12-STEP RECOVERY Musings

The A.A. 12-Step program does not require us to Turn Our Will and Our Life Over to the Care of a SPONSOR!

There are 12-step meetings around the country where regular group-members strongly insist that the newcomer must find “a sponsor who has a sponsor who has a sponsor.”  These groups frequently consist of strong (even egotistical) personalities who require newcomers to do the steps their way because that is how their sponsor went through the steps with their sponsor.  “Grand-sponsor” is a word you will hear in these groups. They proudly trace their lineage back to Bill Wilson; some to Dr Bob Smith.
I suppose if you find one of these A.A. sponsor BLUE-BLOODS, you may have a better chance of acquiring your new ‘experience-strength-and-hope’ mantra by osmosis.  In addition, you will be able to regurgitate enough cliché phrases and opinions to pass as a possible candidate for a speaking request (even before the suggested five-year minimum).  Woo-hoo—that’s also great for better luck at getting ‘13-step’ conquests.

Sponsorship lines are not necessary.
These lineages can foster sponsor-worship, can become controlling & dysfunctional, and can cause harm to vulnerable people.  Once in, you dare not sponsor or be sponsored outside of the group—you may be ostracized.  No wonder there’s so much resentment out in the nonalcoholic world about cults and cliques.
Frequently there will be a pack of papers and extensive writing required to be done before your new sponsor will even take time to talk with you. They don’t usually sit one-to-one with the beginner to read and discuss the “clear-cut directions” found in our textbook. What happened to “Keep it Simple”? LINK to Fundamentals Blog
Where the heck did this start? There is speculation out there that perhaps this came from outside agencies—therapy groups, rehab counselors, or alcohol-class mediators.  Others believe this ‘requirement’ came from super-groups around the country, such as the Pacific Groups in California.  I’m not sure.  There has been information and rumors that these groups have very rigid lines of sponsorship and these methods are still being actively introduced in other states. There is even one in my metro area as well, and the god aristocrat man himself comes to his many new groups to expound his “wisdom”—all expenses paid, of course, by his flock.
These sponsor lines also actively recruit speakers to get on the circuit, and unless you are sponsored in, you don’t even get asked to speak at small local meetings. It is a lucrative side-business.

In AA’s sponsorship pamphlet the current, vague stance does not even insist that the chosen sponsor understand anything about the textbook or the steps… just that they “seem to be using the AA program successfully” and “should seem to be enjoying sobriety.” Heck, the newcomer may as well join a secular support group. But one thing they DON’T expect is a sponsorship hierarchy – “there is no superior class or caste of sponsors in A.A.”
They do offer one limitation, “if the group is large enough to allow a choice, sponsor and newcomer be of the same sex.” (even this may not always be an appropriate limitation in today’s meetings which have many gay and lesbian members).
The pamphlet does suggest that members who would like to sponsor should probably have “actually worked the steps of A.A. as a way to obtain sobriety” –but it’s not necessary, apparently.  Although they are expected to NOT “impose personal views” on their newcomer.  The question then is—how do they avoid that when they won’t offer the program the way it was intended so alcoholics could actually recover? Everything other than that IS A PERSONAL VIEW. ..or an outside opinion!

Sponsorship began in the hospitals, especially St Thomas Hospital in Akron—
Sister Ignatia told guys if they dropped off any alcoholics they were to come back upon their discharge and pick them up and (sponsor them) take them to AA meetings at Kings High School.  The sponsors (usually two at a time) would sit with the sick alcoholic and talk about the steps they took to stop drinking. They were qualified as alcoholics and taken through the surrender process (which became steps 1-3) before being brought into a meeting.  The rest of the process (which later became steps 4-12) were completed within a week or two, and then continually practiced.
Here’s a link to the 1944 sponsorship pamphlet by Clarence Snyder (Barefoot Bob’s website).
Later, beginner meetings were conducted in many areas.  In these classes, beginners studied the textbook and completed the steps with more experienced A.A. members. This was accomplished in four weeks, after which they attended regular A.A. meetings, continued practicing the steps and working with others. By 1950, there were three types of meetings: Open Speaker Meetings, Closed Discussion Meetings, and Beginners’ Meetings. Read more at the History Lovers Group.
The term ‘SPONSOR’ came from the Oxford Group—a sponsor guided a new person for early training in spiritual practice.  A sponsor is a “mentor” in definition and practice, and the word “protégé” is used in our Big Book.  The opposite of a protégé is a patron or mentor in common usage—a “sponsor.”
There are still many Beginners Meetings based on Wally P’s “Back to Basics” which offers a no-nonsense guide through the “clear-cut directions” in the AA textbook.

IF YOU ARE NEW
…or whole-heartedly want what the many pioneers had, find an independent sponsor/guide/mentor who knows the book and other A.A.-related literature, some A.A. history, and has a network of other independent A.A. members who just want to help save lives the way it really worked.  Sponsors and guides should start letting go of their protégés after they have a solid understanding of the principles and the steps—and encourage them to find additional support people and mentors for their continued journey.  They need to spread their wings and fly to become functioning members of society again.
Holding people hostage in a hierarchy and discouraging them from thinking for themselves is the antithesis of the A.A. way to a life of freedom and a new way of living.

“The truth will set you free–but first it will piss you off”
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ETC, a recovered alcoholic in Oregon—relieved of the obsessions but not cured of the allergy.