AA Grapevine Digital Archive

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Is AA Changing?

“Is AA Changing?” gives AA members an opportunity to talk about the changes they observe at their local meetings or in the Fellowship at large. This department first appeared in August 1988 and continues to run as the need arises.

51 articles selected
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1.	A Toast to Our Future (by Jim N.) Massachusetts -- Since getting sober eighteen years ago, I have seen many changes in AA, at least in Western Massachusetts. The growing number of Twelve Step programs, the proliferation of treatment centers, and intensive media attention with the consequent increase in public awareness of alcohol and drug addiction, have had a definite impact on our AA society, on how we see and share our experience, strength, and hope.	August 1988

2.	Could I Get Sober In AA Today? (by W. M.) New Jersey -- One shaky, guilt-ridden morning after, I promised myself that if I were to get drunk just one more time I would "enter" Alcoholics Anonymous. It had been suggested to me some years earlier that I try AA, but I never really considered it until that morning. A couple of days later I was drunk again.	December 1988

3.	Don't Edit Me Out! (by Pauline C.) Florida -- I have been a grateful, sober member of AA since May 31, 1970 and have been privileged to be part of this growing and changing Fellowship. In fact, some people now call me an old-timer, which always causes me to smile and kind of surprises me, because I always think and feel as if I'm just beginning to learn.	December 1988

4.	Getting to Know You (by Lou S.) California -- "Not to embarrass you but so that we can get to know you and talk to you after the meeting, will those with less than thirty days of continuous sobriety please raise their hands?"	December 1988

5.	Are We Too Successful? (by Marilyn J.) Illinois -- In the June 1988 issue you solicited opinions on how AA is changing. My opinions have never been too popular at local meetings, so if you do not publish this piece, I will understand. I have only been around the program since 1982, so I cannot speak with any authority about the "old days." But I do have seven years' worth of continuous sobriety and AA involvement to refer to.	March 1989

6.	Wherever the Elevator Stops (by Judith L.) Washington -- Recently at a meeting I heard a lady tell some of my story. She did not drink as much as some of us because she went nuts on just a few and she also spent long periods of time not drinking at all because of the fear of what would happen if she did. She found her way to the program and recovery before all was lost or destroyed. Her talk was followed by a man who said, "I'm--, and I'm a true alcoholic." He proceeded to tell a story of daily hard drinking for many years with trips to hospitals, jails, prisons, and asylums before coming to AA. The impression was given, possibly quite unintentionally, that his experience ...	March 1989

7.	Accepting Our Differences (by Donna K.) Colorado -- I had been sober on my own for almost two years when my shaking knees took me to the top of a flight of stairs where the club for AAs had rooms. I had come to find help for someone else, but I found a program of recovery that helped me relax my own white knuckles.	April 1989

8.	What's an Outside Issue? (by Anonymous) New York -- Recently I've seen some real problems emerging in the areas that once were the basic strengths of AA. This thought was galvanized recently at one of my favorite meetings. We were to vote on whether or not to make our meeting nonsmoking. As a three time loser of the American Cancer Society clinics and having dropped $500 with the Seventh Day Adventists in a futile attempt to stop, I thought I had better stay and see how it went.	April 1989

9.	The Kingdom Within (by John M.) Kentucky -- By the grace of God, I haven't found it necessary to take that first drink since Christmas morning 1983. For this I owe the program and the Fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. I belong to the world's best home group; sponsor people and am sponsored; have been active in general service as a GSR (general service representative) and DCM (district committee member); and attend five or six meetings a week. These meetings, like the ones in the other two states I've lived in, have opened my eyes spiritually and deepened my trust in God as I understand him. The only problem, for what is apparently a sizable majority of AA members I know, is that God as I understand him ...	May 1989

10.	The Challenge of Sponsorship (by Jim N.) Massachusetts -- Right from the start, AA spread simply by one drunk talking to another. Bill W. called on Doctor Bob in 1935 in Akron and AA was born. A physician, Dr. William Silkworth, who had worked intensely with alcoholics, was quick to see the possibilities for growth in this approach. But he was also vocal and emphatic about the physical aspect of our illness. Our bodies are not normal. We are allergic to alcohol. But the promise of recovery, he believed, would be through the simple expedient of one drunk talking to another.	June 1989

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