that you find a space where you can be transformed and find freedom through Jesus Christ,” Cusimano said.
The Pastor Behind Day One
For Cusimano, the mission behind Day One Recovery Church is rooted in her own experience with addiction and loss.
Cusimano said she struggled with addiction and alcoholism for 35 years. Eleven years ago, she lost her son to an overdose.
“I was broken,” Cusimano said.
She said the loss became a turning point in her life and led her to focus on helping others struggling with addiction.
“Here I am doing something that I love, which is to help people who are in addiction,” she said. “Even though my son never got the help that he needed, it’s been fuel for the fire.”
Cusimano said she believes addiction is often connected to pain and that people may use substances to either feel something or avoid feeling it.
“I say there are two reasons that people use,” she said. “It’s either to feel something or to feel nothing at all.”
Her experiences have shaped the kind of community she hopes to build through Day One.
“I want people that are in this to know that they’re not alone, that there is healing from the pain that drives them to use and that there’s a community that wants to come around them and love them,” she said.
How Day One Began
Cusimano knew the mission she wanted to help carry out, but the name came to her in an unexpected moment.
After speaking at an event at NEWLIFE Church about her recovery and what she believed God had done in her life, Cusimano returned home and continued thinking about the possibility of creating a recovery-focused church. She had also been praying over the Recovery Centers of America and ways she could help people struggling with addiction in the process.
The next day, Cusimano was talking with a fellow NEWLIFE staff member named Ashley. As Ashley raised her hand toward Cusimano in a high-five gesture, she said, “Day One.”
Cusimano said they both immediately began to cry. She knew she had found the church’s name.
“That was the birth of Day One Recovery,” she said.
A Place For Recovery
Day One Recovery Church plans to offer more than weekly worship services.
The church assists people with finding recovery meetings, including Celebrate Recovery, Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. It also plans to offer small groups, discipleship classes and Fireside Fridays, where people can gather and build relationships.
Cusimano said she wants people to feel comfortable walking through the doors.
“We want to make this a place where people can come and not feel like they have to pretend to be someone else,” she said.
Day One has also partnered with the Jude House. Profits from the church’s merchandise sales will go toward a scholarship fund for people who have been in recovery for at least one year.
Cusimano said the scholarships will help recipients take a class through the Jude House to become certified peer recovery specialists. The goal is to help them return to the recovery community with an entry-level job.
As Day One prepares to launch, Cusimano said she hopes people leave knowing they have found a place without judgment.
“I hope they feel they walked into a place where the people have been where they have been, but also have found a way out and want to bring them along with them,” she said. “I want them to know that they’re safe here, there is a space for them where there is no judgment because we’ve been there and we’ve walked this road.”
Following the launch, services will be held every Saturday from 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the same location.
For more information, see Day One Recovery Church’s website.
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