AA Meeting Template - 12 Step Online

12StepOnline.com Announcements:

We’re always looking for chairs for the site and would love to bring you on the team. The requirement is that you have 90 days’ sobriety and have some familiarity with the site and our meetings. If you’d like to chair or have questions about being a scheduled chair, contact any moderator in chat (they’ll have a check mark next to their name in the user list).

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[This is a template that we follow, you may modify the next paragraph if you’d like]

Good Morning! Welcome to the [Meeting Name] meeting. This is a closed meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. My name is [Chair Name] and I am a grateful recovering alcoholic.

Please read all the following material. This includes what would be read out loud by another alcoholic in any and every face to face meeting you go to.

******************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.

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WELCOME TO THE NEWCOMERS! YOU ARE THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN THE ROOM!

[This is optional to post now as it is also to be posted prior to the reading or topic]

HOW OUR MEETINGS WORK (All Eastern Time)

After the introduction is completed and a topic has been posted, if you’d like to share, please “raise your hand” by typing an exclamation point (!) and press enter. The chair will add you to the queue, and will call on you when it’s your turn to share. If possible, please don’t interrupt someone else’s share with your request to share. Simply type “pass” when you’re finished.

To Personal Message (PM) the chair or any other user: Left click on their name (icon), then select “send message”.

PLEASE DON’T CROSS-TALK:

• No interrupting; no random comments apart from your share

• No commenting on other people’s shares

• No providing advice

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING HELPFUL TIPS:

Feel free to type one sentence at a time.
Have a lot to say? Type it ahead of time and paste when it’s your turn.
Keep your shares relative to the topic stated or related to your personal recovery.
Anon users, in order to share please register and become a part of this fellowship (you do remain anonymous if you don’t use your full last name or you may edit your profile).
Question (any time), PM the Chair (or another user)?
Check for PMs in the bottom-right corner of your screen!
Issue(s) with the site, PM a moderator with a check mark.

Pass the Can:

Our 7th Tradition states, “Each group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions”. If you have a buck or two, please donate. If not, keep coming back and some day you might.

If you need a sponsor, we suggest you contact your local Intergroup. Use the AA.org Meeting Guide (www.aa.org/meetingguide) to find local resources or ask someone here (or at face-to-face meetings you attend) to sponsor you.

For the newcomer or anyone else that may need this: [Only Moderators Can Post This]

Beginners Package:

https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/what-is-aa/p-2-frequently-asked-questions-about-aa

https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/what-is-aa/p-1-this-is-aa-an-introduction-to-the-aa-recovery-program

https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/aa-literature/p-3-is-aa-for-you

Find links under Resources on this site: https://www.12step-online.com/resources/

Big Book (PDF) : https://www.silkworth.net/downloads/pdf/big_book.pdf

Big Book Study Guide (PDF) : http://silkworth.net/bbstudyguide/guide.pdf

12 & 12 (PDF) : https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/twelve-steps-and-twelve-traditions

Preamble:

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

How it Works:

Rarely have we seen a person fail who has thoroughly followed our path. Those who do not recover are people who cannot or will not completely give themselves to this simple program, usually men and women who are constitutionally incapable of being honest with themselves. There are such unfortunates. They are not at fault; they seem to have been born that way. They are naturally incapable of grasping and developing a manner of living which demands rigorous honesty. Their chances are less than average. There are those, too, who suffer from grave emotional and mental disorders, but many of them do recover if they have the capacity to be honest.

Our stories disclose in a general way what we used to be like, what happened, and what we are like now. If you have decided you want what we have and are willing to go to any length to get it — then you are ready to take certain steps. At some of these we balked. We thought we could find an easier, softer way. But we could not. With all the earnestness at our command, we beg of you to be fearless and thorough from the very start. Some of us have tried to hold on to our old ideas and the result was nil until we let go absolutely.

Remember that we deal with alcohol — cunning, baffling, powerful! Without help it is too much for us. But there is One who has all power — that One is God. May you find Him now!

Half measures availed us nothing. We stood at the turning point. We asked His protection and care with complete abandon.

Here are the steps we took, which are suggested as a program of recovery:

1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol — that our lives had become unmanageable.

2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.

3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.

5. Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

7. Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.

8. Made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.

9. Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.

10. Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.

11. Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.

12. 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.

Many of us exclaimed, “What an order! I can’t go through with it.” Do not be discouraged. No one among us has been able to maintain anything like perfect adherence to these principles. We are not saints. The point is, that we are willing to grow along spiritual lines. The principles we have set down are guides to progress. We claim spiritual progress rather than spiritual perfection.

Our description of the alcoholic, the chapter to the agnostic, and our personal adventures before and after make clear three pertinent ideas:

a) That we were alcoholic and could not manage our own lives.

b) That probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.

c) That God could and would if He were sought

HOW OUR MEETINGS WORK

To Personal Message (PM) the chair or any other user: Left click on their name (icon), then select “send message”.

NO CROSS-TALK DURING THE MEETING: No interrupting; no random comments apart from your share • No commenting on other people’s shares • No providing advice

PLEASE Read the following helpful tips:

Feel free to type one sentence at a time.
Have a lot to say? Type it ahead of time and paste when it’s your turn.
Keep your shares relative to the topic stated or related to your personal recovery.
Anon users, in order to share please register and become a part of this fellowship (you do remain anonymous if you don’t use your full last name or you may edit your profile).
Question (any time), PM the Chair (or another user)?
Check for PMs in the bottom-right corner of your screen!
Issue(s) with the site, PM a moderator with a check mark.

If you need verification: click the “check in” button above this chat frame just before or during the meeting (your check in time will be printed on your certificate). It’s a blue button above the room name (#AA Meeting Room, for example). This form should remain open until the meeting has ended, and you’ll need to submit it before leaving the chat room. If you have any issues with this process, please report them here: www.12step-online.com/court-aa-meeting-verification/support/

[Reading~Topic~Chairperson’s Choice Post Now]

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Today’s Topic: Anything that resonates with you regarding the above reading or anything else you’d like to share related to your recovery or sobriety.

To share: Raise your hand by typing “!” (Your name will be added to the queue.)
Wait to be called on
Type “pass” when done

Who would like to start us off this morning?

Who else would like to share on the topic or whatever you need to share that pertains to your alcoholism or recovery?

[At the end of the hour]

Does anyone have a burning desire to share?

Thank you ALL for being a part of this meeting.

Sincere gratitude to everyone who shared — you never know how much your words can benefit another person who may just be listening or reading along!

So, thank you to:

Thank you for letting me chair.

AA Promises

If we are painstaking about this phase of our development, we will be amazed before we are halfway through. We are going to know a new freedom and a new happiness. We will not regret the past nor wish to shut the door on it. We will comprehend the word serenity and we will know peace.

No matter how far down the scale we have gone, we will see how our experience can benefit others. That feeling of uselessness and self-pity will disappear. We will lose interest in selfish things and gain interest in our fellows.

Self-seeking will slip away. Our whole attitude and outlook upon life will change. Fear of people and of economic insecurity will leave us. We will intuitively know how to handle situations which used to baffle us. We will suddenly realize that God is doing for us what we could not do for ourselves.

Are these extravagant promises? We think not. They are being fulfilled among us – sometimes quickly, sometimes slowly. They will always materialize if we work for them.

Alcoholics Anonymous p83-84

Remember, what you hear here and what you say here, stays here! Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

[Optional to add whomever you like to the prayer list]

Let us take a moment to remember those who are still sick and suffering in and out of the rooms. And a prayer for those we have lost to this disease.

[You may close with whatever version of the Serenity Prayer or the Lord’s Prayer you choose]

We will close the meeting with the Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things We cannot change,

The courage to change the things We can

And the wisdom to know the difference.

God’s will, not mine, be done!

Keep coming back, it works if you work it,

So work it, you’re worth it!

THERE ARE MANY MEETINGS ALL DAY ON THIS SITE Look at the schedule posted to the right of your screen. Or below the chat window if you are on a mobile device.

Feedback is welcome, if there’s a topic you’d like to see in the future, let me know via PM.

If you’re having any site issues contact a moderator with a check mark.

If you have any questions regarding meeting verification: www.12step-online. com/court-aa-meeting-verification/support/.

For additional recovery materials, please feel free to browse our resources page: www.12step-online. com/resources/ .. and our blog: //www.12step-online. com/blog/

Beginners Package: : [Only Moderators Can Post This]