tomvlll

"Sobriety, freedom from alcohol through the teaching
and practicing of the 12 Steps, is the sole purpose
of an AA group."

Bill W

Taking5

Do you know where he wrote this? The Grapevine maybe?

keithj

Hmmm. funny how the 'through the teaching and practicing of the 12 Steps' part seems to have been dropped from our current, popular preamble.

And it shows.

tomvlll

It's on page 4 of the pamphlet " Problems other than alcohol", which was lifted from a 1958 Grapevine article by Bill Wilsoin

tomvlll

This is what's on the 'blue card', read at every meeting I've everattended.

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE “BLUE” CARD.

THIS IS A CLOSED MEETING OF ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS
This is a closed meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. In support of A.A’s singleness of purpose, attendance at closed meetings is limited to persons who have a desire to stop drinking. If you think you have a problem with alcohol, you are welcome to attend this meeting. We ask that when discussing our problems, we confine ourselves to those problems as they relate to alcoholism.
(The 1987 General Service Conference made this statement available as an A.A. service piece for those groups who wish to use it.)
General Service Office, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, NY 10163

Yea, Keith, it shows.

24hrsAday

i Really Enjoy My Home Group.. We Start Out With The A.A. Preamble.. Then We Read "How it Works" Many Good Old Timers Attend..

tomvlll

" Then We Read "How it Works" ...


..yea so does mine. But often that's the only mention of the 12 Steps.

24hrsAday

Most Often We Read The Thought For The Day From Daily Reflections.. That Gives Us a Topic (like today) From p.184 As Bill Sees It..

yeahgr8

Out of all the meetings i have attended i have only seen that read at one meeting that i attended once a week...i often wondered why they didn't read that out at all meetings...might save me from having to hear about the pigeons that crap on some guys car everytime he washes it week in week out...then again attendance would probably halve too...

Mark75

I think sometimes there is this single minded application to the whole "please limit your discussion to problems as they relate to alcohol" as a way to limit people sharing about drug addiction... Last meeting, usually an excellent meeting, the suggested topic was medical treatment for depression... I was like WTF??? ... Thankfully we brought the meeting back to the spiritual solution to alcoholism.

yeahgr8... the half that would be left would be the ones sharing the solution, right?

Taking5

I've never heard of a blue card but I have heard this read at a few meetings, with a little liberty being taken in the wording. Most notably, "problems or solutions" as opposed to "problems".

Pinkcuda

Please don't confuse "Group" and "Meeting". They are not synonomous.
A group is as described.
A meeting is simply a place to go.

"Group") You can be a member of a group.
"Meeting") You can attend a meeting but you can't be a member of a meeting.

#3 Any 2-3 Alcoholics gathered for Sobriety may call themselves an AA Group

You must be gathered for "Sobriety" (The freedom from alcohol through the practice and teaching of the 12 steps.

Per tradition if you aren't practicing and teaching the 12 steps you aren't a "Group".
You are anything else with an AA sign on the door.
More like LifeRing or SOS. You just call it AA.
Sadly AA takes the heat for the shenanigans that go on in our confines.
Then I get called an ******* for speaking up.

sunrise1

We studied tradition 5 the other night at a new meeting I went to... I thought it was one of the best I've been to. Tradition 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.

I know now I have been attending meetings that are less introspective and more of a "first stop" for the alcoholic... it never gets much beyond "I'm grateful to be here", followed by quite a bit of unrelated "stuff" that doesn't really address the steps and the road to recovery.

I'm really glad I've finally got a sponsor who is firmly rooted in the first 164 pages. She has already pointed me toward meetings that are much more what AA is and should be about.

shockozulu

From the local 164 page Big Book study to the relaxed Daily Reflections discussion meetings, all of them read the Blue Card. This is true whether it is an open or closed meeting. I have never been to a meeting where it is not read.

tomvlll

My observation of AA in this area is more like:
"Sobriety-freedom from alcohol - is the main purpose of an AA group."

Boleo

"We must keep the painful memories of our drinking days fresh in our minds or we are destined to repeat or mistakes"

In other words; meetings, psycho-therapy and war-stories are being used to scare members straight. Needless to say, they did not help me because I am the guy described on page 34:

"This is the baffling feature of alcoholism as we know it - this utter inability to leave it alone, no matter how great the necessity or the wish."

Tommyh

"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."

(Letter from Bill W dated 1966 and quoted in "As Bill Sees It", page 79)

DayTrader

^^^^^ Thanks. I'd like to read that before every table starts at one of the meetings I attend.

43395

I attended AA meetings throughout the Greater Manchester area of the UK from 1984 on initially a regular basis, then intermittently and finally stopped after someone handed me 10 CD's coveringa weekends,'Big Book Study' hosted by Charlie and Joe, It was stressed that this was not AA, primarily as they like me had found that apart from the preamble, you wouldn't have even know you were attending an AA meeting. This is also highlighted on a CD , of a talk given by Jack Brennan, I certainly didn't get much help from meetings asnd had to find out things for myself, even to the point of purchasing my own copy of the,'Big Book'.

On the 15th of February, 2008 I was relieved of my alcoholism when I had a,'spiritual experience' at a time when I was alone and unaided by human hand and so debilitated by alcohol I could only craw like a snake to my bed. I had through the years worked, drunk or sober on my spiritual progress assisted by Buddhist principles e.g. ,'The Four Noble Truths' which deal with the cessation ofsuffering.

I would love to go to a real, down home, old time AA meeting, but where to find one? Mike W.

Norther

If I'm honest, I have to say that the purpose of every AA meeting I've ever been to was to keep me sober. I guess that's how self-centered I am. I'm working on it.