Good Evening and welcome to the ___________ Group of Alcoholics Anonymous. My name is ___________, I am an alcoholic and the secretary of this meeting.

Let’s open this meeting with a moment of silence followed by the serenity prayer.
(Wait some time so people can pray during the moment of silence)

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 AA membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA 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.

The fifth tradition of alcoholics Anonymous reads that “Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.” This is an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous outlined in the pamphlet “The AA Group.” All are welcome to attend, but only alcoholics may verbally participate. If you suffer from man illness the than alcoholism, we recommend that you seeka12-step program that is more closely aligned with your illness. You can find a wealth of information about other 12-step programs online.

I have asked a friend to read a portion of Chapter 5 from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous, titled “How it Works”.

Not to embarrass you, but to get to know you better, do we have any new members in their first 30 days of sobriety who would like to introduce themselves? Do we have any first-timers to the meeting (those who have not already introduced themselves), Do we have any out of town visitors at the meeting (those who have not already introduced themselves), WELCOME everybody! Do we have anyone celebrating an AA anniversary, birthday or special occasion? (you can sing, let people present cakes, tokens and have speak). We ask that the person giving the cake limit your sharing to 1 minute and the person receiving the cake limit your sharing to 3 minutes. Congratulations and welcome!

The format of the meeting is as follows.

We will be studying the Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous. Tonight we are on Tradition _____. The Leader/Speaker will begin reading, we will go around the room, each reading a paragraph (or more) from the 12 +12 for 10-15 minutes. Our Leader / Speaker will then share on the reading for 10-15 minutes, and we will open the meeting for sharing. Please limit your sharing to 3 minutes or less, so that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to share. A timer will go off after three minutes, signaling you to wrap up your share. If you do not wrap up your share promptly, the secretary will thank you for sharing and call on the next person to share. If you need to talk, text or use the phone, we ask that you go outside. We will close the sharing 5 minutes prior to the end of the meeting for announcements, a closing reading, and a closing prayer.

Tonight we are on Tradition _______ on Page _____. (Speaker/leader beings reading 1 or more paragraphs, then go around meeting with everybody reading).

Stop reading at end of chapter, or after 15 minutes. Be sure to mark the place where you stopped.

We will now hear our speakers experience related to the reading. Tonight our Speaker/Leader is __________.

After 10-15 minutes, thank the leader.

According to AA’s Seventh Tradition, every AA group out to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. We’ll now pass the basket for that purpose. It takes a lot of money to put on this meeting, so give as generously as you can, but please do not feel obligated to give anything. (pass the basket)

I have asked a friend to read the 12 traditions.

We will now open the meeting for voluntary or involuntary sharing. Please limit your sharing to 3 minutes or less, so that as many people as possible will have the opportunity to share. A timer will go off after three minutes, signaling you to wrap up your share. If you do not wrap up your share promptly, the secretary will thank you for sharing and call on the next person to share. If you need to talk, text or use the phone, we ask that you go outside. Who would like to start the sharing?

CLOSING (5 minutes prior to end of meeting)

I’m sorry but that’s all the time we have for sharing. If you did not get a chance to share, please speak with someone after the meeting. Let’s thank _________ for leading a great meeting.

Let’s welcome our newcomers, first-timers and out of town visitors. Let’s congratulate our token takers by name (congratulations).

I would like to thank all who participated with us tonight. You are all invited back next week where we will have more so be members of AA sharing with us.

Are there any AA announcements?

At this time, I would like to ask__________ to read the Twelve Traditions and close the meeting with a moment of silence followed by the serenity prayer.