Welcome to SR Brian
I live in an area which is not very religious at all and most speakers I have heard have mentioned how they balked at the concept of a higher power at first. As a newcomer I found that reassuring. It seems that for many people here their concept of a higher power is not a creative god. In typical English style when anyone talks about their HP they are apologetic if it differs from other people's concepts. I think it is nice that people emphasise that lack of faith is not a barrier to recovery x