Alcoholics Anonymous Beginners & Refresher Class Sessions Prepared by Mike & Kathy L, West Orange, NJ Revision 1.0 May 5, For additional copies visit http://back.to/aabasics on the Internet ____________________________________________________________________________________ 6 “After being in the hospital for several days, a plan of living was outlined tome. Avery simple plan that I still find much joy and happiness in following. It is impossible to put on paper all the benefits I have derived physical, mental, domestic, spiritual, and monetary. This is no idle talk. It is the truth.” Hopefully we’ve dispelled the myth that the way we quit drinking and live happy and contented lives is by attending meetings only and catching recovery by osmosis. For those who need and want to recover from alcoholism let’s begin the AA Beginners Classes. And for anyone who’s been in AA fora while and would like anew experience with the Steps this weekend, you can go through this process as a “refresher” class to renew your spiritual awakening and relationship with the God of your understanding. Keep in mind as we go through the steps this weekend that between 1939 and 1955 Alcoholics Anonymous had a recovery rate. Some groups, particularly in Cleveland, Ohio, claimed a 93% recovery rate during that period. As we go through the weekend, let’s see if we can bring the success rate of Alcoholics Anonymous, even if by just 1/1000 th of a percent, closer to what our original success was. Let’s get started Since 1939 our Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, has been and still is our textbook for recovery. We will be using it extensively during these sessions. The Big Book was first published in April 1939. It was written by several of the first 100 people to recover from alcoholism. Since then, alcoholics have used it allover the world as a program for recovery. So that we can complete each class within the time allotted for each session, please write down anything that you do not understand or need clarified and save it until the end of each session. Questions can be asked at that time. The Big Book is the book we will begetting our instructions from for taking the steps. Occasionally we will refer to one of the source books used to write the Big Book or a pamphlet used by our early members. But, if you cannot reconcile something we say with the Big Book don’t pay much attention to it. We’ll do our best to keep our opinions out of
