Are There Two A.A.’s?

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

Present-day AAs—members of the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous—certainly can’t be divided into two A.A.’s or ten A.A.’s. At least not the AAs that I met in April of 1986 when I entered the rooms. Nor the AAs I have fellowshipped with over the past 23years. Nor the AAs I have met at International Conventions, regional conventions, gatherings like the “Spring Fling,” Big Book Seminars, Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, the Wilson House in Vermont, the Snyder retreats in many states, the Roman Catholic retreat for AAs that I led in a monastery several years back, or just the plain old “meetings” that go on interminably in communities wherever I go. The people differ. The behavior differs. The groups differ. But the doors are open to all.

Is all this just naïveté? Not on your life. A.A. and its eager AAs fit my needs just fine as I came in, got a sponsor, had my seizures, spent time in treatment, spent time in the psych ward, even spent time in prison, learned about the Big Book, learned how to take and take others through the Twelve Steps, and finally discovered that—in the beginning—it was all about God. And, for me, it still is. No matter what others may do or say or think. I have found plenty of support for this position in the history of A.A., the contents of its Big Book, and the astonishing successes of the 1930’s that put A.A. on the map. I thank God in the name of Jesus Christ that He played a role in the whole founding and course of A.A.’s program and enabled me to find a new life that rested on the truths I found in the Bible. Nobody. Just nobody can drive a wedge that separates us drunks merely because of intolerance or variety or diversity. Not even those who claim we are heretics, cult members, on the path to destruction, or lacking in their doctrinal viewpoints.

The truth that I have observed is that there are not two, but dozens, of different types of A.A. gatherings; but all would probably deny that they belong to some separate organization from the gathering next door. Today, the A.A. Traditions still declare that any two AAs meeting for purposes of sobriety constitute an A.A. meeting. And today there are so many different shapes and sizes of these meetings than one can hardly simmer them down to two in number. Or twenty. Or one hundred.

Let’s take a quick look at the types of fellowships that have claimed A.A. affiliation through the years since 1935. First, there was the Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” founded in 1935. Its basic ideas came from the Bible. Its five required elements were summarized by Frank Amos and published in A.A.’s present-day literature. Second, before long, there were—according to Bill Wilson’s writings—some six word-of-mouth programs that preceded Wilson’s 1939 Big Book. And any careful review will disclose that none of the alleged six was anything like the Akron program, but they certainly involved A.A. affiliation. All the renditions differed in language and in principles—something Wilson himself admitted as he described them. By 1939, Bill had fashioned his own program primarily from his conferences with Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr. and hence primarily from the Oxford Group’s twenty-eight life-changing principles. Then, just before the Big Book was presented for printing, there was a controversy and a compromise that spelled out a program without a necessity for God.

No sooner was this published than Clarence Snyder fashioned a highly successful program in Cleveland—one with a documented 93% success rate--that combined the Bible, the Oxford Group’s Four Absolutes, the Big Book, and the Twelve Steps. It certainly was about God, as an examination of the Cleveland Central Bulletin issues for the period quickly disclose. Again, nobody was claiming this was a non-A.A. program. In fact, Bill Wilson wrote that its results were of the best and far exceeded the fellowship growth elsewhere.

Following this, Sister Ignatia and Dr. Bob worked together on some new and very brief procedures during the short patient stays at St. Thomas Hospital; and some five thousand apparently followed them. But nobody has claimed the St. Thomas five to seven day hospital stay produced a new or different A.A. Then—during Bill’s long years of tremendous depression—all sorts of approaches sprang into view. There was the work of Richmond Walker. There was the work of Father Ralph Pfau. There was the work of Ed. Webster. There were the four pamphlets that Dr. Bob encouraged AA of Akron to publish. There was finally—after Dr. Bob and his wife Anne were dead—the turning over of the Society and the publication of Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. But nobody claimed that any of these constituted the first, second, tenth, or unnumbered A.A. Fellowship. A.A. changed. The fellowship changed in composition. But AAs were still AAs. And they still are. One can attend meetings anywhere in the United States and Canada and believe he is in an A.A. meeting. And many that I have communicated with have made it clear that A.A. is still A.A. in England, Sweden, Australia, Japan, and Canada. In fact, the only two A.A.’s that I know of seem to exist in Mexico, but I’ll leave that to other reporters.

What’s the point?

The point is that as A.A. grew from the original, highly successful group of forty pioneers as of November, 1937, hordes thereafter poured into and out of A.A. A.A.’s corporate structure itself became protective of its copyrights, trademarks, symbols, and “Traditions.” This “protection” has been preserved by an international structure that is not even directly answerable to the garden variety of drunk who attends meetings in jails, hospitals, rehabs, treatment centers, and A.A. meetings. But A.A. is still A.A. no matter how much rigidity human beings try to impose.

The more commentators try to divide A.A. into this or that category, the more they distort the composition of this basically unorganized group of drunks who come into the rooms in unbelievably bad shape and, if they really try, and, if they really seek God’s help, can achieve a victory of sobriety and new life that they never believed possible. The range of dividers ranges from those who say that if you mention the Bible or God, you will get drunk to those who advocate going elsewhere because they can’t find Jesus in A.A. Some say A.A. is religious. Some say it is not religious. Some say it is “spiritual but not religious.” But it’s still A.A., whatever they choose to label it.

No, there are not two A.A.’s. But today there are tens of thousands in A.A. who have differing criticisms, differing viewpoints, even different types of “programs.” But most of us don’t even know about these when we first climb on board. We just welcome the love, friendship, and service that surround us; and we pay very little attention to those who are climbing the ladders of authority, but not really governing anybody.

I suppose you could say that “Give me liberty, or give me death” does not describe A.A. as such. But I also think you can say, “I didn’t want to die; so I’ll give A.A. a try. I did!

dickb@dickb.com; www.dickb.com

Gloria Deo

Alcoholics Anonymous History and Early A.A.’s Christian Roots

How They’ve Been Forgotten; And How They Can Help Recovery Today
Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

Learn About Them

I am one of the tens of thousands (probably hundreds of thousands) of Christians who deeply appreciate the recovery from alcoholism and addiction that Alcoholics Anonymous made possible in our lives. Many of us have been criticized for mentioning Jesus Christ and the Bible in our talks at meetings. But most of us know that God is our sufficiency. We pray to Him in the name of Jesus Christ. And we recover.

Many of us who are Christians involved in A.A. do believe in God, the accomplishments of His Son Jesus Christ, and the truth about both that is found in the Bible. Many of us, as Christian members of Alcoholics Anonymous, had no idea whatsoever that early A.A. was a Christian fellowship, that its members believed in God, surrendered to Jesus Christ, and studied the Bible on a daily basis. Many of us had no idea whatsoever that the early, Christian-oriented A.A. claimed an overall 75% success rate among the “seemingly-hopeless,” “medically-incurable,” “last gasp case” alcoholics who thoroughly followed the pioneer A.A. program. And many of us never learned that the Original Akron program is summarized rather well in on page 131 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book, DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers.

How could so many of us have been unaware of these facts?

The answer, in part, is that, as the First Edition of A.A.’s Big Book manuscript was being written and edited in 1938 and early 1939, many additions, omissions, and changes were made to the highly-successful Akron Christian program Bill W. and Dr. Bob began developing in the summer of 1935. For example, as Bill W. stated on pages 166-67 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book, Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age:

We [Bill W., Hank P., Ruth Hock, and John Henry Fitzhugh M.] were still arguing about the Twelve Steps. All this time I had refused to budge on these steps. I would not change a word of the original draft, in which, you will remember, I had consistently used the word "God," and in one place the expression "on our knees" was used. Praying to God on one's knees was still a big affront to Henry. He argued, he begged, he threatened. He quoted Jimmy [B.—i.e., Jim Burwell] to back him up. . . . Though at first I would have none of it, we finally began to talk about the possibility of compromise. . . . In Step Two we decided to describe God as a "Power greater than ourselves." In Steps Three and Eleven we inserted the words "God as we understood Him." From Step Seven we deleted the expression "on our knees." . . . Such were the final concessions to those of little or no faith; this was the great contribution of our atheists and agnostics. [Emphasis added]

Bill W.’s wife Lois spoke about another major change on page 113 of her autobiography, Lois Remembers:

Finally it was agreed that the book should present a universal spiritual program, not a specific religious one, since all drunks were not Christian.

Such major changes to the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” program obscured the simple solution the A.A. pioneers in Akron discovered; specifically, that a cure from alcoholism was available through reliance on Almighty God, coming to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, and reading and studying the Bible—along with the other principles and practices of the early days. [For the Frank Amos summary of the Original Akron A.A. “Program,” and the other principles and practices of the Akron fellowship, see: Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Manual (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2009), 44-46, 49.]

The Lesson from the First Three AAs

Early AAs knew one another. They visited one another. They had address books with the phone numbers (if a given member had a phone) and addresses of the other members. And they kept rosters which showed the sobriety dates and sobriety history of the members.

The 75% overall success rate early A.A. claimed was remarkable because it was attained by what Bill W. called the “seemingly-hopeless,” “medically-incurable,” “last gasp” cases who gave their all to God and received the blessed healing and deliverance that followed. Bill W. and Dr. Bob did indeed state that there were “failures galore.” But there weren’t failures galore among the real hardcore members who turned to God and gave the program everything they had.

A very important part of the historical record is how the first three AAs got sober in late 1934 and in 1935. When they got sober:

There was no Big Book (Alcoholics Anonymous was published in April 1939);
There were no Twelve Steps;
There were no Twelve Traditions;
There were no “drunkalogs”; and
There were no “meetings to make”—at least of the kinds normally seen in today’s A.A.

The Creator of the heavens and the earth was there. See, for example, Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.:

“my Creator” (page 13)
“My Creator” (76)
“our Creator” (pages 25, 68, 72, 75, 83)
“a living Creator” (page 28);
“his Creator” (page 56, 80, 158)
“their loving and All Powerful Creator” (page 161)

The “Great Physician,” Jesus Christ, was there. See, for example: Dick B., The Conversion of Bill W.: More on the Creator’s Role in Early A.A. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 59ff.

The Bible (which Dr. Bob often called the “Good Book”) was there. See, for example, page 13 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved pamphlet, The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous (Item # P-53; available for reading online at http://aa.org/pdf/products/p-53_theco-foundersofAA.pdf; accessed 8/5/09):

At that point, our stories didn’t amount to anything to speak of. When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps, either; we had no Traditions.
But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James.

A.A. Number One, Bill W., learned from Dr. Silkworth that Jesus Christ could cure him. Bill learned from his old drinking friend Ebby Thacher that Ebby had been to the altar at Calvary Rescue Mission, and been reborn, causing Ebby to tell Bill that God had done for him (Ebby) what Ebby could not do for himself. Bill then went to Calvary Church itself. He heard Ebby give testimony from the pulpit; and Bill decided that he too needed help and needed the same help that Ebby had received. Bill then went to the altar at Calvary Rescue Mission, made a decision for Christ, wrote that he had been born again for sure, and then decided to seek the help of the “Great Physician,” Jesus Christ. Deeply depressed and despairing, Bill proceeded drunk to Towns Hospital where he was greeted by Dr. Silkworth. At Towns Hospital, Bill cried out for help, had a dramatic spiritual “white light” experience, perceived that he had been in the presence of the “God of the Scriptures” (as Bill wrote on page 284 of The Language of the Heart), and never drank again. Bill proclaimed he never again doubted the existence of God. And his message became: “The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease, and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.” (Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 191) No Big Book. No Twelve Steps. No Twelve Traditions. No drunkalogs. No meetings. Just the power and love of God that Bill had sought and relied upon.

A.A. Number Two, Dr. Bob S.,--a Christian since his youth in St. Johnsbury, Vermont--prayed for deliverance on the rug at the home of T. Henry Williams in Akron. Miraculously, help showed up quite soon in the form of a visit of Bill W. to Akron. Henrietta Seiberling declared Bill’s visit to be “Manna from Heaven.” Bill soon moved in with Dr. Bob and his wife, studied the Bible with them, and nursed Dr. Bob back from one, brief and last binge. Dr. Bob never drank again thereafter and told the nurse at City Hospital that he and Bill had found a cure for alcoholism. No Big Book. No Twelve Steps. No Twelve Traditions. No drunkalogs. No meetings. Just the power and love of God that Dr. Bob had sought and relied upon. Dr. Bob closed his story in the Big Book with these words:

Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!

Bill W. and Dr. Bob sought out another drunk to help. They found A.A. Number Three, the hospitalized Akron attorney Bill D., also a Christian. After Bill D. heard what Bill W. and Dr. Bob had to share, Bill D. decided to entrust his life to God’s care. Shortly, when Bill W. and Dr. Bob returned to the hospital, Bill D. told them what had happened. Bill D. then left the hospital a free man and never drank again. He had been told to find other drunks to help; and he did so. No Big Book. No Twelve Steps. No Twelve Traditions. No drunkalogs. No meetings. Just the power and love of God that Bill D. had sought and relied upon. Bill D. found himself echoing Bill W.’s statement on page 191 of the Fourth Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous:

The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease, and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.

Bill D. called Bill W.’s statement the “golden text of A.A.” for him and for others.

What These Three Stories Show Us Today

Three men! The first three AAs. All healed by the power of God—never to drink again!

What they did is scarcely known by AAs and recovery workers today. I know, for I have spoken and written about it in front of audiences all over the United States and in Canada—in person, in books, in articles, in emails, in phone calls, and on radio and television. Yet that is the message they seem hungry to hear.

These first three AAs recovered by the power of God. Because of their experience, other “seemingly-hopeless,” “medically-incurable,” “last gasp case” alcoholics, who thoroughly followed the early Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” program path, were able to recover by the power of God. But what I especially hope you, the reader, will take away from this discussion is that what was done in 1935 and the next three years can be done and is being done today.

Benefitting Today from the “Lessons Learned” by A.A.’s Pioneers

I’m a proponent of A.A. I recovered immediately when I entered the rooms of A.A. in 1986 and have never relapsed since. I have had complete release from alcoholism and addiction. I credit the support I received in A.A., the work I did in learning the program of recovery in the Steps and helping others to take those Steps, and the complete dedication I had to the A.A. way. But I have never for one moment doubted that God must ultimately receive the credit—just as He received the credit from the mouths of the first three AAs—Bill W., Dr. Bob S., and Bill D.

When a Christian in A.A. is buffeted with intemperate remarks from others about the Creator of the heavens and the earth, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, his faith, or his church, he needs to stand solid on the real recovery factor that is available in A.A. today, just as it was available in the Christian Fellowship founded in Akron in 1935. A.A. was founded on statements such as this: God could and would if He were sought. He can. He will. He does. And He is available to every drunk or addict who wants to seek and obey Him. That was proved in 1935. It is being proved today among those Christians in recovery who choose to avail themselves of His help. And His help—the help of the Creator of the heavens and the earth—stands at the ready awaiting a call from those who believe. Those in prisons, jails, mental wards, hospitals, A.A., N.A., other Twelve Step Fellowships, the Armed Forces, veterans facilities, homeless shelters, treatment programs, rehabs, detoxes, and counseling offices. Anywhere! Anywhere at all!

Dick B.: PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; (808) 874-4876; Email: DickB@DickB.com;
www.DickB.com

Gloria Deo

A.A. History Epochs and What They Tell Us Today

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

A.A.'s Real History - a product of ongoing research and open-mindedness. The more the research, the more writers are able to divest themselves of the idea as to what AAs do and don't say, believe, practice, and pass along. The shibboleths of higher power, spiritual but not religious, salvation or something, nonsense gods that can be chairs, and all the other baggage that has emerged from lack of historical research may never be extracted from today's recovery language. But there's hope. A.A. had several distinct and usually unreported epochs. The first had to do with the religious training of Dr. Bob in St. Johnsbury and Bill W. in East Dorset and Manchester, Vermont. It was Christian. It involved Bible study. It emphasized salvation and learning the Word of God. It came from the Congregational churches to which both cofounders belonged; from the YMCA of which Bill was a president and Dr. Bob's father was president; from the rescue missions which is where Bill made his decision for Jesus Christ; from Christian Endeavor in which Dr. Bob was active; from the evangelists; from the rigorous requirements of St. Johnsbury Academy and Burr and Burton Academy where daily chapel, weekly church attendance, and Bible study were required. Thus, contrary to what most writings contend, Bob and Bill had strong Christian religious training as youngsters. It was buttressed by their families, their churches, their Sunday schools, their prayer meetings, and the whole environment in rural Vermont at the time. The second epoch was the period when Bill and Bob earned their stripes as real, fully qualified drunks. The third began as each finally turned to God for help--Bill by his decision for Jesus Christ at Calvary Rescue Mission and his call to God for help at Towns Hospital, followed by his "white light" experience, his belief he had been in the presence of "the God of the Scriptures," and his total cure. With Bob, the turning point began on the carpet of the home of T. Henry Williams, where Bob and his supporters dropped to their knees and prayed for his deliverance. This was followed by the seemingly miraculous appearance of Bill W. in Akron--proclaimed by Henrietta Seiberling to be "manna from heaven" and then by Dr. Bob's final decision to quit after his last binge which ended in June, 1935. Both men stated in writing that they were cured! The next epoch involved the actual program the two cofounders developed in the summer of 1935. Its ingredients were summarized in seven points by the Frank Amos report to John D. Rockefeller--which is lodged in the Rockefeller Archives in New York. The actual 14 "practices" including hospitalization, quiet time, Bible study, acceptance of Jesus Christ, witnessing and the rest are described in my book When Early AAs Were Cured and Why. Next came what Bill and Bill alone described as "six" word-of-mouth ideas. Bill admitted they varied widely in the hands of the users. And they certainly did not follow the Akron Christian Fellowship program that began in 1935. Bill then got permission to write a book. He and his partner formed a pseudo corporation, prepared a prospectus, outlined the book, sold shares, and (in Bill's case) conferred with Sam Shoemaker at length. The end result was (even though Bill had left the Oxford Group in August of 1937; and even though the Akron program was NOT an Oxford Group program)that Bill restored most of the Oxford Group's 28 precepts to A.A. and codified them in his Twelve Steps. Dr. Bob had nothing to do with the writing of these. And then Bill eliminated "God" from the proposed Step Two and added "as we understood Him" to Steps Three and Eleven; and the compromise was concluded. The atheists and agnostics had been mollified. And A.A. no longer was the Christian Fellowship that it had been in Akron from 1935 to the Spring of 1939 (and probably long thereafter). From all of this, the student of A.A. history needs to cease depicting A.A. as some monolithic society of agreed atheism, an Oxford Group offshoot, and a spiritualism dispensary and recognize it for the diverse and varied fellowship of which it consists today. I am a Christian, a Bible student, an active and recovered A.A. member; and today I have learned a great deal about the "biography" of the fellowship in which I gained continuing sobriety that has lasted almost twenty-four years to date. God Bless, Dick B.

dickb@dickb.com
www.dickb.com

Gloria Deo

Seeking Guidance from God in Today's A.A.?

“Go with the Winners”
and Follow the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

The following verses from the Book of James show specifically why and how to seek the wisdom of God. As A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob stated, early members started their days be reading from the Book of James, 1 Corinthians 13, and Jesus' Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7):

Members of Alcoholics Anonymous begin the day with a prayer for strength and a short period of Bible reading. They find the basic messages they need in the Sermon on the Mount, in Corinthians and the Book of James. [See Dick B., Real Twelve Step Fellowship History, 18.]

And verses from these Bible segments were common fare in the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” program A.A. Cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob began developing over the summer of 1935—the “old school” A.A. way.

From the Book of James, King James Version of the Bible

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him (James 1:5)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning (James 1:17)

Wherefore my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God (James 1:19-20)

If ye fulfil the royal law according to the scripture, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself, ye do well (James 2:8)

But if ye have bitter envying and strife in your hearts, glory not, and lie not against the truth. This wisdom descendeth not from above, but is earthly, sensual, devilish. For where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work (James 3:14-16)

Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts(James 4:3)

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded. . . . Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up (James 4:7-8, 10)

Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell and get gain: Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. . . . For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. But now ye rejoice in your boastings: all such rejoicing is evil (James 4:13-16)

From Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount

Compare the following language from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). Both Bill W. and Dr. Bob said that it contained the underlying spiritual philosophy of A.A. [See Dick B., Dr. Bob and His Library, 3rd ed., 9] And Dr. Bob pointedly made clear the real source of the verses from Jesus’ Sermon that underlay the well-known A.A. slogan, “First Things First.” [See Dick B., The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook, 92.] For Jesus taught:

Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought [be not anxious] for your life what ye shall eat or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. Is not life more than meat, and the body than raiment? (Matthew 6:25)

Wherefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? Or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed? . . . for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you (Matthew 6:31-33)

It is about asking God’s guidance, and then obeying His will

Sound familiar to those of you who study the Big Book? If you do, you will find the Big Book full of prayers involving asking for the guidance of God. You’ll find requests that God’s will be done; that God save you from being angry; and the command that you love your neighbor as yourself. You’ll find that prayer for selfish ends is eschewed. You will find prayers humbly addressed to the Creator and involving submitting yourself to His will. And you’ll find talk of “Trust God, Clean House. Work with Others.”

When reliance on God is abandoned, the road is wide open to fear, anger, efforts to control, rationalization, and man-made errors. This was not the pioneer A.A. way of “the prince of all twelfth-steppers,” Dr. Bob. Nor is it what AAs learn when they study their basic text and take their Twelve Steps of recovery. And it is not what those is today's A.A. learn when they study the basic ideas early AAs in Akron borrowed from their study the Bible.

There’s a reason for asking God for the answers. He knows your needs. He hears your prayers. And, if you are obedient to His will, He supplies what is needed, rather than just what is wanted.

Gloria Deo

http://www.dickb.com/

Helping a Christian to Begin Recovery Today

Dick B.
© 2010 Anonymous. All rights reserved

What Is This Newcomer Like?

The condition of most alcoholics who are being propelled toward recovery today is complex, life-threatening, confusing, frightening, and often misunderstood.

Here are some of the problems the newcomer may commonly face:

Welcome has been worn out with parents, wives, children, relatives, friends, “significant others,” employers, business associates, clients and customers, physicians, psychiatrists, therapists, counselors, treatment programs, clergy, law enforcement agencies, courts, jails, teachers, schools, and just about everyone who has had to face the bizarre, repeated trouble-making and disasters.

The classic response of the afflicted person has been to conceal, deny, blame, resent, fear, lie, cheat, steal, rationalize, fight, flee, hide, change course, explain, and refuse or resist help.

Trouble surrounds the person—trouble emanating from crimes, debts, accidents, injuries, loss of job or clients, rejection by family and associates, divorce, legal interventions, tax difficulties, illness, ill-health, suicidal episodes, depression, despair, loneliness, and/or bewilderment.

Ere long, the newcomer faces the physical and mental consequences of excessive drinking, drugging, and excess—consequences that take the form of physical problems, brain damage, nerve damage, mental incapacity, severe depression, and neglect of bodily needs for nutrition, health care, dental care, exercise, personal hygiene, and loss of self-esteem, honesty, integrity, and care and love of others.

Terror, indecision, confusion, and anger arise as the newcomer considers approaches to recovery. Anger at courts, government, authorities, doctors, clergy, psychiatrists, interventionists, counselors, and therapists. Confusion from the opinions of the host of critics of recovery methods and fellowships.

A.A. Is One of the Newcomer's Potential Recovery Tools

Some recognize the importance of A.A. as an aid to recovery whether or not its confused religious ideas, its self-help focus, and its non-professional backdrop are acceptable. Generally speaking, evangelists like Dwight L. Moody and Billy Sunday were not professionals, But they helped many alcoholics. The same can be said of the organizers of the rescue missions—including Calvary Rescue Mission in New York where Bill W. was born again. The same also for the YMCA lay leaders involved with the “Great Awakening” of 1875 in St. Johnsbury, Vermont–the home of A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob and his parents. And the same certainly for the Salvation Army workers who have been helping drunks for more than 100 years—even though there has been a change in approach in some of its ARCs today. The present-day usefulness of A.A. can be likened to the aid provided to alcoholics by non-professionals for decades.

At the very least, Alcoholics Anonymous provides worldwide availability, intense
community availability, 24-hour response action, compassion and understanding, altruistic and free assistance, lack of financial barriers, fellowship with those who do not make judgments about past errors, and extreme focuses on refraining from one drop of alcohol and on keeping company with those of like mind and with experience in how to live sober despite oft-repeated years of previous drinking abuse.

In fact, Alcoholics Anonymous arose and gained ascendancy when professionals like the expert William Duncan Silkworth, M.D., were stating plainly that alcoholics were “medically incurable.” And many other efforts of a non-Christian nature such as Prohibition, the Washingtonians, anti-saloon league groups, mental institutions, hospitals, and jails were having little or no success with the unpredictable alcoholic. This is what prompted the A.A. claim that alcoholics realized that probably no human power could relieve them of their alcoholism, but that God could and would if He were sought. And He did!

How Should Christian Recovery Efforts Begin Today?

First, some caveats concerning what not to tell a newcomer about A.A.:

Don't pass on the old saw about A.A.'s being “spiritual but not religious.” This argument is meaningless, misleading, and has been thoroughly rejected by most courts which have been called upon to review the evidence. If courts, weighing the evidence and relying on reasoned prior rulings, can’t see the distinction, there is no reason to promote it in fellowships of sick, brain damaged, or uniformed newcomers.

Don't tell a newcomer that A.A. is not for Christians. Christians can be members of A.A. And Christians can pursue their religious beliefs and practices within A.A.

Don't tell a newcomer that it is ok for Christians to manufacture their own conception of some god—e.g., a “higher power,” a light bulb, a chair, a tree, the Big Dipper, the Great Pumpkin, a Coke bottle, a radiator, Something, Somebody, Ralph, Gertrude, an A.A. group, or a “Group Of Drunks.” In “old school” A.A., newcomers were told that they needed to “find or rediscover God,” to read the Bible, to have a Quiet Time each day, to participate in prayer meetings, and to “surrender” and accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Second, some caveats as to what the Christian sponsor, counselor, clergyman, and professional should expect:

That newcomers are sick, in trouble, and probably not approaching recovery expecting to be involved in a search for, belief in, or argument over God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, and religion.

That newcomers may need immediate medical, psychiatric, counseling, and nutritional help. To ignore this is to subject the newcomer to dangers of seizures, excruciating withdrawal experiences, hallucinations, severe illness, suicidal tendencies, and even death.

That newcomers are possibly confused, frightened, timid, lonely, inclined to withdraw from others, depressed, ready to split, concerned about guilt and the opinions of others, and being pelted with all of the psychobabble, nonsense gods, spirituality, and anti-religious chatter that abound in the rooms of A.A. today.

That soup, soap, shelter, friendship, love, understanding, and salvation cannot be tendered too soon to someone wanting God’s help. The facts of history show the value of these approaches.

That newcomers are far more likely to be challenged about their religious statements, beliefs, principles, practices, church attendance, and reading matter than about their past conduct, former drinking episodes, or even his behavior in sobriety.

That newcomers will seldom, if ever, hear about the Christian origins of A.A., where its early program ideas came from, what those Christian ideas were, how the first three AAs got sober, the seven simple points of the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” program, what the pioneers actually did in Akron, and the high success rates the pioneers achieved.

That newcomers need to be told how the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” members got well by abstaining from drinking; by turning to God for help; by “surrendering” and accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior; by obeying God’s will by walking in love and eliminating sinful conduct; by growing in understanding and fellowship by studying the Bible, praying, asking God’s guidance, and reading Christian literature and devotionals; and then by helping other alcoholics get straightened out through the same means.

That newcomers will dive into recovery best and most enthusiastically if told to “go with the flow” in A.A. That is: go to meetings regularly; participate in and serve at meetings when asked; get and use phone numbers; immediately obtain and start reading the Big Book; get a sponsor; follow instructions on taking the Twelve Steps in accordance with the Big Book; stick with the winners; seek and make friends with those who are living sober and engaging in sober activities; and helping others at every turn—whether by welcoming, offering a hug or a handshake, offering coffee or a seat, communicating, providing rides, urging newcomers to hang out with other sober members, encouraging them to stay away from slippery places and slippery people, and suggesting their going to God for help every day with every problem.

Third, what the newcomer needs to learn, be told, and be encouraged to do:

Newcomers need to hear that if they want God’s help, they first need to be born again of the Spirit of God, and thus become a child of the living and true God. And that they need to manifest the gift of the Holy Spirit so that they can communicate with God—Who is Spirit. And, additionally, that they need to worship God in spirit and in truth, receive revelation from their heavenly Father, know and understand spiritual matters, and pray effectively to God in the name of His Son Jesus Christ for healing, forgiveness, mercy, and receipt of the promises of God that are conditioned upon obedience to his Father’s will. These are the promises of the Bible, and they provide hope to the seemingly-hopeless who are led to believe they work.

Newcomers need to hear that they need not, and should never, yield to anyone’s opinion to the effect that the newcomer may not believe in God, speak about God, be a Christian, study the Bible, thank God, pray to God in the name of Jesus Christ, go to a Bible fellowship, go to a church of his choice, ask God’s guidance in every situation, look to God for healing and forgiveness and deliverance, and read Christian literature.

Newcomers need to hear that the sooner they begin fellowshipping with, sponsoring, and keeping company with, like-minded believers, the sooner they will doing what God expects His children to do in order to love, encourage, comfort, support, edify, and help their brothers and sisters in Christ.

Newcomers need to hear that taking notice of A.A.’s emphasis on love and service, love and tolerance, honesty, patience, kindness, and love is important.

Newcomers need to hear that, rather than criticizing and condemning churches, A.A., Christians, or AAs, they should do what God says:

1 Thess 5:21 (KJV):
Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

Newcomers need to hear that there is merit in repeating the old A.A. line: “If you don’t like a group, a meeting, a speaker, or a subject, take your resentment and a coffee pot and start a new meeting.”

Specific Suggestions for Your Helping and Training Christians in Recovery

Do some significant homework in A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature, in the origins and history of A.A., in the detours about what “A.A.” is that abound today, and in early A.A.’s basic biblical roots, principles, and practices:

Get the important basic facts from the important A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature that is positive, informative, and instructive as to the original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” program, the Big Book program, the origins and content of the Twelve Steps, and as much of the history of A.A. as it has chosen to make available. For example:

Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.
DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers
Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age;
The Language of the Heart;
“Pass It On”
RHS
The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches Their Last Major Talks

Avoid passing on, opining about, reading, and quoting undocumented statements about A.A.’s alleged program.

Avoid wasting time on the supposed contributions and shortcomings of the ideas of the Washingtonians, William James, Carl Jung, and the Emmanuel Movement.

Go to God as soon as possible with thanksgiving, praise, requests for guidance and wisdom, requests for forgiveness and deliverance, requests for healing and prosperity, requests for blessings for the newcomer and for others in his circle.

Get into the Bible as soon, as simply, and as relevantly possible. This means choosing a Bible that you and the newcomer wish to work with. We use the King James Version because that is the version used by “old school” A.A. and its pioneers.

It may also mean looking at some of my books which tell you the biblical basics of early A.A.: The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible; The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook; The James Club and the Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials; Good Morning! Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.; Dr. Bob and His Library; Anne Smith’s Journal, 1933-1939; The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous; Why Early A.A. Succeeded; and When Early AAs Were Cured and Why

The Starting Points for Newcomers are
Belief in God, Accepting Jesus Christ as Their Lord and Savior, and Studying the Bible

Verses where God lays out what he expects of man:

Ecclesiastes 12:13: Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear [Revere] God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man

Matthew 22:36-40: Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

1 John 5:1-3: Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous.

Hebrews 11:6: But without faith, it is impossible to please him [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

John 3:3: Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.

John 14:6: Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

Acts 4:10, 12: Be it known you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand before you whole. . . . Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

1 Timothy 2:4: Who [God our Savior] will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the
knowledge of the truth.

Romans 10:9: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.

John 17:7: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

In a few words: Man’s duty is to obey God’s commandments. God commands that he that comes to God must believe that He is and is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. Jesus said no man comes to the Father but by him [Jesus]. Those who confess with their mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead are saved. And God has two basic commands for man: (1) God wants all men to be saved. (2) God wants all men to come unto the knowledge of the truth. And God’s word is the truth which God wants all men to know.

The early A.A. approach to this was very very simple: (1) Every member was required to confess that he believed in God. (2) Every member was required to confess Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. (3) Every member was required to study the Bible to learn the truth.

The Pioneers Expected All to Study
the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13

Once a newcomer has professed belief in God and confessed Jesus as Lord, the next step is to lead the newcomer through a study of the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), and 1 Corinthians 13.

Dick B.’s Book, The James Club and the Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials, carefully reviews these three essential segments of the Bible and relates each to the relevant ideas found in the A.A. program.

Daily Contact with God Was Achieved by Observing Morning Quiet Time

Daily “prayer and meditation,” as the Big Book later described it, involved the following specific practices: (1) Beginning the session with prayer to God, giving thanks in the name of Jesus Christ, and asking God’s guidance as to how to proceed with the observance. (2) Reading from the Bible—the most common segments being the Book of James, Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. (3) Prayers of thanksgiving, adoration, petition, forgiveness, intercession, guidance, and healing were common. (4) Seeking God’s guidance as to how to proceed with the day. (5) Discussing subjects from Anne Smith’s personal journal or Bible devotionals such as The Runner’s Bible, The Upper Room, and My Utmost for His Highest. (6) Closing with the Lord’s Prayer.

Learning to Seek God’s Help through Prayer, Renewing the Mind with Verses from the Bible, Giving Thanks, and Asking for God’s Revelation as to What to Do

The ever-present love, power, wisdom, strength, forgiveness, and deliverance: Much of the importance of becoming a Christian and getting into fellowship with God, His Son Jesus Christ, and other like-minded believers is lost if God is not called off the bench throughout the day. There will be problems of sickness, acrimony, troubles, financial and legal difficulties, business and homemaking approaches, domestic and family strife, fear, resentment, frustration, anger, anxiety, stress, destruction, disaster, difficulty, and death. The newcomer needs to learn to walk in the spirit rather than walking by the five senses, putting on the new man with love, peace, gentleness, goodness, patience, kindness, forgiveness, joy, faith, and the accomplishments of Jesus Christ.

The believer-newcomer has a choice. He can walk according to the spirit of God and look to God for wisdom, peace, freedom from fear, joy, happiness, purity, avoidance of temptation, resisting the devil, strength, and guidance. He can renew his mind with what the Word of God says and cast down and away the negatives that the Adversary and the world present. He can claim power, victory, and freedom from bondage in the name of Jesus Christ. And he can, in humility, be lifted up and out of worldly difficulties and concerns by the power and love of God.

Much-Needed New Training Approaches for Christians in Recovery

Training helpers to become informed speakers, sponsors, groups, clergy, recovery pastors, therapists, counselors, facilitators, and program directors

There is, and long has been, a need for training those Christians who want to help other Christians in recovery and those in recovery who need to know of the Christian option.

The present counseling field is bloated with models, modules, proposed new therapies, regulations, and certifications that require competence in everything but the history of A.A.; the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible in the astonishing successes of early A.A.; and the propriety of learning from tolerant teachers the way to seek recovery in any atmosphere, among many different models and viewpoints; in a population of diverse and varied religious, irreligious, and unbelieving newcomers, old-timers; and virulent critics of God, His Son Jesus Christ, the Bible, Christianity, religion, denominations, sects, 12-Step programs, anonymous fellowships, and Christian recovery groups and programs.

Platforms for Training and Education

Accessible historical recovery resource libraries and collections

Far too few know of the presently-existing libraries and collections

All should know of the Griffith House Library near the Wilson House in East Dorset, Vermont; the Dr. Bob Core Library at the North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury, Vermont; the Samuel M. Shoemaker collection of Shoemaker books, articles, and papers at the Shoemaker Room in Calvary Episcopal Church in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; the A.A. Library at Dr. Bob’s last church, St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Akron, Ohio; the Stepping Stones archives in Bedford Hills, New York; the Shoemaker papers at the Episcopal Church Archives in Austin, Texas; the private collection of Ray Grumney, former archivist at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, Ohio, now living in Seminole, Florida; Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, Ohio; the Seiberling Gate Lodge Museum in Akron, Ohio; the Akron Intergroup Archives in Akron, Ohio; A.A. General Service Office in New York; the Hazelden-Pittman Museum in Center City, Minnesota; and university library archives at Brown University, Akron University, Hartford Seminary, Princeton Alumni archives, and others. Some of these are not easily accessed, but the author has visited, viewed, and often copied valuable materials from all these sources.

Individual collections of historical books and materials

Many historians, teachers, writers, book stores and distributors, and collectors today have assembled many of the important books, articles, and papers that have been the subject of historical writings and conferences since mid-1975.

And now 12-Step groups, recovery programs, churches, para-church organizations, sober living houses and centers, James Clubs, recovery fellowships and programs, and Christian recovery groups need to establish libraries suited to their own particular outreach. Many are now organized or being organized

Examples are Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious in Kansas City, Missouri; Rock Recovery Ministries in San Diego; New Life Spirit Recovery, Inc., in Huntington Beach, California; Turning Point Fellowship of the Cornerstone Fellowship Church in Livermore, California; CityTeam centers primarily on the West Coast; ABC Sober Living in San Diego; Men’s Step Study Groups in Oahu, Hawaii; Austin Recovery Ministry in Austin, Texas; the Akronites of Canada and West Virginia; Won Way Out in Delaware; Came to Believe Retreats, and numerous James Clubs that have sprung up around the United States and abroad.

We believe that every recovery-oriented church, pastoral recovery effort, Christian recovery program, Christian counselor program, Christian treatment program, Sober house, Sober Club, prison, jail, homeless shelter or housing facility, half-way house, rescue mission, Salvation Army mission, and 12-Step Christian recovery group should have a basic resource library where materials can be seen and studied, loaned out, and used by groups.

Such libraries should have a liberal supply of Bibles, Big Books, relevant A.A. General Service Conference-approved books and pamphlets, one or more sets of the Dick B. 29-volume reference set, the Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, the four-part introductory series on early A.A. History with DVD’s and workbook, and historically significant Bible devotionals such as The Runner’s Bible, the Upper Room, My Utmost for His Highest, Victorious Living, and Daily Strength for Daily Needs. As well as some fundamental historical books on rescue missions, the YMCA, the Salvation Army, Christian Endeavor, evangelists and revivals, the Oxford Group, and Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.

Study groups with competent teachers, literature, and approaches

Groups that study the Big Book, the Twelve Steps, early A.A. origins and practices, the Bible, Christian literature, and Christian recovery history and literature.

We have written a number of books and articles on how to do this; and across the world, James Clubs, Big Book/Bible study groups, Christian recovery groups, Step study groups, History Groups, and others are being established and growing.

They are as easy to start as selecting a group, a secretary, a format, a meeting place, and perhaps a name—then diving in, whether into the Bible, our history, the Big Book, the Steps, prayer, Christian practices, or working with newcomers.

Christian Quiet Time meetings, Bible studies, prayer meetings, teaching meetings, and believer fellowship meetings.

These were daily fare in early A.A.—particularly with the morning Quiet Times that
Anne Smith conducted at the Smith Home in Akron. Many are under way today.

Almost as soon as Dick B.' title, By the Power of God, was published and endorsed by Ozzie Lepper of the Wilson House, the Wilson House began holding morning Quiet Time meetings each day. Fr. Bill Wigmore has plans for extensive Quiet Time guides and programs emanating from Austin Recovery in Texas. Rock Recovery Ministries and the sober living houses managed by David Powers in San Diego are conducting these meetings. His group also circulates daily text messages based on The Upper Room. A number of pastors, recovery pastors, and groups regularly conduct studies of the Book of James, the Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians. And there are more and more Bible study and prayer meetings to be found around the world that have to do with recovery resembling the “old school” A.A. way.

Scarcely a day passes that the author doesn’t receive phone calls, emails, and letters announcing that a person or his pastor or his group or his church or his friends want to start a group within the church that embraces the meetings mentioned here.

These can and should be available for churches, clergy, recovery pastors, counselors, recovery groups, 12-Step groups, healing groups, seminars, lectures, resources, conferences.

Distributing A.A. History Literature as Widely as Possible

For many many years, tracts and literature have been a potent means for spreading the Gospel, bringing people to Jesus Christ, and encouraging church affiliation and attendance.

In our own experience over the past 20 years, benefactors, conferences, churches, 12 Step fellowships, and individuals have enabled us to distribute free at least one third of the more than 200,000 Dick B. books that have been published.

These books have gone to every prison facility operated by the State of Hawaii, to every Salvation Army ARC in the Southern Territory of the United States, to many prison chaplains, to VA and military facilities, to hospitals and treatment centers, to seminaries, to churches and clergy, to physicians and psychiatrists, to archives, to libraries, to sober clubs, to A.A. offices, to historians and writers, to rescue missions, to the Wilson House, to Dr. Bob’s Home, to the Akron Intergroup Office, to the Dr. Bob Core Library, to the Shoemaker Room in Pittsburgh, to university scholars, to recovery agencies, and to individuals in recovery or recovered.

Using the Capabilities of the Internet and Other Media

Websites, blogs, articles, forums, chats, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, audio talks, radio broadcasts, podcasts, bookstores, on-line sites, libraries, book reviews, and comments have enabled our A.A. and biblical roots historical materials to be seen and heard around the world, and to be listed at the top of most search engines.

And we have organized and conducted meetings, groups, local gatherings, regional gatherings, and national gatherings such as those hosted by International Christian Recovery Coalition members, Came to Believe Retreats, Recovery Ministries, and Recovery fellowships.

And we have produced books, pamphlets, flyers, DVD’s, blogs, newsletters, and websites that promote and support and link Christian recovery efforts.

Please join us!

To learn more, please contact Dick B.:

Dick B.'s main web site: www.DickB.com
Dick B.'s email address: DickB@DickB.com
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837; (808) 874-4876

Gloria Deo

“Tell me your story.” A winning beginning

Dick B.

This is a shortie about what produces results with the newcomer.

You can find my story in text and audio on the front page of my website http://www.dickb.com; and it has produced many welcome visits to my A.A. history sites and to me.

I have found, as part of my 23 years of continuous sobriety, that helping a newcomer will achieve success well if it starts with “Tell me your story.” Out here in Hawaii, it might sometimes be “Let’s talk story.” Either way, the fresh newcomer with his bag of troubles, shame, guilt, fear, and the other products of his self-destructive behavior, is surprisingly eager to tell his story if you share yours. It’s the thing that brought Bob and Bill together and resulted in the founding of A.A. And it’s the thing that enabled them to relate to Bill D., AA Number Three, who was almost instantly cured by asking God for help. And this marked the founding of A.A. Group Number One in Akron.

What do you tell the newcomer? The same thing that Ebby Thacher told Bill: “Bill, God has done for me what I could not do for myself.” A likely response is, “Tell me what happened.” And a possible answer is: “Tell me your story. I’ll tell you mine. And maybe you can see what happened to me when I asked God for help and how I got well.” Ebby’s story sent the drunken and depressed Bill scurrying to the altar and Calvary Rescue Mission where Bill made his first positive move toward his relationship with God—a decision for Jesus Christ. Bill declared he was born again. As Dr. Silkworth had suggested, Bill decided to call on the “Great Physician” Jesus Christ for help. Bill was drunk, depressed, and in despair. At Towns Hospital, Bill cried out to God for help. He had his “white light” spiritual experience, believed he had been in the presence of “the God of the Scriptures,” and stopped doubting God.

He was cured. On his release from Towns Hospital, Bill went about with a Bible under his arm, telling people they needed to give their lives to God. His own story was “The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease, and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.” Big Book, 4th ed.,191. And A.A. Number Three Bill Dotson this became the golden text of A.A. for him and others in the fellowship. See Dick B., The Golden Text of A.A.