Korn guitarist Brian 'Head' Welch gives message of hope about addiction recovery at church

NEW PHILADELPHIA ‒ Rock star Brian "Head" Welch said he used methamphetamine 700 days straight before finding Jesus.

In a presentation at Legacy Church on Friday evening, the vocalist and lead guitarist of Grammy award-winning nu metal band Korn told an overflow crowd how his contact with the divine eliminated his desire for meth, and later alcohol.

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When the Rev. Tommy Miller asked him how he stayed sober while being in his old environment, Welch replied, "I never said I was sober. I am high on the most high. He's poured his love into my heart by the Holy Spirit. I traded in my ashes for beauty. I traded in my addictions for relationship, for love."

During a question-and-answer session with Miller, Welch revealed that the maturing members of his band have all had epiphanies, although not all are Christian. All are married or bonded to significant others, he said, adding that his bandmates have children.

"Everyone's old now. There's no groupies ever backstage. My biggest temptation is apple pie and chocolate cake in the catering room," he said.

Welch, who went on hiatus from Korn in 2005 and turned to Christianity, said God told him to go back to the band in 2013 with the words, "All those people are my people."

He recalled an encounter with a satanist that occurred when Korn was on the Prepare For Hell Tour with Slipknot. He said the man, who was there to attend the concert, was sending him texts before the show, saying that he felt God was doing something to him.

"He encountered God and he felt God's presence even before we did our event," Welch said. "God was hitting him at the concert, then he came to us."

Miller asked Welch about the pain of relapsing during addiction recovery.

"What does God say? He is slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness," Welch said, explaining that since God and Jesus are not from this world, he is unlike the earthly parents who may be quick to angrily scold misbehaving children. He said those who relapse do not need to hide from God, as they might hide from earthly parents.

Instead, he said, they should think: I'm not where I want to be, but I'm a lot better than I used to be.

If you do fall into addiction again, he said, "Just get back up. Your family in the faith, you know they're just like, 'You got this.' Don't beat yourself up."

Welch delivered his message to an overflow crowd in the church. Miller said a total of 681 people registered in advance, but more were expected to attend. Overflow viewing was offered in the parking lot.

Among those in attendance were members of the Celebrate Recovery group at LifeWay Church.

Tana Zimmerman said she has been in recovery for 2½ years. She said she used to drink alcohol, use methamphetamine intravenously and listen to heavy metal music.

"Not that it's bad music, but I was in a dark place at that time," said the 39-year-old Millersburg resident. "Listening to Brian Welch, knowing he has the same background as me and he turned to Christ, he was changed by Christ, that just shows me that in that deep, dark place, he can still do it, and Christ is still number one. It's just good to see someone from what I used to be, up there sharing the good news."

Ashley Morales, 39, Dover, said she related to his story.

"I am a recovering drug addict myself," she said. "I know from experience how ... you have an encounter with Jesus, and it just totally changes your life."

LifeWay's recovery pastor Bradley Fields said Welch's message hit him close to home. The 42-year-old said he hit rock bottom before meeting Jesus. He said he will celebrate six years of recovery from opioid and meth addiction in September.

His wife, Danyell Fields, said Welch's message conveyed hope that freedom from addiction is possible.

"We hope that somebody here tonight will see the goodness of God and will be able to have their own recovery," said Danyell, 42, who is recovering from drug use. She leads the LifeWay Celebrate Recovery group with her husband.

Bradley agreed with her, saying, "There's a community of people that need to know God, need to know that there's recovery, need to know that there's hope."

Reach Nancy at 330-364-8402 or nancy.molnar@timesreporter.com.

On Twitter: @nmolnarTR

This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Brian "Head" Welch tells about recovery from addiction with God's help