Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
"Sobriety--freedom from alcohol--through the teaching and practice of the twelve steps is the sole purpose of an AA group."
It was voted by group conscience that the purpose of this meeting is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety by the studying, discussing, and practicing of the twelve steps as they are laid out in the Big Book.
It has been our hard-learned experience that other methods did not work with us. Some of us have tried other ways and the results were disastrous until we looked at the basic and simple approach that the Big Book offers.
It has become apparent to us that when we stopped blaming people, places, and things for our problems; decided to take an honest and fearless look at ourselves as the root cause of our alcoholism, and applied these twelve steps to our lives, that we got better.
We reserve the right of the chairperson to limit discussion to the Step being studied tonight. If discussion strays from this step, the chairperson will remind you of the purpose of this meeting. It is not the group's intention to be intimidating or insulting to anyone. We only know that if you are talking about the problem, you cannot possibly be talking about the solution.
If you have done these steps as they are laid out in the Big Book, please share your experience with us. If you haven't, we ask that you be open minded enough to listen. If you have a question pertaining to this step, please feel free to ask. Group conscience has voted a five minute limit on individual comments.
All of our members are more than willing to talk to you about other things. If you have a situation, feel free to discuss it with someone after the meeting.