From the Grass Roots

I once attended meetings at a group where everyone was concerned about a certain member and his bad influence on potential members. It seems this member was a deacon of his particular church. The other members were afraid he would drive new members away as a result of his (according to them) too pious talks and his reference to God as God rather than the higher power, as was the popular expression of that particular group at the time. Most of them had fancied themselves either atheists or agnostics before coming into AA. These members had an agreement always to let the deacon speak first so that they might undo any harm he might inadvertently have done to a new member.