Our Story
The word “Stauros” is the New Testament Greek word for the cross of Christ. We are called Stauros because we believe that a right relationship with God in Christ is the foundation of healthy, sober living. Our experience is that Christ can set people free from addiction. Although we recognize the validity of other routes to recovery, Stauros believes that faith in God through commitment to Christ, constituting a conversion experience, marks the beginning of a journey to recovery. We believe this because it has been our experience.
The Beginnings
Arthur G. Williams founded Stauros in 1980 when he was pastor of the Findlay Memorial Church in Glasgow. Arthur grew up in a family where his father’s drinking was a constant source of anxiety, and he began drinking when he was 14 years old. By the time Arthur was 28 years old, he was suffering with alcohol addiction. In November 1970 after a visit to his doctor, Arthur went through a Christian conversion experience, where he accepted the truth that Christ was alive which, in turn, freed him from a lifestyle centred on alcohol.
In the late 1970s, Arthur became pastor of the Findlay Memorial Church in Glasgow. He began drawing people to church, especially those who had a similar background to his own. As they listened to his testimony and talked with him one-to-one, many of them came to share a similar Christian conversion experience. Stauros was set up as an agency to offer one-to-one pastoral care to such individuals, and to share God’s word with them in an appropriate way.
The agency now promotes the gospel of Jesus Christ among people suffering and/or recovering from addiction, and offers fellowship to the families of such individuals.