--- title: "Two Credentials, One Calling: Introducing the Mark Twelve Standard" description: Discover the Mark Twelve Standard for Christian recovery coaches, combining essential training and credentials to enhance support for individuals in recovery. image: https://marktwelverecovery.org/hubfs/R2_blog_1600x900.png --- [Skip to content](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard#main-content) ![mark-twelve-recovery-logo](https://marktwelverecovery.org/hs-fs/hubfs/mark-twelve-recovery-logo.png?width=800&height=400&name=mark-twelve-recovery-logo.png) - [Home](https://marktwelverecovery.org/) - [Resources](https://marktwelverecovery.org/resources) - [Scholarships](https://marktwelverecovery.org/scholarships) - [Coaching](https://marktwelverecovery.org/coach-network) - [Governance](https://marktwelverecovery.org/governance) Open main navigation Close main navigation - [Home](https://marktwelverecovery.org/) - [Resources](https://marktwelverecovery.org/resources) - [Scholarships](https://marktwelverecovery.org/scholarships) - [Coaching](https://marktwelverecovery.org/coach-network) - [Governance](https://marktwelverecovery.org/governance) - [Articles](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles) [Articles](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles) Oct 24, 2026, 10:46:37 AM # Two Credentials, One Calling: Introducing the Mark Twelve Standard [Kevin D. Flynn, RCP](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/author/kevin-d-flynn-rcp) Share: [facebook-f icon](http://www.facebook.com/share.php?u=https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard) [linkedin-in icon](http://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard) [Twitter icon](https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard) [pinterest-p icon](http://pinterest.com/pin/create/link/?url=https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard) [envelope icon](mailto:?body=https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/two-credentials-one-calling-introducing-the-mark-twelve-standard) *What the Standard asks of a Christian recovery coach, why it asks for two credentials, and what joining the Mark Twelve Coach Network means for your practice.* **Here is the short version.** The Mark Twelve Standard has two parts: completion of the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy, and completion of Christian recovery coach training that builds on it. If you hold both, you can apply to join the Mark Twelve Coach Network. Membership connects you with referrals from the Foundation’s church partners. You stay independent. You set your own fees, keep your own practice, and answer for your own work. One credential tells a church you know how to walk beside someone in recovery. The other tells it you can do that in the language of its faith. The Standard asks for both. ## What is the Mark Twelve Standard? It is a two-part credential requirement for every coach in the network: - **The CCAR Recovery Coach Academy.** The peer recovery foundation: the role of a coach, the ethics and boundaries of the work, and the skills of recovery planning. - **Christian recovery coach training.** Faith-integrated training that builds on the Academy and prepares a coach to bring Scripture and prayer into the work, for the people who want that. - **Referrals from church partners.** When a congregation or Christian organization tells us what support it is looking for, we introduce it to coaches in the network who fit that ministry. Coaches can work with individuals a church refers, support a recovery ministry, or help lead Bible studies and small groups. We can’t promise a number of referrals, and we won’t. - **Independence.** Coaches in the network are independent practitioners. They are not employees, contractors, or agents of the Foundation, and the Foundation does not provide, supervise, or bill for coaching. You set your own fees and carry responsibility for your own services, insurance, and conduct. - **A standard you can point to.** When a pastor asks what training you have, the answer is the Mark Twelve Standard, and the pastor knows what it means. The order matters. The Academy comes first, and the Christian training is built on top of it. Neither one replaces the other. ## Why does a church need a coach with both? Because churches want to help and often don’t know whom to trust. As we wrote in “[Why the Church Needs Recovery Coaches](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/why-the-church-needs-recovery-coaches),” a pastor is often the first person to hear about addiction in the congregation. What happens next depends on whether there is someone trained to walk beside that person between Sundays. A pastor who calls a coach is asking two questions at once. Does this person know the work? And will this person honor what our church believes? A coach with only the peer credential can answer the first question but not always the second. A coach with only faith-based training can answer the second, but may not have the grounding in ethics, boundaries, and multiple pathways of recovery that the peer field has spent years building. The Standard exists so a pastor doesn’t have to ask either question twice. ## What does the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy give a coach? A shared foundation. The Academy is a five-day, 30-hour course from the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR). It covers the roles and functions of a recovery coach, stages of recovery and stages of change, recovery wellness planning, self-disclosure and sharing your story, and ethical and boundary issues. It also teaches a principle every Christian coach should carry into the work. SAMHSA’s core competencies for peer workers describe peer support as person-centered and voluntary: the person being served directs the work, and taking part is always that person’s choice. A coach walks with someone toward a recovery the person chooses. A coach does not drag anyone there. ## What does Christian recovery coach training add? The ability to coach inside the faith a person already holds. Many people a church refers are believers whose recovery is bound up with their walk with God. They want to pray with their coach. They want to talk about shame and grace, confession, and the God who meets them in the worst of it. A coach trained to integrate Scripture and prayer can meet them there without hesitation. Good Christian training also teaches restraint. Peter tells believers to be ready to give an answer for the hope they have, and to do it with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). In coaching, that means faith is offered, never imposed. Not everyone a church refers will want Scripture in the conversation. A coach trained in both disciplines knows how to follow the person’s lead. Here the peer principle of choice and the Christian call to gentleness point the same way. ## Why call it one calling? Because skill and calling were never meant to be separate. When God called Bezalel to build the tabernacle, Scripture says He filled him with His Spirit and with wisdom, understanding, knowledge, and every kind of skill (Exodus 31:3). The calling came with craftsmanship, and the craftsmanship served the calling. The Foundation takes its name from Mark 12:30–31: love God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. A coach who has done the work of both credentials has answered that call with the mind as well as the heart. The two certificates are how a church can see it. ## What does joining the network mean for your practice? Three things. #### What doesn’t change? Your other work. Many coaches with an Academy certificate work at recovery centers, hospital programs, or other funded peer roles, where services are delivered as secular peer support. The network doesn’t ask you to change how you work in those settings. It gives you a separate place where faith-integrated coaching fits. The limits of the role don’t change either. Recovery coaching is peer support. It is not treatment, counseling, or crisis care. A coach in the network knows when someone needs a doctor, a clinician, or a crisis line, and helps that person get there. #### What if you hold only one of the two credentials? **If you’ve completed the Recovery Coach Academy but not the Christian training,** a Mark Twelve scholarship may help. The scholarship pays for Christian recovery coach training that builds on the Academy. It does not pay for the Academy itself. Applicants need a certificate of completion from the Academy, a referral from their pastor, a personal essay, and three personal references. The details are on our [Scholarships page](https://marktwelverecovery.org/scholarships). **If you’ve completed Christian coach training but not the Academy,** the Academy comes first. Courses are offered regularly across Massachusetts and online. Once you’ve finished it, you meet the Standard and can apply. #### How do you apply? Use the application form on the [Coach Network page](https://marktwelverecovery.org/coach-network). Have your certificate of completion from the Academy and the record of your Christian coach training on hand. If you aren’t sure whether your Christian training qualifies, say so on the form or call us, and we’ll talk it through. In Exodus, Bezalel did not build alone. He was given Oholiab as a partner, and every skilled worker God had gifted joined the work (Exodus 31:6). The tabernacle was a shared project from the start. So is this. If God has given you both the calling and the training, the churches of North Central Massachusetts could use you. ## If you or someone you love needs help right now **Emergency or overdose —** Call 911. **Thoughts of suicide or emotional crisis —** Call or text 988. Free, confidential, 24/7. **Substance use treatment and recovery —** Massachusetts Substance Use Helpline, 800-327-5050. Free, 24/7, no insurance required. *This article is educational and is not medical or clinical advice. Recovery coaching is peer support and does not replace medical care, clinical treatment, or licensed counseling. Coaches in the Mark Twelve Coach Network are independent practitioners and are not employees, contractors, or agents of the Mark Twelve Recovery Foundation. Sources: the Connecticut Community for Addiction Recovery (CCAR), Recovery Coach Academy course descriptions; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Core Competencies for Peer Workers.* ## For recovery coaches Mark Twelve Recovery Foundation connects churches in North Central Massachusetts with independent Christian recovery coaches who meet the Mark Twelve Standard: the CCAR Recovery Coach Academy and Christian recovery coach training. If you hold both, apply to join the network at [marktwelverecovery.org/coach-network](https://marktwelverecovery.org/coach-network). If you hold the first and not yet the second, see [marktwelverecovery.org/scholarships](https://marktwelverecovery.org/scholarships). Questions? Call Kevin Flynn at **(978) 947-7701**.  [RecoverySupport](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/recoverysupport), [Christian Recovery Coaching](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/christian-recovery-coaching) ## Comments ## Related posts [![Why the Church Needs Recovery Coaches](https://marktwelverecovery.org/hs-fs/hubfs/R1_blog_1600x900.png?height=200&name=R1_blog_1600x900.png)](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/why-the-church-needs-recovery-coaches) [Christian Recovery Coaching](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/christian-recovery-coaching), [Church Partners](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/church-partners) ## [Why the Church Needs Recovery Coaches](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/why-the-church-needs-recovery-coaches) [Kevin D. Flynn, RCP](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/author/kevin-d-flynn-rcp) Oct 9, 2026, 4:41:18 PM Here is the short version. Addiction is already in the congregation, and a pastor is often the... [Read more](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/why-the-church-needs-recovery-coaches) [![Recovery Coaching, Counseling, and Sponsorship: A Plain-Language Guide for Families](https://marktwelverecovery.org/hs-fs/hubfs/MarkTwelve_Article7_Blog_Banner%20(1).png?height=200&name=MarkTwelve_Article7_Blog_Banner%20(1).png)](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/recovery-coaching-counseling-sponsorship) [RecoverySupport](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/recoverysupport), [Christian Recovery Coaching](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/christian-recovery-coaching) ## [Recovery Coaching, Counseling, and Sponsorship: A Plain-Language Guide for Families](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/recovery-coaching-counseling-sponsorship) [Kevin D. Flynn, RCP](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/author/kevin-d-flynn-rcp) Jun 8, 2026, 8:17:43 PM Three roles, three scopes. Here’s what each one actually does: who pays, what credentials matter,... [Read more](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/recovery-coaching-counseling-sponsorship) [![Detox, Inpatient, IOP, Outpatient: A Plain-English Map](https://marktwelverecovery.org/hs-fs/hubfs/MarkTwelve_Article16_Banner_1600x900.png?height=200&name=MarkTwelve_Article16_Banner_1600x900.png)](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/detox-inpatient-iop-outpatient-a-plain-english-map) [RecoverySupport](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/recoverysupport), [Addiction Treatment](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/tag/addiction-treatment) ## [Detox, Inpatient, IOP, Outpatient: A Plain-English Map](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/detox-inpatient-iop-outpatient-a-plain-english-map) [Kevin D. Flynn, RCP](https://marktwelverecovery.org/articles/author/kevin-d-flynn-rcp) Aug 3, 2026, 1:23:41 PM Addiction treatment is not one thing. It is a ladder of intensity. There are four main rungs. Detox... 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