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Posts Tagged ‘Home Group’

PURPOSES: Primary, Singleness of, Sole

12 Nov

Tradition One (long form): “Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole.  A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare must come first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.”
We are then given eleven other Traditions that show us what we must do in order to accomplish the goal of unity that allows recovery.

PRIMARY PURPOSE

Tradition Five (long form): “Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
From the AA Preamble (Grapevine): “Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.”

SINGLENESS OF PURPOSE

Bill Wilson, AA Comes of Age, page 232: OUR SINGLE PURPOSE:
Pic of Bill Wilson“There are those who predict that A.A. may well become a new spearhead for a spiritual awakening throughout the world. When our friends say these things, they are both generous and sincere. But we of A.A. must reflect that such a tribute and such a prophecy could well prove to be a heady drink for most of us – that is, if we really came to believe this to be the real purpose of A.A., and if we commenced to behave accordingly. Our Society, therefore, will prudently cleave to its single purpose: the carrying of the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Let us resist the proud assumption that since God has enabled us to do well in one area we are destined to be a channel of saving grace for everybody.”

THE SOLE PURPOSE OF AN A.A. GROUP

Letter from Bill Wilson dated 1966 and quoted in “As Bill Sees It”, page 79
Pic of Bill Wilson“An AA group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members, let alone those of nonalcoholics in the world around us. The AA group is not, for example, a mediator of domestic relations, nor does it furnish personal financial aid to anyone. Though a member may sometimes be helped in such matters by his friends in AA, the primary responsibility for the solutions of all his problems of living and growing rests squarely upon the individual himself. Should the AA group attempt this sort of help, its effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissipated. This is why sobriety—freedom from alcohol—through the teaching and practice of AA’s 12 Steps, is the sole purpose of the group. If we don’t stick to this cardinal principle, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse we cannot help anyone.”

Tradition Ten: “Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the AA name ought Big Book covernever be drawn into public controversy.”  Long form: “No A.A. group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate A.A., express any opinion on outside controversial issues-particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion. The Alcoholics Anonymous groups oppose no one. Concerning such matters they can express no views whatever.”

Our instructions are to keep our opinions (as AA members) out of “outside issues” AND to keep “outside issues” out of our meetings.

  • Personal opinions as a result of critical thinking are good, but not if we try to pass them off as A.A. opinions… so it is suggested that we make clear when something is our own opinion.
  • Outside agencies have their own views on alcoholism AND A.A. So we avoid spreading opinions: ours, our sponsor’s, our doctor’s, our therapist’s, the judge’s (even if he is your sponsor), your 3-year clean addiction counselor, a dry-drunk oldtimer, or any other guru you hold on a pedestal, etc. AA meetings are the place to spread THE AA message—to teach and practice our Recovery Program: The 12 Steps.

From the Grapevine, May 1994: Our singleness of purpose has really been put to the test with the growth of treatment facilities which lump all addictive disorders together, with the subsequent visits of large numbers of treatment graduates to our groups, and with the mandatory sentencing of drunk driving offenders to AA meetings. Meanwhile, our own AA members aren’t always aware of our Traditions . . . A group conscience will get exactly what it demands, no more or no less. Our experience today still bears out the experience of our founders. Some groups, where the alcoholics became outnumbered and the primary purpose was lost in problems other than alcohol, have had to close their doors. . . In AA Comes of Age, we find this powerful statement: “We think we should do one thing well rather than many things to which we are not called. Our society gathers in unity around this concept. The very life of our fellowship requires its preservation. Together we have found a substantial remedy for a terrible malady. As a fellowship we know we must not be diverted. It is our experience as alcoholics that makes us of unique value on our sector of the total alcoholic front. We can approach sufferers as no one else can. Therefore, the strongest kind of moral and ethical compulsion is upon us to do this and nothing more. We shall direct our energies where they count most. Most emphatically, then, AA has but one single purpose: To carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers. This is our basic objective, our real reason for existence.” It’s our only reason for existence.
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If your group pulls in a lot of “I just need my slip signed, I’m fine & can control MY drinking—but let me teach all of you how to stay sober my D&A counselor’s way” visitors—you might consider suggesting in your group-conscious format that they are welcome to sit in and LISTEN. If you call on them and they spew their nonsense, it is accepting outside issues into your meeting and that is confusing for the newcomer who NEEDS TO HEAR THE ACTUAL A.A. MESSAGE!  Remember “It’s in the book.”

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ETC, a recovered alcoholic in Oregon—relieved of the obsession but not cured of the allergy.


 

ETC, a recovered alcoholic in Oregon—relieved of the obsession but not cured of the allergy.

 

 

 

 

 
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Posted in AA Meetings, Carry THE Message, Tradition 5

 

AA Group Autonomy

14 Sep

Does your home group cater to the whims of the members or of some California Guru?  …has it come under pressure to ‘do it the way such-and-such group does it’ (regardless of what the founders and pioneers suggested)? …has it become a social-hour, a.k.a. open discussion group? …is it seeking to be all-things-to-all-people? …do they not read from the AA text because it’s too old-fashioned or ‘controversial’?

Tradition Four:

“With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of The Alcoholic Foundation. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.”

Bill Wilson on Tradition Four:
“With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at Tradition 4. The first sentence of Tradition 4 guarantees each A.A. group local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No over-all or intergroup authority should challenge this primary privilege. We feel this ought to be so, even though the group might sometimes act with complete indifference to our tradition. For example, an A.A. group could, if it wished, hire a paid preacher and support him out of the proceeds of a group night club. Though such an absurd procedure would be miles outside our tradition, the group’s “right to be wrong” would be held inviolate. We are sure that each group can be granted, and safely granted, these most extreme privileges. We know that our familiar process of trial and error would summarily eliminate both the preacher and the night club. Those severe growing pains which invariably follow any radical departure from A.A. tradition can be absolutely relied upon to bring an erring group back into line. An A.A. group need not be coerced by any human government over and above its own members. Their own experience, plus A.A. opinion in surrounding groups, plus God’s prompting in their group conscience would be sufficient. Much travail has already taught us this. Hence we may confidently say to each group, “You should be responsible to no other authority than your own conscience.”

Tradition Five:

“Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”

From AnonPress.org (link http://anonpress.org/faq/files/read.asp?fID=30):
Typically people are encouraged to have one home group, not necessarily for recovery sake, but for AA “business” sake too.
Usually, your voice in AA business is through your homegroup which likely sends a representative to your district or intergroup to vote on how your group feels about broader AA business.
The idea of having your voice heard more than once through multiple home groups is quite frequently discouraged as it could lead to individuals having undue influence.
In many, more rural, places groups meet just once a week and a person ends up “joining” more than one group so they can get to more meetings. In this case people are usually encouraged to refrain from voting more than once on issues that affect more than the individual group. This helps to theoretically keep it closer to democratic principle of “one man, one vote.”

AnonPress.org link http://anonpress.org/faq/files/read.asp?fID=351:
AA groups are for helping alcoholics—those who are powerless over alcohol, whose lives have become unmanageable. AA is not interested in convincing anyone they ought to stop drinking, nor is it interested in specifically dealing with other problems. As soon as a group meeting purposely focuses on problems other than alcohol and alcoholism, it stops being an AA meeting. …Alcoholics Anonymous developed to help alcoholics; it was never intended to be the all-round solution for all of everyone’s problems.

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ETC, a recovered alcoholic in Oregon—(relieved of the obsession but not cured of the allergy)

 
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Posted in Tradition 4, Tradition 5

 

A ‘Plurality of Purpose’ in Too Many AA Groups

20 Jul

1.  A CHANNEL OF SAVING GRACE FOR EVERYBODY

Does your group (or district) behave as if they are a channel of saving grace for everybody?
It is if you hear, “Don’t worry if you’re an alcoholic or not, these steps will change your life–and you can do them ANY way you want to.” A.A. was never intended to be a “one size fits all” program.  That only dilutes the program of recovery for “alcoholics of our type.”

Bill Wilson, AA Comes of Age, page 232: OUR SINGLE PURPOSE:
Pic of Bill Wilson“There are those who predict that A.A. may well become a new spearhead for a spiritual awakening throughout the world. When our friends say these things, they are both generous and sincere. But we of A.A. must reflect that such a tribute and such a prophecy could well prove to be a heady drink for most of us—that is, if we really came to believe this to be the real purpose of A.A., and if we commenced to behave accordingly.
Our Society, therefore, will prudently cleave to its SINGLE PURPOSE: the carrying of the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Let us resist the proud assumption that since God has enabled us to do well in one area we are destined to be a channel of saving grace for everybody.” (extra emphasis mine)

Clearly, A.A. groups are NOT to attempt to be a channel of saving grace for everybody! If they do, pride gets in the way of carrying the message of full recovery to the REAL alcoholic who desperately needs our help. We are not expected to “save” those DUI and any others who DO NOT WANT to stop drinking and are attending only because it’s required by some OUTSIDE AGENCY
(Remember, AA NEVER requires attendance and we are violating our 6th Tradition by holding anyone hostage in a meeting.)

2.  BRINGING IN THE MONEY

Is making big money an important focus of your group? Do you claim that YOUR meeting is “one of the best” in your district because it’s BIG and puts lots of money into the coffers of your district/area/intergroup? Do they encourage people to “dig deep because AA needs it?” Do they host a lot of fun fundraisers?

How can groups participate? (from F-3—Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix AA pamphlet):
“ To help support A.A.’s essential services, the General Service Conference suggests that individual groups, through an informed group conscience, adopt a specific contribution plan tailored to meet the group’s financial situation.
Once the basic group expenses have been taken care of (rent, refreshments, A.A. literature, local meeting lists, G.S.R. travel expenses to attend service functions), and a “prudent reserve” has been set aside to cover any emergency contingencies that might arise, the group may decide to further carry the message by sending money to the following A.A. service entities. … The local district, the area committee, the local intergroup or central office, or A.A.’s General Service Office.”

Any group that is proud of their monetary contributions and has members that put down other groups that don’t contribute as much—has lost their focus.
If a district/area/intergroup keeps track of, and posts, WHICH group contributed WHAT AMOUNT—is this breaking a group’s anonymity? Does this encourage PRIDE and GROUP EGO-TRIPPING?

3. THE BIGGER THE BETTER

Is your home group one of those Mega-Meetings held in a church basement or auditorium? Is that important as proof that it’s better? Or is pride and ego getting in the way?

WHAT OFTEN HAPPENS IN BIG MEETINGS IS THAT….

  • too much emphasis is placed on ‘fellowship’ and not on ‘the solution of the 12 Steps,’ and on ‘sharing whatever’s on your mind’ rather than ‘carrying the message.’
  • newcomers come to believe that attending meetings and slogans are what will keep them sober (they are partially correct—they can stay sober one more hour by sitting in that meeting, never understanding that taking the steps is what will change their life and get them recovered).
  • too many opinions, interpretations, assumptions, and inappropriately-used slogans rather than sharing the real life-saving program described in the AA textbook.
  • there is heavy competition for the ‘baddest’ drunk-a-louge in town.
  • has people honing their speaking skills to get on the speaker circuit (they record themselves to put out their CD to be chosen for the next speaker meeting or convention).
  • assuming that the more melodramatic and gifted the speakers, the ‘better’ the meeting.

4.  MAKING SURE NEW ATTENDEES GET EMOTIONAL AND WANT TO KEEP COMING BACK TO OUR MEETING.

Does your group believe that getting the audience to laugh, cry, ooh & aah are signs of a good meeting? If so, the group is no longer focused on “THE SOLE PURPOSE OF AN A.A. GROUP” and should take a group-health inventory.  (see AA’s pamphlet ‘The AA Group pages 27-28. Very pertinent for large groups)
(link here for AA’s Traditions Checklist)

Pic of Bill WilsonLetter from Bill Wilson dated 1966 and quoted in “As Bill Sees It”, page 79
“An AA group, as such, cannot take on all the personal problems of its members, let alone those of non-alcoholics in the world around us. The AA group is not, for example, a mediator of domestic relations, nor does it furnish personal financial aid to anyone. Though a member may sometimes be helped in such matters by his friends in AA, the primary responsibility for the solutions of all his problems of living and growing rests squarely upon the individual himself. Should the AA group attempt this sort of help, its effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissipated.
This is why sobriety—freedom from alcohol—through the teaching and practice of AA’s 12 Steps, is the sole purpose of the group. If we don’t stick to this cardinal principle, we shall almost certainly collapse. And if we collapse we cannot help anyone.”

SOLUTION:

Big Book coverGet BACK TO THE BASICS and STAY THERE. Find newcomers at your group who look desperate—work with them one-to-one!
If you really “just LOVE AA,” then take time to truly understand our traditions, sole purpose, singleness of purpose, and REAL AA History.

A Few of AA’s Traditions

2.—For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.
3.— Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.
4.— With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board. On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
5.—Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
6.— Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim. We think, therefore, that any considerable property of genuine use to A.A. should be separately incorporated and managed, thus dividing the material from the spiritual. An A.A. group, as such, should never go into business. Secondary aids to A.A., such as clubs or hospitals which require much property or administration, ought to be incorporated and so set apart that, if necessary, they can be freely discarded by the groups. Hence such facilities ought not to use the A.A. name. Their management should be the sole responsibility of those people who financially support them. For clubs, A.A. managers are usually preferred. But hospitals, as well as other places of recuperation, ought to be well outside A.A.—and medically supervised. While an A.A. group may cooperate with anyone, such cooperation ought never go so far as affiliation or endorsement, actual or implied. An A.A. group can bind itself to no one.

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ETC, a recovered (but not cured) alcoholic in Oregon

 
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Posted in AA Meetings, Carry THE Message, Traditions

 

The Home Group

11 Jul

One Voice, One Vote

Pic A A meetingWith home group membership comes the right to vote on issues that might affect the group and might also affect AA as a whole. As with all group-conscience matters, each AA member has one vote; and this, ideally, is voiced through the home group. Over the years, the very essence of AA strength has remained with the home group, which, for many members, becomes their extended family.

The ‘one person, one voice, one vote’ principle is important.

This keeps the ‘bleeding deacons’ and their entourage from taking over the all meetings in their district and pressuring them to conform to their cookie-cutter meetings. Some actually claim they are trying to keep book-thumpers from ‘changing AA.’

EXAMPLES OF WHAT THE RULE-MAKERS CONSIDER AS ‘CHANGING AA’:
—A group who chooses to read How It Works from the original manuscript instead of from the Big Book.
 —A group who reads the Traditions from the long form instead of the short form.
—Reading the first paragraph from the Foreword to the first edition instead of the Grapevine’s Preamble (apparently, these gurus have trouble with time and which was first. The Grapevine is a different entity and is not AAWS or AA as a whole.)
—A group who has a literature/topic discussion meeting instead of allowing the meetings be a free-for-all and half-measures dumping ground as not being ‘open.’

These are often the same people who bring NON-Big Book / NON-AA rhetoric into AA meetings. Now THAT is changing A.A.!! download an updated ‘why we should study the big book’

RULE 62 (no, it’s NOT about telling jokes)

Keep RULE 62 in mind: The story is in the 12 & 12, TRADITION FOUR, pages 146-148. It explains why Tradition 4 was written: Lighten up on the rules for how YOU think all AA meetings should be run. Try to get your ego out of the way, and don’t take yourself so damn seriously.

CHOOSING Your Homegroup

Your HOME GROUP is your foundation group—your Home Base.
ALL members are encouraged to attend other meetings also. PLEASE be careful. Under no circumstances should a newcomer have blind trust in ANYONE in The Fellowship.

HERE ARE SOME QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF:

  • Does this meeting CARRY THE MESSAGE? Is the message of “problems with alcohol” and “recovery from alcoholism” discussed? Are the 12-steps (our program of recovery) explained? …or does it seem to be a ‘group-therapy, anything-goes social hour’?
  • Is there an Alcoholics Anonymous text and other A.A. literature available for reference? Do people actually READ from the Big Book and other A.A. literature?
  • Are there regular group members who understand the Big Book and the 12-step program? …and do you believe they can guide you and help you learn how to overcome alcoholism according the proven methods as shown in the Big Book?
  • Are members willing to be of service? …to meet with you after meetings to answer questions? …to ‘reach out the hand of A.A.’?
  • Do you sense honesty and straightforwardness? …or do you sense phoniness and ego-stroking?
  • Are you encouraged and even prodded to continue working (taking action) on a daily basis? …or are you patted on the back and assured that you can do Your Program Your Way, and you’ll be fine as long as you attend meetings?
  • Do long-term members have a sense of excitement about their recovery and carrying the message? …or do they offer tired, memorized opinions about recovery and lengthy, boring drunk-a-louges?
  • Do members seem to be ‘demonstrating spiritual principles in all their affairs’ (outside the meeting)? …or are they proud of being ‘still sick’ and behaving badly?
  • Are you encouraged to discover  and explore your own path with a Higher Power as you may understand Him?
  • Are you feeling more comfortable about ‘getting real’ and honestly expressing your progress or lack of progress while working the steps in various areas of your life?
  • Do you believe that you have a few ‘new friends’ who will Watch Your Back when the going gets tough? …and will not abandon you (turn their back on you) after you step out in faith?  …who will not reject you in the face of controversy or criticism from the ‘AA in-crowd’?
  • Do these people encourage reliance on your Higher Power RATHER THAN continued dependence on a sponsor who will dictate what you may and may not do.

WATCH OUT FOR “13 STEPPING”:

A common understanding is that this has to do with longer-term AAers who prey on newcomers for sexual favors. But unfortunately, a variety of PREDATORY BEHAVIORS  permeate “the fellowship” by lurking members who have no real interest in changing and recovering. Other 13-step-type behaviors are:  demanding other DUTIES (other than the common meeting service work) such as personal yardwork, providing rides, attendance at certain meetings to support your new sponsor or grand-sponsor (ugh, I don’t like that term), any work-for-free demands, assigning long-term ‘service commitments’ prior to the one or two year minimum sobriety suggested by AAWS; financial demands other than for the newcomer’s immediate priorities (some sponsors have demanded travel to a conference right after a job layoff…with kids at home!), etc.

Strong-Program groups are NOT very common. You may have to attend a lot of middle-of-the-road meetings to find one that teaches recovery-by-the-book so that you too may find full recovery the way the first 100 to 1000 did!

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ETC, a recovered (but not cured) alcoholic in Oregon

 
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Posted in AA Meetings, Carry THE Message, Tradition 4