How It Works — The Beacon

What to expect, step by step.

Whether you are looking for a sponsor or becoming one, the process is designed to be clear, private, and human at every step. Nothing here should surprise you.

Start at your organization's page

Your Celebrate Recovery community has its own page on The Beacon. This is where intake begins. You can get the link from your CR leadership, your church's website, or a printed card at a meeting.

You do not need an account to start. The intake form is open to anyone with the link.

Fill out the sponsee intake form

The form asks about the context that helps the team connect you with the right sponsor. You will answer questions about things like your recovery pace, how you handle conflict and repair, your relational instincts, and your preferred meeting cadence.

Some questions ask about life experience or recovery background. You can share as much or as little as feels right. If a question does not apply or you are not sure, marking "unsure" is always an option — it will not count against you.

Privacy note

Sensitive fields in your form are encrypted in your browser before they leave your device. The server stores them as ciphertext and cannot read them. The non-sensitive matching context is stored separately so the system can run matching without ever decrypting your private information.

Your profile is created and matching begins

After you submit, a profile is created in your organization's network. You do not have an account yet — that comes later. For now, your profile is what the system uses to find you a sponsor.

A matching workflow starts automatically. The system reviews every eligible sponsor in your network and generates a matching score based on the context both of you provided during intake.

About the score

The matching score is context for a human review. It weighs things like pace and lane, relational style, cadence, and conflict approach. It does not make the decision. Admins review availability, current load, and activity alongside the score before a connection request goes out.

A sponsor receives your connection request

The system sends a connection request to the most eligible sponsor. That sponsor is notified and given time to respond.

During this time, your request is waiting for a sponsor response. You do not need to do anything.

The sponsor accepts or the system moves on

If the sponsor accepts, a private encrypted conversation is created for the two of you. This is your space to begin building a relationship.

If the sponsor declines or the request expires before they respond, the matching workflow advances to the next eligible sponsor automatically. This is a normal part of the process — it means that sponsor was not available, not that anything is wrong with your request.

The workflow continues until a connection is made or the available pool is exhausted. If no sponsor is available, your organization's admin team is notified so they can follow up.

Claim your profile to create an account

At any point after your intake is submitted, you can claim your profile. Claiming connects your profile to an account you can sign into.

To claim, you verify your phone number with a one-time code and create a password. An admin at your organization then reviews and approves the claim.

Once approved, your profile is linked to your account and you can sign in.

Why claiming is a separate step

Intake does not require an account so that the barrier to entry stays low. You can submit a profile without creating a password, downloading an app, or verifying anything. Claiming happens when you are ready to engage with the platform directly — to read messages, manage your profile, or control your notification preferences.

Sign in to your Beacon account

After your claim is approved and a connection has been accepted, you can sign in and access your encrypted conversation with your sponsor.

From your account, you can review your profile, see your connection requests, open your conversations, and update your settings.

Messages are end-to-end encrypted. Your private keys stay in your browser memory only after you unlock them. The server cannot read your conversation.

Choose how you want to be notified

You can opt in to receive notifications by SMS, email, or in-app when something needs your attention — like a new message from your sponsor.

Each notification channel is optional. You add and verify each one individually, and you can turn them on or off at any time. You are never signed up for notifications automatically.

Beacon connects you. Recovery happens in community.

The Beacon's job is to get you connected. Once you have a sponsor, the real work happens the same way it always has — in meetings, in step studies, in honest conversation, and in the daily discipline of recovery.

Your sponsor is a recovery peer who has walked this road. They are not a therapist or a pastoral counselor. If you need clinical support or spiritual direction, those are different relationships, and pursuing them is a sign of health, not weakness.

Start at your organization's page

Your CR community has its own page on The Beacon. If your leadership team has invited you to become a sponsor through Beacon, they will share the link with you. You can also find it through your church's website or at a meeting.

You do not need an account to start. The sponsor intake form is open to anyone with the link.

Fill out the sponsor intake form

The form asks about the context that helps the team match you with someone you are well-suited to walk alongside. You will answer questions about your recovery pace, relational instincts, conflict and repair style, preferred cadence, and areas of life experience.

This is not an evaluation. There are no right or wrong answers. The goal is to give the admin team enough context to make thoughtful connections. If something does not apply or you are not sure, mark "unsure" — it will not count against anyone in matching.

Privacy note

Sensitive fields in your form are encrypted in your browser before they leave your device. The server stores them as ciphertext and cannot read them directly.

Verify your phone number

After you submit, you will be asked to verify your phone number with a one-time code. This confirms that the profile belongs to a real person and enables the admin team to proceed with approval.

Phone verification is required for sponsors before a profile can enter the matching pool.

An admin reviews and approves your profile

An admin at your organization reviews your profile before it becomes active. They are checking readiness, not grading your answers. This is a human step — not automated — and it exists to make sure sponsors entering the pool are prepared and available.

Once approved, your profile is marked as active and verified, and you are eligible to receive connection requests.

You are now in the matching pool

Your profile is live. When a sponsee submits an intake form in your network, the matching system evaluates eligible sponsors — including you — and generates a score based on the context both of you provided.

You will not see this score. It is used by the admin team as context alongside your availability, current load, and recent activity. The score does not decide anything on its own.

You receive a connection request

When the system identifies you as the best-fit available sponsor for a new sponsee, a connection request is sent to you. You will be notified through whichever channels you have set up — in-app, SMS, or email.

The request includes enough context for you to make a thoughtful decision. You are not required to accept.

Review the request and respond

You can accept or decline the connection request.

If you accept, a private encrypted conversation is created between you and the sponsee. This is where your relationship begins on Beacon.

If you decline, the matching workflow advances to the next eligible sponsor. Declining is a normal and expected part of the system. It means you are not available right now — nothing more.

If you do not respond before the request expires, it is treated the same as a decline and the workflow moves on.

Claim your profile to get full account access

To sign in and access your conversations, you need to claim your profile. Claiming links your sponsor profile to a participant account.

You verify your phone number with a one-time code (you may have already done this during intake), create a password, and submit the claim for admin approval. Once approved, you can sign in.

If you already verified during intake

The claim process may feel familiar if you already verified your phone during intake. The claim is a separate step because it creates a persistent account with a password, encryption keys, and access to the authenticated dashboard — things that do not exist during the intake flow.

Sign in to your Beacon account

From your account, you can access your encrypted conversations, view and respond to connection requests, review your profile, update your availability, and manage your settings.

If you are supporting multiple sponsees, each connection has its own separate encrypted conversation.

Messages are end-to-end encrypted. The server stores message content as ciphertext and does not hold the keys to read it.

Choose how you want to be notified

You can opt in to receive notifications by SMS, email, or in-app when something needs your attention — like a new connection request or a new message from a sponsee.

Each channel is optional. You add and verify each one individually, and you can turn them on or off at any time. You are never signed up for notifications automatically.

Staying reachable matters when someone is waiting for a response, so notifications are encouraged — but always on your terms.

Network affiliations — serve beyond your home church

If you want to be available to sponsees at other organizations or in a regional virtual network, you can request a network affiliation.

An affiliation means your profile appears in the matching pool for that additional network. The admin team at the other network reviews and approves the request before you become eligible there.

Your home organization remains your primary network. Affiliations add reach without changing where you belong.

This step is entirely optional. Many sponsors serve only within their home church and that is the normal path.

A sponsor is not a therapist or pastoral counselor.

A sponsor is a volunteer who has walked their own road of recovery. They guide you through the steps, share what has worked for them, and walk alongside you. They are not licensed clinicians and do not provide therapy or clinical advice.

A therapist is a licensed professional who diagnoses and treats mental health conditions in a clinical setting. If you are working through trauma, anxiety, depression, or other clinical concerns, a therapist is the right person to see that work through.

A pastor or spiritual leader provides theological guidance, discipleship, and spiritual care. If your questions are rooted in faith, doctrine, or spiritual direction, pastoral staff are equipped for that conversation.

Each role is an expert in its own lane. You may benefit from all three, and that is a sign of health, not weakness.

What The Beacon does not do

The Beacon helps with sponsor matching. It does not provide therapy, pastoral counseling, diagnosis, crisis support, or emergency response.

If you are in crisis, please contact a licensed professional, your local emergency services, or a crisis hotline.

The matching tool is one part of a broader recovery community. It works best alongside in-person meetings, step studies, and the relationships you build at Celebrate Recovery.

Ready to start?

If you are looking for a sponsor, begin with the sponsee intake form. If you have been invited to sponsor through Beacon, start with the sponsor intake form.

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