Different Kinds of AA Meetings
Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Philadelphia
Posts: 56
Different Kinds of AA Meetings
I am looking to go to my first AA meeting but find the waters hard to navigate. They have codes for the different meetings, and one that is near me this morning is called an Open Step meeting. No idea what that is. I am trying to avoid any that are too much about God or Jesus as I am an athiest. Thanks
bona fido dog-lover
Join Date: Mar 2008
Location: SF Bay area, CA
Posts: 99,780
'Open' means that anyone, addiction or not, can attend. 'Closed' meetings are for alcoholics only. Step meetings discuss the steps. Discussion meetings are just that; discussion. Someone will come along who knows more about meetings than I do to explain the rest.
AA is not a christian group, they talk about a Higher Power, whatever you choose that to be, but a lot of the members are dyed in the wool christians so there's bound to be "God talk" from some members.
AA is not a christian group, they talk about a Higher Power, whatever you choose that to be, but a lot of the members are dyed in the wool christians so there's bound to be "God talk" from some members.
Guest
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 184
Agreed, there are so many codes to learn about...
Here's a list from the meetings that are around the town that I live in:
C Closed
O Open
SP Speaker
SL Speaker Lead
D Discussion
BG Beginners
BB Big Book
BBSS Big Book Step Study
SS Step Study
ABSI As Bill Sees It Bk Study
W Woman Only Please
G Gay
M Men Only Please
LS Literature Discussion
ES Eleventh Step
MT Meditation
SS Step Study
DR Daily Reflections
NC No Children
SN Spanish
TR Tradition Study
GV Grapevine
SM Smoking
NS No Smoking
Here's a list from the meetings that are around the town that I live in:
C Closed
O Open
SP Speaker
SL Speaker Lead
D Discussion
BG Beginners
BB Big Book
BBSS Big Book Step Study
SS Step Study
ABSI As Bill Sees It Bk Study
W Woman Only Please
G Gay
M Men Only Please
LS Literature Discussion
ES Eleventh Step
MT Meditation
SS Step Study
DR Daily Reflections
NC No Children
SN Spanish
TR Tradition Study
GV Grapevine
SM Smoking
NS No Smoking
TheMostSordidSpotOnEarth
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: ParadiseOnEarth
Posts: 811
Hi Tim,
Welcome!
My experience as a very grateful member, if I'm in a new area and don't have personal recommendations over the various meetings, this is how I pick it if given a choice:
1. BBSS Big Book Step Study
2. BB Big Book
Meetings can be very different from one another. If you can get recommendations from the healthiest seeming people in the room, it may turn out to your advantage.
I was atheist years ago, and then turned agnostic. I now believe in a HP, and consider it fundamental to my recovery, but I am very sensitive to the concerns you expressed; I'd say even half of us feel similarly when we come in.
It is a spiritual, not religious, program, and no one will make you believe in God; and even if you did choose to believe in God, it would be the God of your understanding (or beyond your understanding), which would be entirely up to you as well.
You may want to keep an open mind, for your own benefit. "We Agnostics" is a chapter in the Big Book that may come to mean something to you, as it has for me.
In any case, yes there are atheists in AA, and they also recover. Some find it helpful to turn God into an idea like Good Orderly Direction, or Group Of Drunks.
But no need to jump the gun, we're getting way ahead of ourselves. Just go (and get a Big Book)! It works, it really does.
With love,
SIU
Welcome!
My experience as a very grateful member, if I'm in a new area and don't have personal recommendations over the various meetings, this is how I pick it if given a choice:
1. BBSS Big Book Step Study
2. BB Big Book
Meetings can be very different from one another. If you can get recommendations from the healthiest seeming people in the room, it may turn out to your advantage.
I was atheist years ago, and then turned agnostic. I now believe in a HP, and consider it fundamental to my recovery, but I am very sensitive to the concerns you expressed; I'd say even half of us feel similarly when we come in.
It is a spiritual, not religious, program, and no one will make you believe in God; and even if you did choose to believe in God, it would be the God of your understanding (or beyond your understanding), which would be entirely up to you as well.
You may want to keep an open mind, for your own benefit. "We Agnostics" is a chapter in the Big Book that may come to mean something to you, as it has for me.
In any case, yes there are atheists in AA, and they also recover. Some find it helpful to turn God into an idea like Good Orderly Direction, or Group Of Drunks.
But no need to jump the gun, we're getting way ahead of ourselves. Just go (and get a Big Book)! It works, it really does.
With love,
SIU
Member
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: New Braunfels, TX
Posts: 23
Hey Tim,
I went to my first meeting last week and really enjoyed it. Listening to people who have gone through the same trials and tribulations as myself, really helped me.
Also, you will find people with many years of sobriety under their belt who are more than willing to chat with you after the meeting. I really enjoyed this as well.
I felt a little weird not knowing what to expect but everyone in there will have things in common with you and will definitely not judge you on anything, including beliefs.
Make it happen, you'll be happy you did!!!
Tom
I went to my first meeting last week and really enjoyed it. Listening to people who have gone through the same trials and tribulations as myself, really helped me.
Also, you will find people with many years of sobriety under their belt who are more than willing to chat with you after the meeting. I really enjoyed this as well.
I felt a little weird not knowing what to expect but everyone in there will have things in common with you and will definitely not judge you on anything, including beliefs.
Make it happen, you'll be happy you did!!!
Tom
My Boss is a Jewish Carpenter
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Western Canada
Posts: 338
Welcome, Tim.
I'm sorry you're having difficulty with the codes. I'm sure it's not meant to be that way.
One of our Traditions says "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking." ([I]Alcoholics Anonymous, reprinted with permission).
You don't have to believe in God. You will be accepted as you are. Please don't miss out on this wonderful program because of your belief or lack of belief, now or ever.
I'm sorry you're having difficulty with the codes. I'm sure it's not meant to be that way.
One of our Traditions says "The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking." ([I]Alcoholics Anonymous, reprinted with permission).
You don't have to believe in God. You will be accepted as you are. Please don't miss out on this wonderful program because of your belief or lack of belief, now or ever.
Member of SMART Recovery
Join Date: Mar 2010
Posts: 1,722
Originally Posted by TimFoot 
I am looking to go to my first AA meeting but find the waters hard to navigate. They have codes for the different meetings, and one that is near me this morning is called an Open Step meeting. No idea what that is. I am trying to avoid any that are too much about God or Jesus as I am an athiest. Thanks
SMART RecoveryŽ | Self Help for Addiction & Alcohol Abuse
And we'd love to have you in the Secular Connections forum here on SR.
Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: WI
Posts: 228
Tim, I would urge you to just be open minded about spirituality. Many, many, people make their beginnings in AA as atheists or agnostics but begin to consider the world differently than they had previously. With that said, the only solution that AA has to offer is a spiritual solution. But, like I alluded to, all it takes is an open mind, and the willingness to try things a different way.
Member
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: Roxboro, NC
Posts: 544
Most AA meetings I go to start out with the Serenity Prayer and close with the Lord's Prayer. But you are not required to participate in either.
The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. When I walked into a meeting I was willing to buy anything they were selling to keep me sober, be it God, Jesus or the devil himself.
Most of the meetings I go to are open meetings. I like them the best. If I have an opportunity to go to a big book study I go, they are always helpful to me.
The only requirement is a desire to stop drinking. When I walked into a meeting I was willing to buy anything they were selling to keep me sober, be it God, Jesus or the devil himself.
Most of the meetings I go to are open meetings. I like them the best. If I have an opportunity to go to a big book study I go, they are always helpful to me.
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