they do not govern.
The only power and authority to be found in AA stems from the group conscience.
During our drinking, many of us rebelled against anybody trying to tell us what to do. Yet we discover in AA that there are no bosses, the Fellowship is both a democracy and, in the words of Bill W., “a benign anarchy”—a perfect combination for those of us who found it difficult taking orders.
Once we sober up, and perhaps even attend a group business meeting or two, we begin to see that the group conscience can provide sure guidance without the weight of personalities and ego—that no AA can give another a directive and enforce obedience.
“When one person wants the group or meeting to do it his (or her) way only,” writes Charlie W. in the story “Trusted Servants,” “that is when Tradition Two comes in, because it is the group conscience that should prevail.”
When facing difficult issues with the potential of tearing a group apart—to smoke or not to smoke, having open or closed meetings, being involved in the service structure or not—reliance on a loving God as expressed through the group conscience has often provided direction. Says the author of “When They Kept It Simple,” “The principles of our program can bring me back from my self-centered opinions to a sincere consideration of what is best for AA, and therefore what is best for me.”
Who's In Charge?
February 2010
Tradition Two helps us to sort out the always-tricky question: “Who is in charge?” After I came out of my alcoholic fog and looked around at the meetings, meeting rooms and members, I had a lot of questions. I needed to know who decided how meetings would be run, who the speakers would be and how the collection was spent. After attending meetings for a while, I noticed that there is quite a lot of menial labor required to keep the meetings running and the rooms open. Who does it and why? I’m sure I’m not the only one who came in with questions like these. But I was genuinely surprised as I learned the answers. AA is different from any other organization I’ve encountered. I’m as amazed today as I was then about how and why the Fellowship works.
The short answer is that “group conscience” runs AA at every level. Yes, we have volunteers for different jobs. However, they have no authority to decide anything; they merely have the responsibility to carry out the decisions of the group, or the “group conscience.”
It would seem that an organizational structure like this would produce only chaos. At times, it does, but eventually everything gets sorted out—not always the way any particular member wants it to.
I saw this principle operating up front and personal in the first group that I joined. It was run by one individual who had been there for some years and made all the decisions about the group himself. Everyone else just wandered in and out. What happened was that when a serious problem faced the group, it fell apart. No one had enough interest to solve it. That group doesn’t exist today.
When I attend business meetings today, the part of this Tradition that I try to remember is that it is a “loving” God expressed in our group conscience. Too often we are too human. I want to look smarter, more important or better informed; I want to see someone else put in his or her place; I want to squash what I think is a really stupid idea. Our business can and should be conducted in a loving way. I retain the gift of sobriety today.
I am just here to serve, and by doing so, I retain the gift of sobriety.
Nancy C.
Coconut Grove, Florida
One Hot Texas Summer
February 2014
One of my favorite AA jokes is: What’s the difference between a group conscience meeting and the Cub Scouts? The answer: The Cub Scouts have adult supervision! Another is: What’s the biggest problem with a group business meeting? Answer: It’s run by a bunch of drunks!
It was pointed out to me many years ago by an old-timer that the key word in Tradition Two is “may.” “… there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience.”
Being taught early on that service to my home group is an obligation, not an option, I have been involved in business meetings almost from the beginning. But it hasn’t always been an easy road for me to trudge.
What’s always amazed me is that in most cases, we can be diametrically opposed on an issue, express those opinions during a business meeting, then hold hands and pray and exchange hugs afterward. That’s been the case in almost every issue I’ve experienced, with one major exception: I had to watch my first home group die due to a break in this and other Traditions.
At that business meeting a well-respected old-timer found it necessary to attack another member. He felt she was abusing her use of the key to the meeting room by taking advantage of the air conditioning during the hot Texas summer. Rather than resolve the issue one-on-one, he chose to demand that something be done. The “discussion” turned quite ugly. What happened after that was painful.
Our group, which often had 30 to 40 members, split in two. Quite quickly, our group, which had a reputation in the area as one of the strongest around, imploded. People resigned offices and began attending other groups. Attendance went down and it began to become harder and harder to pay the bills. In a matter of months, the decision became very clear—it was time to close the doors. A group that had been so attractive to me when I first walked through the doors of AA, was gone. Locking the door for the last time was one of the hardest things I had to endure in my early sobriety.
Two other groups sprang from the ashes of that one, but neither could regain the lost momentum. Usually only five or six attended, maybe a dozen. After much struggling, they closed. The irony of the whole incident is that the two members of the original group had long made their amends to each other and had rebuilt their friendship.
In the years hence I’ve had three other home groups. At each, we’ve had our share of controversies: smoking or non-smoking, open or closed meetings, literature-based or open discussion, involvement in the service structure or non-involvement, the usual distractions. Through it all, our members for the most part have experienced the unity we so desperately need through the Traditions.
In the appendices of the Big Book, the introduction to the AA Tradition reads: “… no society of men and women ever had a more urgent need for continuous effectiveness and permanent unity. We alcoholics see that we must work together and hang together, else most of us will finally die alone.”
During any controversy at a group conscience meeting, I always try to keep in mind what that old-timer told me so long ago, that the key word in Tradition Two is “may.” But whether God expresses himself or the decision is made because of a handful of “bleeding deacons,” my home group is still my family.
My prayer is that I never again have to experience what I went through in my first home group. But if I do, I hope we can resolve those differences with the help of God and continue to hang together. We must, because the option our co-founder pointed out is to die alone, and by incorporating the program in our daily lives, that should not have to be an option for any of us.
Anonymous
Try It Standing Up
