1940 AA Preamble

[historyteach]

I received this in my email, and, though I normally don't post here, I thought it would be interesting for everyone. Funny how some things change, and others just stay the same. But, that's exactly what the study of history is all about!
Enjoy the read!

1940 AA Preamble

We are gathered here because we are faced with the fact that we are
powerless over alcohol and unable to do anything about it without the
help of a Power greater than ourselves. We feel that each person's
religious views, if any, are his own affair. The simple purpose of the
program of Alcoholics Anonymous is to show what may be done to enlist
the aid of a Power greater than ourselves regardless of what our
individual conception of that Power may be.

In order to form a habit of depending upon and referring all we do to
that Power, we must at first apply ourselves with some diligence. By
often repeating these acts, they become habitual and the help rendered
becomes natural to us. We have all come to know that as alcoholics we
are suffering from a serious illness for which medicine has no cure.
Our condition may be the result of an allergy which makes us different
from other people. It has never been by any treatment with which we
are familiar, permanently cured. The only relief we have to offer is
absolute abstinence, the second meaning of A.A.

There are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a
desire to stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping
others to recover. An Alcoholics Anonymous is an alcoholic who through
application and adherence to the A.A. program has forsworn the use of
any and all alcoholic beverage in any form. The moment he takes so
much as one drop of beer, wine, spirits, or any other alcoholic
beverage he automatically loses all status as a member of Alcoholics
Anonymous.

A.A. is not interested in sobering up drunks who are not sincere in
their desire to remain sober for all time. Not being reformers, we
offer our experience only to those who want it. We have a way out on
which we can absolutely agree and on which we can join in harmonious
action.

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has tho roughly followed our
program. Those who do not recover are people who will not or simply
cannot give themselves to this simple program. Now you may like this
program or you may not, but the fact remains, it works. It is our only
chance to recover.

There is a vast amount of fun in the A.A. fellowship. Some people
might be shocked at our seeming worldliness and levity but just
underneath there lies a deadly earnestness and a full realization that
we must put first things first and with each of us the first thing is
our alcoholic problem. To drink is to die. Faith must work twenty-four
hours a day in and through us or we perish.

In order to set our tone for this meeting I ask that we bow our heads
in a few moments of silent prayer and meditation. I wish to remind you
that whatever is said at this meeting expresses our own individual
opinion as of today and as of up to this moment. We do not speak for
A.A. as a whole and you are free to agree or disagree as you see fit,
in fact, it is suggested that you pay no attention to anything which
might not be reconciled with what is in the A.A. Big Book. If you
don't have a Big Book, it's time you bought one. Read it, study it,
live with it, loan it, scatter it, and then learn from it what it
means to be an A.A.

Shalom!

[Boleo]

1939 AA Preamble

"There are no fees or dues whatsoever. The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination, nor do we oppose anyone. We simply wish to be helpful to those who are afflicted."
(page xiv)

- All Big Book Quotes from Alcoholics Anonymous 4th Edition -

[sunrise1]

There are no dues or fees. The only requirement for membership is a
desire to stop drinking. Each member squares his debt by helping
others to recover.

I really like this part... thanks for the history lesson!

[McGowdog]

I enjoyed that. I can't figure out how I missed this thread.

That preamble states some things that I suspected all along and answers a few questions I've had and even some threads I've started here.

Thanks for posting that here.

[Astro]

I read that about 4 years ago at a newcomers meeting I was chairing. After the meeting a few members informed me that they didn't appreciate me doing that without approval of the group conscience.

I like the message it carries, although it's not as soft & easy as the current preamble.

[Mark75]

It doesn't shy away from the spirituality of the program, in fact it puts it right out there in front of everything else that is said.

I also like that moment of silence thing....

Mark

[navysteve]

This is still read in many meetings in Baltimore and the surrounding areas:

Alcoholics Anonymous is a group of people for whom alcohol has become a major problem and who have banded together in a sincere effort to help themselves and other problem drinkers recover their health and maintain sobriety.

Definitions of alcoholics are many and varied. For Brevity we think of an alcoholic as one whose life has become un- manageable, to any degree, due to the use of alcohol.

We of Alcoholics Anonymous believe that the alcoholic is suffering from a disease for which no cure has yet been found. We profess no curative powers but have formulated a plan to arrest alcoholism.

The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.

There are no dues or fees in A.A.

Activities are supported by the voluntary contributions of the members.

Alcoholics Anonymous does not perform miracles, believing that such power rests only in God.

We adhere to no particular creed or religion. We do believe however that an appeal for help to one's own interpretation of a Higher Power or God, is indispensable to a satisfactory adjustment to life's problems.

Alcoholics Anonymous is not a prohibition or temperance movement in any sense of the word. Neither have we any criticism of the controlled drinker. We are concerned ONLY with the alcoholic.

From the vast experience of our many members, we have learned that successful membership demands total abstinence. Attempts at controlled drinking inevitably fail.

We attempt to follow a program of Recovery which has for it's chief objectives, sobriety for ourselves; help for other alcoholics that desire it; amends for past wrongs; humility; honest; tolerance; and spiritual growth.

We welcome and appreciate the cooperation of the medical profession, the clergy and the public in general.

Developed in the 1940's

[shaun00]

very interesting........thankyou.