Starting Your Own AA Meeting or AA Group
If you don’t have an AA meeting in your community for agnostics, atheists and freethinkers, you may want to consider starting a new AA meeting or even forming a new AA group. It’s not at all difficult and there are plenty of resources here and on other sites that you may find helpful.
There is a difference between a meeting and a group, the primary difference being that an AA group exists outside of the meeting, and is an integral part of the AA General Service Structure that makes Twelfth Step work possible. All AA groups are encouraged to register with the General Service Office.
An AA meeting on the other hand, is simply a gathering of AA members at a set time and place. Meetings may be listed in local meeting directories, but they don’t participate in the General Service Structure. If you want to start a meeting, you can do that on your own. Simply find a time and place and announce your meeting at groups you attend, or you can mail out flyers. Often, your Intergroup or Central Office will mail flyers to the groups in your community. In time, your meeting may become a group.
If you want to start a group, you will need at least one other person to join you. Any two or three alcoholics who gather together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group provided they do not have any other affiliation. Starting a new AA group, may very well turn out to become one of the most rewarding experiences in your recovery. You will meet new friends, watch people find recovery, and if you participate in the General Service Structure, you will have a renewed appreciation for Alcoholics Anonymous. If you have an opportunity to start a new AA group, it’s definitely worthwhile. It will be especially gratifying to serve the agnostics and atheists, many of whom will not find sobriety at other meetings.
Are Agnostic Groups Really AA?
AA is an incredibly open and flexible organization (though organization is never the right word to use for AA), and it’s the tradition of group autonomy that gives AA its rich flavor and diversity. AA makes room for special purpose groups, such as groups for gays and lesbians, or agnostics and atheists. Provided that we welcome anyone with a desire to stop drinking at our meetings, and we don’t effect other groups, we are are following the traditions and we are as real as any other AA group. We are the real deal!
Each group is as unique as a thumbprint, and approaches to carrying the message of sobriety vary not just from group to group but from region to region. Acting autonomously, each group charts its own course. The better informed the members, the stronger and more cohesive the group—and the greater the assurance that when a newcomer reaches out for help, the hand of A.A. always will be there. (The AA Group Where It All Begins, AAWS, p. 11)
Start with a Coffee Pot
There is a Google Group we recommend if you are interested in starting an Agnostic AA Group. The Start with a Coffee Pot Google Group is an excellent resource. Here, you will meet other agnostics, atheists and freethinkers who have started or are interested in starting new AA groups. You can sign up to join the group and receive emails or you can simply take advantage of the information posted on their site. We especially recommend the excellent article by Deirdre S. “Forming A Meeting”.
Additional Resources
We have made available for download a collection of meeting scripts, flyers and pamphlets to help get you started. Good luck, have fun and please give us a call or send us an email if you have any questions at all.
Agnostic AA in Wilder Vermont | This beautifully designed flyer to announce the new group in Wilder Vermont does a great job describing agnostic AA groups. | |
Man Paths Flyer | Flyer announcing a new meeting in Urbana Illinois | |
Secular Meeting Flyer | A humorous flyer created by a member of the Spiritless Squared Group in Omaha. | |
WAAFT Central Flyer | We Agnostics, Atheists and Freethinkers in AA | |
We Agnostics Atlanta Flyer | Flyer announcing the We Agnostics Group in Atlanta, Georgia | |
We Agnostics Kansas City Flyer | Announcing two additional meetings |
Atheists, Agnostics and All Others Meeting Script | Opens with reading of the Steps and Traditions. | |
Beyond Belief Meeting Format | Opens with the Agnostic AA Preamble | |
Boiler Plate Meeting Script | Easily Adaptable Meeting Format . Opens with the AA Preamble. | |
Cayuga Freethinkers Meeting Format | Opens with a version of the Agnostic Preamble. Very simple meeting script. | |
Children of Chaos Meeting Script | Beginners Meeting. Opens with the AA Preamble and closes with a moment of silent meditation. | |
Dharma Austin Meeting Script | Opens with a ten minute mediation. Refrains from using labels to identify oneself. | |
Freethinkers Meeting | Meeting opens with the Agnostic Preamble and closes with the Responsibility Pledge. Format allows each person to share for 3 to 5 minutes | |
Freethinkers Meeting Script | Opens with a version of the Agnostic Preamble. No ritual, short and simple format. | |
Freethinkers Too Meeting Format | Opes with the Agnostic Preamble and closes with the Responsibility Statement. "As Spirit Leads" Meeting format. People share as they are moved to do so. | |
Quad A Meeting Format | Opens with a quiet time. Simple format easy to follow. | |
Tokyo Freethinkers Meeting Script | Opens with AA Preamble, Agnostic Preamble and moment of silence. | |
We Agnostics Atlanta Format | Opens with readings from the Big Book, "More About Alcoholism" and "There's a Solution". Sobriety chips handed out at end of meeting. | |
We Agnostics Group Meeting Script | Opens with a reading from Appendix II Spiritual Experience. Closes with hand holding recitation of Responsibility Pledge. | |
We Agnostics Lafayette | Opens with a brief qualification from the meeting leader. | |
We Agnostics Los Feliz Meeting Script | Opens with a reading of the third tradition | |
We Agnostics Washington DC Meeting Format | Opens with AA Preamble. Mid-Meeting break to pass the hat and make announcements. |
Freethinkers in AA-Denver Pamphlet | Information about Freethinkers in AA with an FAQ Section | |
Many Paths to Spirituality | Official AAWS Pamphlet | |
Q&A for the Newcomer | Questions with Answers written by Oldtimers for Newcomers | |
There is Room in AA for You | A pamphlet created by the We Agnostics Group in Boise Idaho |