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 ____________________________________________________________________________________ 26 Session #2 - Steps 4 & 5 Session #2 - Steps 4 & 5 My name is __________ and I’m an alcoholic. Before we begin, let’s have a moment of silence to invite the God of our own understanding into our hearts and ask for an open mind and the willingness to have anew experience followed by the Serenity Prayer”… For anyone who came in late, as a group, we’re taking the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous in meetings as they were taken in the sand 50’s. During this session we will begin Step 4 and provide you will guidelines for completing your inventory. After you leave here today, you will have the opportunity to complete Step 4 and share Step 5 with your sponsor or spiritual advisor. The way Dr. Bob, our Akron co-founder, brought people through the inventory and confession phases of our program was to do it in one sitting at the same time. So, in essence, Dr. Bob and the newcomer would do Steps 4 & 5 together – more often than not in just a couple hours. Often a newcomer is too shaky to write inventory. If any writing was done at all, Dr. Bob (or whoever took the new man through the steps) would do the writing. Many times the Big Book suggests that the inventory should be written – but it doesn’t say the newcomer has to do the writing. We feel it is important that the inventory be written because of a couple factors. One of them is you can’t see in your head what you can see on paper. And a second is you will need a written list of names in the 8 th Step in order to make amends and restitution in Step. We suggest that in order to finish your 4 th and 5 th Steps by the time we reassemble tomorrow morning that you try it the same way Dr. Bob and the early members did by doing Steps 4 & 5 assort of a “combined” Step. It worked for Bill, Dr. Bob, and the old-timers. It has worked for us. We’re sure it can work for you too! During our first session we took Steps 1, 2, & 3. (Optional): Is there anyone here now who didn’t have the opportunity to take the first three steps earlier and would like to do so now If so, would you please stand. Ask the First Step question Do you concede
