John Baker (29)

Pastor at Saddleback Church and founder of biblical 12-step program Celebrate Recovery. Baker died in February 2021, age 72. Baker was raised in Collinsville, Illinois. After attending Saddleback Church in California as part of his recovery from alcoholism, he created the Celebrate Recovery program, which paired steps from AA with scripture. The program began in 1991 and Baker went on to study at Golden Gate Baptist Seminary and serve at Saddleback as volunteer, staff member, pastor, and elder. He wrote the book Life’s Healing Choices and other publications related to Celebrate Recovery.