One of the things I love is the autonomy of each group - "creating the fellowship you crave" as it says on p.164 of the Big Book.

I moved from a city to my current location. Over the past few years my friends and I set up 4 new meetings in this rural area where I now live, there was a need for them for sure.

These meetings are not rigid and, with regular consultation with the group in line with the 12 Traditions, the group members decide on the way forward. This lends a happy fluidity to how the groups evolve.

We always have readings from across the AA literature but they vary a lot. If we didn't I think it would have a self-help group flavour, rather than being an AA fellowship.

When you say you use the Preamble that no longer exists, do you mean the original preamble instead of the Grapevine version? I'm interested because we use the original version at one of our meetings.

I agree :)

Agree with Antonio.
For me I love love love the readings. They are like prayers to me. We read the preamble, the traditions, and the 7th step prayer. We also read our primary purpose.
At the end we read the 3rd step prayer, and a vision for you. Love it.

Sorry Antonia, it is the group that no longer exists not the Preamble. My bad wording was clumsy.

I just spent quite a bit of time writing a post and had a computer problem on my end. May be that post was not meant to be for some reason.

It's just that IMO all that reading and with announcements and a person qualifying it takes at least 20 to 25, I've seen it go upwards of 30 minutes quite a few times.

IMO, repetitive readings give a cultist appearance and I am sure this has turned off more than a few new comers. The meeting that we started that stripped away the readings grew at the beginning, but word spread throughout the area that it was a group of AA Nazi's and after awhile new people stopped checking us out. To be sure we had some strong personalities, but imagine that. Someone with the perspective I have of AA loving what so many others in the area called a bunch of AA Nazi's

It's nice to hear that there is more variations in areas outside of my own.

By the way please send out those positive vibs to my friend Bob D. He had been promoted to chronic over the past 10 years, and he is on day 54 for the first time.

Hi Zachary, I'm sorry to hear the group closed and newcomers were put off by negative gossip.

Positive vibes going out for your friend Bob D.

.When someone complains about a meeting this is what I tell them to read.

Shakespeare said, All the worlds a stage, all the men and women merely players. He forgot to mention that I was the chief critic. I was always able to see the flaw in every person, every situation. And I was always glad to point it out, because I knew you wanted perfection, just as I did

I can do the same thing with an AA meeting. The more I focus my mind on its defectslate start, long drunkalogues, cigarette smokethe worse the meeting becomes. But whenI focus my mind on whats good about it, rather than whats wrong with it, the meeting keeps getting better and better.

Alcoholics Anonymous, page 451 (Third Edition)

Thanks, Louis,

My patience isn't what it needs to be a times.

i still haven't found a meeting i like, which is why aa just hasn't been for me. a lot of the reading, reading, reading at the beginning - which does take up a lot of time - turns me off. of course, this post just makes me feel like i should keep looking for a meeting that fits me ;)

imagine what we would have done if we were born in the 1800s instead of 1900s

In the 1800s we would have had the Washingtonians...

http://silkworth.net/washingtonians/washingtonian_movement.html

Hi stephgas,

"I still haven't found a meeting i like, which is why aa just hasn't been for me. a lot of the reading, reading, reading at the beginning - which does take up a lot of time - turns me off. of course, this post just makes me feel like i should keep looking for a meeting that fits me ;) "

Hey stephgas:

Long Island, NY. HMMM Ive attended meetings in Rockland County, Orange County, Columbia County (half hour south of Albany) and a few in NYC, maybe its a New York thing. The best I've found was the Preamble, followed by How It Works. There may be some out there, but I've been to 1000s over the years. Actually, when I first went to AA in 1978 it wasn't like that. It started to change in the early 80s. Three meetings in Rockland County, that I am aware of held out until the early to mid 90s.

At my best, I took it as an opportunity practice patience, but at times I became very hard to do so I stared getting there 10 to 15 minutes late sometimes, actually quite a lot. I'd stay after the meeting when I could.

If its only the readings that turn you

I really should proof read better, but you get my drift, or may it's brain damage...