When Bill Wilson conducted A.A.'s Convention in St. Louis, it was a first for many things pertaining to Alcoholics Anonymous History. It was the first major Alcoholics Anonymous event following Dr. Bob's death. And that made it the first Alcoholics Anonymous History landmark since publication of the Big Book in 1939. It was the first contention by Bill Wilson that A.A. had "come of age."[[ASIN:091685602X Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: A Brief History of A. A.]]. It was an introduction to A.A.'s new conference system and Twelve Traditions. And it gathered together many notables who had figured in A.A.'s beginning. Perhaps most significant, Bill brought in two religious leaders he felt played a major role in A.A. They were featured speakers. Their remarks are still important to an understanding of A.A. in its Big Book stage. The first religious leader to speak was Fr. Ed Dowling, S.J. The second was Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., rector of Calvary Episcopal Church.
The remarkable thing at the convention was Bill's introduction of Showmaker to the AAs assembled. Bill reported Shoemaker's talk in his Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age book. And in it, he commented that there came to the lectern a man that most AAs didn't know. That appearance was so successful that Bill invited Shoemaker to be a speaker at the next convention--which was in Long Beach, California. And still very few AAs are treated to Shoemaker's relevant ideas--even though Shoemaker was invited to write articles for A.A.'s own "Grapevine" publication.
But it was to be years before the real significance of Shoemaker to A.A. would be revealed in detail. As the years went on, Bill wrote many tributes to the role that Shoemaker had played.[[ASIN:1885803273 New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A. (2d ed.)]]. Bill wrote Sam that without Sam, A.A. would have been nothing. And later, in an article published in A.A.'s The Language of the Heart, Bill pointed out that almost every idea in the last ten of A.A.'s Twelve Steps came from the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker. Bill called Sam a co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. Both Bill and his wife Lois made it clear that Bill and Shoemaker became close personal friends. And Shoemaker made it clear that he had been a part of the A.A. movement from its very beginnings.
One part Sam played was covered in his first radio talk to America. It was titled "Good Morning." [[ASIN:1885803222 Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A.]]. And the "Good Morning" book by Dick B. showed the important role that Sam played in the practices of Quiet Time--which became a part of early A.A. practices. In fact, Quiet Time was said to be a "must" in early A.A. It involved prayer, Bible study,seeking God's guidance,and use of devotionals like Henry Drummond's The Greatest Thing in the World (1 Corinthians 13 and "love"). Its ideas of "prayer and meditation" found their way into Step Eleven which Bill fashioned as part of his suggested steps to recovery in the first edition of A.A.'s Big Book published in 1939.
But the heart of Sam Shoemaker's spiritual ideas was still in need of publication and commentary. For Sam's actual language could be found in almost every one of Bill's suggested Twelve Steps. And "New Light on Alcoholism" lays out many of the parallels. And this is something most AAs didn't know, and probably still don't know. Therefore the book "Courage to Change" by Bill Pittman and Dick B. was published by Baker Book House (Fleming H. Revell) and then republished by Hazelden. Finally it came out in ebook form. It stands as an authoritative review of the biblical ideas Sam contributed to A.A. Steps and to its Big Book.
Why read it? Because two of A.A.'s leading historians collaborated to make this book an easy-to-read study of Sam Shoemaker's real contributions to the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. They kept it brief. They made it a tutorial. They used accurate Alcoholics Anonymous History materials. And even today this book stands as an outstanding, concise, and accurate study of the Twelve Steps as Sams Shoemaker helped Bill Wilson to fashion them.
Showing posts with label 12 Steps. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 12 Steps. Show all posts
Friday, October 21, 2011
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
AA - 12 Step - James Club Study Groups: A Terrific Boost from Georgia
Here is a terrific boost for study groups, for the idea of James Clubs,
and for more and more information about the early A.A. emphasis
on the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and
1 Corinthians 13. Many thanks to The James Gang in Georgia
Dick B.
Be sure to take a look at the flyer. It's great!
From:
Date: Aug 30, 2011 6:42 AM
Subject: The James Gang - Flyer
I've shared The James Gang - Flyer
Message from kurt.igoglobal@gmail.com:
FYI.......
Click to open: [You will need to contact Kurt until and unless I can transmit the actual flyer]
The James Gang - Flyer
Google Docs makes it easy to create, store and share online documents, spreadsheets and presentations.
Saturday, August 27, 2011
The Complete Program for the Sept 24 Christian Recov Summit in Brentwwood, CA
The International Christian Recovery Coalition
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Presents
The North American Summit Conference Meeting #2
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Golden Hills Community Church—Brentwood Campus
2401 Shady Willow Lane, Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 516-0653
http://goldenhills.org/
Theme
Using Akron-Cleveland Christian Recovery Model Principles
to Enhance Substantially Today's Christian Recovery Efforts
Contact: Dick B., Executive Director
International Christian Recovery Coalition
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Email: DickB@DickB.com
Cell: 808 276 4945
The Program
Summit Conference Meeting #2
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
Friday Evening, September 23, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (** We hope you can make this meeting, too)
Workshop meeting with International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants: Details soon!
Saturday, September 24, 9:30 am to 8:00 pm:
Pre-meeting music and hospitality
Commencing prayer
Welcome by Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church
Theme presentation by Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide—on the Move!
Learning about the astonishing success of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program and how to apply its principles and practices today;
how the early Cleveland program built upon the original Akron program and
set the stage for Christian recovery opportunities today
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Vision presentation by Ken B.
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons”:
Supplying Critically-Important, Missing Pieces in Modern Christian Recovery Efforts
Lunch Break (1 hour)
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, 23365 Barnes Lane, Colfax, CA 95713
Long-recovered wayward youth and drug addict
Missionary evangelist and Bible teacher--18 years, serving with Youth With a Mission and
others in over 60 nations; conferences, seminars, retreats, and mission
services –also community programs in schools, prisons, and civic clubs
Graduate of Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, CA (B.A. Degree)
Graduate of California Graduate School of Theology (M.A. Degree)
Founder and former Executive Director of Teen Challenge in Southern CA and Hawaii
for sixteen years
Cited by the Governors of California and Hawaii for his leadership in the fight against
drug abuse and crime among America’s Youth
Senior Pastor of Calvary Assembly, San Jose, California, for eight years
Recent ministries: South Korea Outreach; Sri Lanka Ministry; Singapore; Gulf Disaster Relief
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California; International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers’ Bureau
Dominic DiBlasio, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, Missouri
Dinner Break (1 hour)
International Christian Recovery Coalition Future Plans: Dick B. and Ken B.
Christian Music Concert
Closing Prayer
Our Sponsors and Endorsers
Christian Denominational Recovery Programs
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence
Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan
Program Associate,
United Methodist Special Program on
Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
New York Office location: 475 Riverside Drive, room 338
New York, NY 10115
phone: 212-870-3699, fax: 212-870-3932
North Carolina Office location:
325 Meadowbrook Drive
Matthews NC 28104-4309
phone: 704-882-0282
email: csloan@gbgm-umc.org
website: http://www.umspsarv.org
Become a “Fan” on SPSARV’s Facebook page
SPSARV Advance Number: 982598
Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee
Fr. Bill Wigmore, Chaplain & Former President
Austin Recovery
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, TX. 78754
Tel: 512.697.8674
Email: RevBillW@gmail.com
website: www.AustinRecovery.org
Individual Benefactors
Bob J., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Philanthropist and long-time Christian recovery and A.A. history collector and benefactor
Rick S.
Long-recovered Christian recovery work supporter
Rick is preparing a sponsor's guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, using the first edition text.
The guide will be published in paperback and on the Internet; and it will have accompanying audio talks of Rick's taking people through the Big Book.
Robert P. Turner, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Christian Churches
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California, Host, September 17, 2011, Conference
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California, Host, September 24, 2011, Conference
Endorsing Christian Recovery Libraries and Archives
Griffith Library, The Wilson House – birthplace of Bill Wilson, East Dorset, Vermont
Bonnie Burke (formerly, Bonnie Lepper), President
23,000 historical items donated by Dick B., A.A. meetings, Quiet Time, seminars.
Conducted Tours at East Dorset, Vermont (Wilson House, Griffith Library, East Dorset
Congregational Church—where both the Wilson and the Griffith families and
Bill W. attended—and nearby cemetery where Bill and Lois Wilson are buried)
Conducted Tours to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home,
North Congregational Church—where all of Dr. Bob’s family attended,
The Athenaeum—the village library containing many historical records,
St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob attended, his father was an Examiner,
and his mother had been student, teacher, school historian & Exec. Comm. member)
Dr. Bob Core Library—North Congregational Church (UCC), St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Jay Sprout, Pastor
The entire family of Dr. Bob attended this church and was active in its affairs.
North Congregational Church sponsors this Conference in the context of housing the “Dr. Bob Core Library.”
Ray G., Newton Falls, Ohio, and Seminole, Florida
Traveling archives; and, for 21 years, the Archivist and a Managing Board Member, Dr.
Bob’s Home, Akron, Ohio; A.A. speaker and exhibitor of A.A. historical Items all over the United States and Canada, and on sobriety cruises
The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Library, Akron, Ohio
Mark Pruitt, Rector
This is the church in which Dr. Bob became a communicant before his death.
Its former rector, Dr. Walter Tunks, was a major figure in the beginning Akron days of A.A.
The library is a source of A.A. historical materials.
Christian Intervention, Treatment, Recovery Ministries, Counseling, Sober Living
Sponsors
New Life Spirit Recovery
Robert T. Tucker, Ph.D., D.Min., Registered Addiction Specialist, MCA & M-RAS)
Founder and Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery Christian Treatment Center; President, Association of Christian Alcohol & Drug Counseling (aka: ACADC Institute)
18652 Florida Street, Suite 200, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 841.1906 or Call Toll Free (866) 543.3361
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Rock Recovery Ministry, ABC Sober Living, Soledad House
David Powers, Rock Church recovery leader
810 Emerald Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Contact: david@abcsoberliving.com
619.925.1879
http://www.rockrecovery.org/
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Pastor Mike Belzman, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder
Jeff Jay and Debra Jay, Grosse Point, Michigan
Nationally-known authors, lecturers, interventionists,
Authors of Love First: A Family’s Guide To Intervention—Updated
Tools and Techniques to Help Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., rev & exp.
(Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Publishers
Sponsors
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
Center City, Minnesota, www.Hazelden.org; publisher of recovery books, including:
The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous
Bill W.: My First 40 Years
Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Dover Publications
publisher of many books, including Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition,
with an Introduction by Dick B.: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486480593.html
Our Exhibitors and Displays
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
http://www.umspspserv.org
New Light Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
www.Hazelden.org
Our Featured Speaker and Panelists
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, Colfax, California
(See details in this program about his education; his work with Teen Challenge and Youth With A Mission, his pastoring of churches, his work as a Missionary Evangelist and Bible teacher, and his speaking engagements in 60 nations.)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California
Dominic DiBlasio, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, MO
Acknowledgments
Our Conferences could not have taken place without leadership and help from:
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministries, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
David Powers, Rock Recovery Ministries Leader, Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Lifelines Band, Costa Mesa, CA
The Musicians at Golden Hills Community Church
Roger McDiarmid, Huntington Beach, California
David Sadler, Lafayette, California
Karl Kramer, Brentwood, California
Our Sponsors
Our Endorsers
Our Exhibitors
Thank you!
For Further Participation in and Support of the Projects of International Christian Recovery Coalition
Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-guide.shtml
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class by Dick B. and Ken B.
http://dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
(The class includes four DVD's, a class instructor's guide, a student's guide, and
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.)
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-resource-centers.shtml
The 29-volume “Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Movement Reference Set”
http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site:
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Blog
http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com/
International Christian Recovery Coalition Forums Website
http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/forums/
Other Christian Recovery and A.A. Historical Resources
FREE: Over 650 articles by Dick B.: http://www.dickb.com/articles.shtml
FREE: Over 175 recorded audio talks by Dick B.: DickB.com/Audio-talks.shtml.
FREE: Follow Dick B. on Facebook, on Twitter, and on the Dick B. Blog.
FREE: The “Dick B. FYI Message” newsletters: To subscribe, please go to the bottom of the center column of the www.DickB.com front page.
FREE: The Dick B. Channel on YouTube (“dickbchannel”): http://goo.gl/rCtH6
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Presents
The North American Summit Conference Meeting #2
Saturday, September 24, 2011, 9:30 AM to 8:00 PM
Golden Hills Community Church—Brentwood Campus
2401 Shady Willow Lane, Brentwood, CA 94513
(925) 516-0653
http://goldenhills.org/
Theme
Using Akron-Cleveland Christian Recovery Model Principles
to Enhance Substantially Today's Christian Recovery Efforts
Contact: Dick B., Executive Director
International Christian Recovery Coalition
PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
Email: DickB@DickB.com
Cell: 808 276 4945
The Program
Summit Conference Meeting #2
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
Friday Evening, September 23, 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (** We hope you can make this meeting, too)
Workshop meeting with International Christian Recovery Coalition Participants: Details soon!
Saturday, September 24, 9:30 am to 8:00 pm:
Pre-meeting music and hospitality
Commencing prayer
Welcome by Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church
Theme presentation by Dick B., Executive Director, International Christian Recovery Coalition
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide—on the Move!
Learning about the astonishing success of the original Akron A.A. “Christian fellowship” program and how to apply its principles and practices today;
how the early Cleveland program built upon the original Akron program and
set the stage for Christian recovery opportunities today
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Vision presentation by Ken B.
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons”:
Supplying Critically-Important, Missing Pieces in Modern Christian Recovery Efforts
Lunch Break (1 hour)
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, 23365 Barnes Lane, Colfax, CA 95713
Long-recovered wayward youth and drug addict
Missionary evangelist and Bible teacher--18 years, serving with Youth With a Mission and
others in over 60 nations; conferences, seminars, retreats, and mission
services –also community programs in schools, prisons, and civic clubs
Graduate of Vanguard University, Costa Mesa, CA (B.A. Degree)
Graduate of California Graduate School of Theology (M.A. Degree)
Founder and former Executive Director of Teen Challenge in Southern CA and Hawaii
for sixteen years
Cited by the Governors of California and Hawaii for his leadership in the fight against
drug abuse and crime among America’s Youth
Senior Pastor of Calvary Assembly, San Jose, California, for eight years
Recent ministries: South Korea Outreach; Sri Lanka Ministry; Singapore; Gulf Disaster Relief
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California; International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers’ Bureau
Dominic DiBlasio, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Break and Music (10 minutes)
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, Missouri
Dinner Break (1 hour)
International Christian Recovery Coalition Future Plans: Dick B. and Ken B.
Christian Music Concert
Closing Prayer
Our Sponsors and Endorsers
Christian Denominational Recovery Programs
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence
Rev. Cynthia W. Sloan
Program Associate,
United Methodist Special Program on
Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
New York Office location: 475 Riverside Drive, room 338
New York, NY 10115
phone: 212-870-3699, fax: 212-870-3932
North Carolina Office location:
325 Meadowbrook Drive
Matthews NC 28104-4309
phone: 704-882-0282
email: csloan@gbgm-umc.org
website: http://www.umspsarv.org
Become a “Fan” on SPSARV’s Facebook page
SPSARV Advance Number: 982598
Episcopal Diocese of Texas Recovery Committee
Fr. Bill Wigmore, Chaplain & Former President
Austin Recovery
8402 Cross Park Drive
Austin, TX. 78754
Tel: 512.697.8674
Email: RevBillW@gmail.com
website: www.AustinRecovery.org
Individual Benefactors
Bob J., Kihei, Maui, Hawaii
Philanthropist and long-time Christian recovery and A.A. history collector and benefactor
Rick S.
Long-recovered Christian recovery work supporter
Rick is preparing a sponsor's guide to Alcoholics Anonymous, using the first edition text.
The guide will be published in paperback and on the Internet; and it will have accompanying audio talks of Rick's taking people through the Big Book.
Robert P. Turner, M.D., M.S.C.R.
Associate Professor of Neurosciences, Pediatrics, and Biostatistics, Bioinformatics, & Epidemiology, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Christian Churches
The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, California, Host, September 17, 2011, Conference
Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California, Host, September 24, 2011, Conference
Endorsing Christian Recovery Libraries and Archives
Griffith Library, The Wilson House – birthplace of Bill Wilson, East Dorset, Vermont
Bonnie Burke (formerly, Bonnie Lepper), President
23,000 historical items donated by Dick B., A.A. meetings, Quiet Time, seminars.
Conducted Tours at East Dorset, Vermont (Wilson House, Griffith Library, East Dorset
Congregational Church—where both the Wilson and the Griffith families and
Bill W. attended—and nearby cemetery where Bill and Lois Wilson are buried)
Conducted Tours to St. Johnsbury, Vermont (Dr. Bob’s birthplace and boyhood home,
North Congregational Church—where all of Dr. Bob’s family attended,
The Athenaeum—the village library containing many historical records,
St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob attended, his father was an Examiner,
and his mother had been student, teacher, school historian & Exec. Comm. member)
Dr. Bob Core Library—North Congregational Church (UCC), St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Jay Sprout, Pastor
The entire family of Dr. Bob attended this church and was active in its affairs.
North Congregational Church sponsors this Conference in the context of housing the “Dr. Bob Core Library.”
Ray G., Newton Falls, Ohio, and Seminole, Florida
Traveling archives; and, for 21 years, the Archivist and a Managing Board Member, Dr.
Bob’s Home, Akron, Ohio; A.A. speaker and exhibitor of A.A. historical Items all over the United States and Canada, and on sobriety cruises
The St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Library, Akron, Ohio
Mark Pruitt, Rector
This is the church in which Dr. Bob became a communicant before his death.
Its former rector, Dr. Walter Tunks, was a major figure in the beginning Akron days of A.A.
The library is a source of A.A. historical materials.
Christian Intervention, Treatment, Recovery Ministries, Counseling, Sober Living
Sponsors
New Life Spirit Recovery
Robert T. Tucker, Ph.D., D.Min., Registered Addiction Specialist, MCA & M-RAS)
Founder and Executive Director, New Life Spirit Recovery Christian Treatment Center; President, Association of Christian Alcohol & Drug Counseling (aka: ACADC Institute)
18652 Florida Street, Suite 200, Huntington Beach, CA 92648
(714) 841.1906 or Call Toll Free (866) 543.3361
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Rock Recovery Ministry, ABC Sober Living, Soledad House
David Powers, Rock Church recovery leader
810 Emerald Street
San Diego, CA 92109
Contact: david@abcsoberliving.com
619.925.1879
http://www.rockrecovery.org/
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Pastor Mike Belzman, Ph.D., Chairman and Founder
Jeff Jay and Debra Jay, Grosse Point, Michigan
Nationally-known authors, lecturers, interventionists,
Authors of Love First: A Family’s Guide To Intervention—Updated
Tools and Techniques to Help Loved Ones Heal from Addiction, 2d ed., rev & exp.
(Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2008)
Publishers
Sponsors
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
Center City, Minnesota, www.Hazelden.org; publisher of recovery books, including:
The Book That Started It All: The Original Working Manuscript of Alcoholics Anonymous
Bill W.: My First 40 Years
Silkworth: The Little Doctor Who Loved Drunks
Dover Publications
publisher of many books, including Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition,
with an Introduction by Dick B.: http://store.doverpublications.com/0486480593.html
Our Exhibitors and Displays
United Methodist Special Program on Substance Abuse and Related Violence (SPSARV)
http://www.umspspserv.org
New Light Spirit Recovery, Huntington Beach, California
http://www.newlifespiritrecovery.com/OC_Recovery.html
Association of Christian Alcohol and Drug Counselors Institute, Redlands, California
Hazelden Publishing and Educational Services, division of Hazelden Foundation
www.Hazelden.org
Our Featured Speaker and Panelists
Featured Speaker: J. Donald Hall, Don Hall Ministries, Colfax, California
(See details in this program about his education; his work with Teen Challenge and Youth With A Mission, his pastoring of churches, his work as a Missionary Evangelist and Bible teacher, and his speaking engagements in 60 nations.)
Speaker Panel 1:
Jeff A. Holt, Men’s Recovery Fellowship, Auburn Church of the Nazarene, Auburn, California
Dale Marsh, Recovery Pastor, Oroville Church of the Nazarene, Oroville, California
Dominic DiBlasio, Turning Point Recovery Ministry, Cornerstone Fellowship—Livermore Campus, California
Roger McDiarmid, International Christian Recovery Coalition Speakers' Bureau, Huntington Beach, California
Wade Hess, Training Director, CityTeam Ministries, San Jose, California
Speaker Panel 2:
Mark Galligan, Leader, “Akronite” Recovery Group, Ontario, Canada
David Sadler, Christian recovery leader serving Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, California
Karen A. Plavan, Ph.D., Prof. of Counseling an Chemical Dependency, Director of Oasis Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Bill Boyles, President, Won Way Out Ministries, Wyoming, Delaware
Wayne White, Certified Substance Abuse Counselor, President/CEO, Footprints/Alcoholics Victorious,
Kansas City, MO
Acknowledgments
Our Conferences could not have taken place without leadership and help from:
Randy Moraitis, Executive Pastor of Ministries, The Crossing Church, Costa Mesa, CA
Matt Pierce, Pastor of Recovery Ministry, Golden Hills Community Church, Brentwood, CA
David Powers, Rock Recovery Ministries Leader, Rock Church, San Diego, CA
The Lifelines Band, Costa Mesa, CA
The Musicians at Golden Hills Community Church
Roger McDiarmid, Huntington Beach, California
David Sadler, Lafayette, California
Karl Kramer, Brentwood, California
Our Sponsors
Our Endorsers
Our Exhibitors
Thank you!
For Further Participation in and Support of the Projects of International Christian Recovery Coalition
Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., 2010
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-guide.shtml
The “Introductory Foundations for Christian Recovery” class by Dick B. and Ken B.
http://dickb.com/IFCR-Class.shtml
(The class includes four DVD's, a class instructor's guide, a student's guide, and
The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.)
“Christian Recovery Resource Centers and Persons” Worldwide
http://christianrecoverycoalition.com/christian-recovery-resource-centers.shtml
The 29-volume “Dick B. A.A. History and Christian Recovery Movement Reference Set”
http://www.dickb.com/titles.shtml
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Web site:
www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com
The International Christian Recovery Coalition Blog
http://internationalchristianrecoverycoaliti.blogspot.com/
International Christian Recovery Coalition Forums Website
http://www.christianrecoverycoalition.com/forums/
Other Christian Recovery and A.A. Historical Resources
FREE: Over 650 articles by Dick B.: http://www.dickb.com/articles.shtml
FREE: Over 175 recorded audio talks by Dick B.: DickB.com/Audio-talks.shtml.
FREE: Follow Dick B. on Facebook, on Twitter, and on the Dick B. Blog.
FREE: The “Dick B. FYI Message” newsletters: To subscribe, please go to the bottom of the center column of the www.DickB.com front page.
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Friday, August 12, 2011
The James Gang AA Study Group Atlanta Georgia
The James Gang
~ a fellowship of men and women
Search: http://thejamesgang11.wordpress.com/
AA-The James Club and A.A. Study Groups by Richard Burns, J.D. Dick B.
12FridayAug 2011
Posted by Kurt_P in AA History, Alcoholics Anonymous, Dick B., The James Club
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Thursday, August 11, 2011
Christian Recovery Group Meeting Guide - Patterned on Early A.A.
A Suggested Guide for Recovery Groups and Meetings Patterned on Early AA
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
August 11, 2011
P. O. Box 837
Kihei, HI 96753-0837
(808 874 4876)
email: dickb@dickb.com
URL: http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml
Introductory Comment
For the past three of four years, and particularly in 2011, scarcely a day goes by that someone does not phone, fax, email, or mail me with the following questions: How to (1) Start a Big Book/Bible Study Group in AA; (2) Hold an old-time, early AA meeting, (3) Organize a recovery group organized in connection with a church, a para-church, or a Christian recovery fellowship in the church; (4) Organize a group of AAs and NAs who want to focus on the early AA Christian Fellowship, and its reliance on the Creator, coming to Him through Jesus Christ, Bible Study, and the old fashioned prayer meetings as they were frequently called, and Quiet Times.
Each communicant has a different agenda, a different point of origin, and a unique 12 Step, recovery group or church community background.
Hence, before beginning with answers and suggestions, I have found it helpful to have each person supply me directly with the following:
1. Their name, mail address, phone number, email, and website, if any.
2. A brief statement of their alcoholism or addiction story.
3. The length of their continuous sobriety or freedom from addiction.
4. Their religion, church or group, and religious beliefs.
5. Whether they believe in the Creator, have accepted Christ, and are willing to lead.
6. Their familiarity with the Big Book, taking the Twelve Steps, and a fellowship
7. Their familiarity with the Bible, and which version
8. The name, address, religion, and faith beliefs of their pastor or priest, if any.
9. The number of people they plan to reach at the beginning.
10. The immediate financial resources they have for acquiring start-up literature.
11. Whether they have read my books, and, if any, the books they’ve read.
When the foregoing have been answered by phone, email, or other communication, I welcome personal calls by phone to discuss moving forward and initial guidance.
Specific Suggestions
Suggested Format for Recovery Group Meetings
Open the Meeting as Follows:
This is the regular meeting of the (i.e.) “The James Club of Maui” or
“The Shoemaker Twelve Step Study” or the “Good Book/Big Book
Study Group”
My name is xxx, and I am your secretary
We will open the meeting with a moment of silence to do with as you wish
Followed by a prayer; and the secretary or chosen person prays (i.e.)
“Heavenly Father. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ for your blessing on this meeting of those who are here to overcome their life-controlling problems such as alcoholism, addictions, and other dependencies. We ask that your wisdom and guidance show us your will for our lives, your way to victory, and how we may glorify you in all that we do here.”
This group patterns its work after that of the first Alcoholics Anonymous Group, which was formed in Akron,
Ohio, The early A.A Christian Fellowship in Akron; stressed the Bible; was known as AA Number One; was a Christian Fellowship; and relied on the Creator to overcome the problems of the members. To the same end, we’ll review several verses from the Bible that guided them in their work:
God’s love: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life@ (John 3:16)
God’s will: Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)
God’s word of faith: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved (Rom 10:9)
His Word is truth: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (John 17:17)
Faith in God: But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him: (Heb 11:6)
Obeying God: Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promises (Heb 10:35-3 6)
God’s Two Great Commandments: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets (Matt 22:37-40)
Forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy
diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:3-5)
The Gospel: And he [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shalt they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover: (Mark 16:15-18)
Early AAs believed that the solution to all their problems was in the Good Book--the Bible.
The Book of James was their favorite. In fact, A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob declared that James, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were all considered absolutely essential. The original A.A. Society considered it vital that they seek, find, know, and establish a relationship and fellowship with God. Also vital that they study the Book of Acts to see what Christians could and should do by reason of
the teachings and accomplishments of Jesus Christ before he ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of his Father, Yahweh, the Creator.
Tonight’s session will be divided into three parts.
First, I will select someone to read one or several chapters from (i.e.) the
Sermon Mount that Jesus gave and which is reported in Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7
Second, I will select someone to read the guide prepared for us by A.A. historian
Dick B. concerning or more of these chapters and the A.A. program.
Third, I’ll open the meeting briefly for comments and discussion on these items.
We will then have a period where each of us in the group may pray to God and to
seek His guidance and healing in respect of our own lives.
And now, we ask that newcomers raise their hands so that we can get to know you.
Please talk to someone after the meeting, give them your name and phone number,
and get theirs so that you may call them for prayers, help, and support. During the
period you are working with our particular meeting group, keep company with believers
whether in shopping, recreation, sports, church, meetings, movies, games, schools,
meals, and so on. See Acts chapters 1 through 4 for what they did in the First
Century that sustained their believing and carried their message of salvation.
For those who have not yet been born again of God’s spirit, please either see your
pastor and do so with that person if you wish, or see me after the meeting; and
we will have a brief ceremony where individually you can confess Jesus as your
Lordand confirm in your heart that God raised him from the dead. This was called
a “real surrender” in early A.A. It enabled a newcomer to be born again and thus
become a child of the living and true God.
Literature is available for purchase or order at the table in the rear. Be sure to
read your Bibles and pray each day.
Our next meeting will be on _____________.
We will close the meeting by joining hands in a circle and saying the Lord’s Prayer, which will be led by __________. Thank you all for coming. Please join us again.
____________________________________________________________________
Suggestions for Members of the Group
With these suggestions for the individual to follow daily:
Abstain. Under no circumstances, indulge in your temptation problem - alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, lust, over-eating, etc.
Be sure to seek medical help for withdrawal, sweats, shaking, etc.
Thank God for all his blessings, name them and for all blessings that you already have.
Ask God in the name of Jesus Christ to heal you of your illnesses, to guide you away from temptations, to forgive you for your mistakes, to guide you and instruct you to safe habits, friends, places, and activities.
Determine that you will change your life by following God’s commandments as they are set out in the Bible.
Renew your mind in your reading, thinking, speaking - filling it with simple ideas
such as those in Philippians 4:8, 1 John 4:8, and Ephesians 1:19.
Call other believers for prayers, company, joint reading, activities, recreation, meals.
Begin immediately finding someone you can help even if it is by phoning them,
giving them rides, joining them for an activity, reading the Bible with them, or simply keeping fellowship with that person. Urge them to come with you to our group meeting among other meetings.
Don’t give up! Don’t give in. Read James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
With these suggested readings for individuals or the group:
Read slowly, bit by bit, the Gospels, Acts, and go on with Romans, etc.
Read
Dick B.’s Why Early AAs Succeeded (a Bible study guide)
Use it, beginning at Chapter 4, for individual Bible study or
Group Bible study.
Dick B.’s The James Club: The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
Dick B.’s New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.
Read Psalms such as 23, 31, 56, 91; Proverbs 3:5-6.
With suggestions for filling your hours:
A job, volunteer work, exercise, sports, wholesome recreation, school, reading,
coffee and or meals together, fairs and amusement parks, museums and
exhibits, arranging your affairs, your business, your house, and your yard,
Heed the old AA adage: Don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
Get a Sponsor: Ask someone who has a sound Christian life to be your contact and sponsor. Keep in touch. Share your problems as long as your contact provides
you with suggested prayers, Bible segments to read, and positive solutions - not just the “wisdom of the rooms,” sympathetic listening, or some secular experience or solution. Study the Bible, the Big Book, and take the “Steps” with him
Other Meetings Your Group Can Hold
First, consult the Creator for guidance as to content and leader.
Remember that in early A.A. and among the early Christians,
there were daily fellowships.
Then you might consider establishing or going to
. 1 meeting a week resembling the above original AA meeting
1 meeting a week on early AA History
1 meeting a week simply reading the Bible - using the Bible study primer
1 meeting a week teaching the Big Book chapter by chapter
1 meeting a week studying a step and its origins (using my Twelve Steps for You Book)
1 meeting a week on Steps 10, 11, 12, particularly explaining what is involved in
a real Quiet Time and: (1) Born again of God’s spirit. (2) Reading from the Word.
(3) Prayer to God with thanksgiving, praise, seeking guidance, seeking healing,
seeking forgiveness, asking help for others. (4) Asking for revelation from God
for any message He wishes to give. (5) Using devotionals like The Upper Room,
The Runner’s Bible, My Utmost for His Highest.. Read the Big Book instructions on Steps 10 and 11
As to Step 12,
(1) Note that the original spiritual experience was acceptance of Christ
(Romans 10:9), being born again of the Spirit (John 3:1-8), and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8). Then walking by the Spirit of God and not the flesh.
(2) Note that the message that was to be passed on was: God has done for me what I could not do for myself.
(3) Note that the primary principles to be practiced are those specified in
1 Corinthians 13, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), the two Great
Commandments love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:28-31);
Serving (Mark 10:42-45); and witnessing (Matthew 28:18-20).
Dr. Bob cited all the foregoing verses. He emphasized that the steps could
be simmered down to their essence - love and service. He concluded his personal story by assuring AAs that “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
Twenty-five years later (after A.A. was founded, Rev. Sam Shoemaker was addressing A.A. conventions and declaring that a A spiritual awakening involves four things: (1) Conversion. (2) Prayer. (3) Fellowship, and (4) Witnessing.
Suggested Resources Your Group Should Acquire
1. As many copies of the Big Book (4th ed.) as there are members
Plus at least one reprint of the 1st Edition, and Poe’s Concordance to the Big Book.
2. As many Bibles (preferably King James Version) as there are members Plus Young’s Concordance to the Bible.
3. A reference set of the Dick B. 29 Titles - with discounted price.
4. As many of the following Dick B. titles for each as there are members (available at a 50% discount plus s & h)
The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible.
Why Early A.A. Succeeded (Bible study primer)
When Early AAs Were Cured. And Why.
Good Morning: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation
Twelve Steps for You
The James Club and The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.
Dickb@dickb.com; www.dickb.com
Gloria Deo
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved
August 11, 2011
P. O. Box 837
Kihei, HI 96753-0837
(808 874 4876)
email: dickb@dickb.com
URL: http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml
Introductory Comment
For the past three of four years, and particularly in 2011, scarcely a day goes by that someone does not phone, fax, email, or mail me with the following questions: How to (1) Start a Big Book/Bible Study Group in AA; (2) Hold an old-time, early AA meeting, (3) Organize a recovery group organized in connection with a church, a para-church, or a Christian recovery fellowship in the church; (4) Organize a group of AAs and NAs who want to focus on the early AA Christian Fellowship, and its reliance on the Creator, coming to Him through Jesus Christ, Bible Study, and the old fashioned prayer meetings as they were frequently called, and Quiet Times.
Each communicant has a different agenda, a different point of origin, and a unique 12 Step, recovery group or church community background.
Hence, before beginning with answers and suggestions, I have found it helpful to have each person supply me directly with the following:
1. Their name, mail address, phone number, email, and website, if any.
2. A brief statement of their alcoholism or addiction story.
3. The length of their continuous sobriety or freedom from addiction.
4. Their religion, church or group, and religious beliefs.
5. Whether they believe in the Creator, have accepted Christ, and are willing to lead.
6. Their familiarity with the Big Book, taking the Twelve Steps, and a fellowship
7. Their familiarity with the Bible, and which version
8. The name, address, religion, and faith beliefs of their pastor or priest, if any.
9. The number of people they plan to reach at the beginning.
10. The immediate financial resources they have for acquiring start-up literature.
11. Whether they have read my books, and, if any, the books they’ve read.
When the foregoing have been answered by phone, email, or other communication, I welcome personal calls by phone to discuss moving forward and initial guidance.
Specific Suggestions
Suggested Format for Recovery Group Meetings
Open the Meeting as Follows:
This is the regular meeting of the (i.e.) “The James Club of Maui” or
“The Shoemaker Twelve Step Study” or the “Good Book/Big Book
Study Group”
My name is xxx, and I am your secretary
We will open the meeting with a moment of silence to do with as you wish
Followed by a prayer; and the secretary or chosen person prays (i.e.)
“Heavenly Father. We ask in the name of Jesus Christ for your blessing on this meeting of those who are here to overcome their life-controlling problems such as alcoholism, addictions, and other dependencies. We ask that your wisdom and guidance show us your will for our lives, your way to victory, and how we may glorify you in all that we do here.”
This group patterns its work after that of the first Alcoholics Anonymous Group, which was formed in Akron,
Ohio, The early A.A Christian Fellowship in Akron; stressed the Bible; was known as AA Number One; was a Christian Fellowship; and relied on the Creator to overcome the problems of the members. To the same end, we’ll review several verses from the Bible that guided them in their work:
God’s love: For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that
whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life@ (John 3:16)
God’s will: Who will have all men to be saved and to come unto the knowledge
of the truth (1 Tim 2:4)
God’s word of faith: That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus,
and shalt believe in thine heart that God raised him from the dead, thou
shalt be saved (Rom 10:9)
His Word is truth: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth (John 17:17)
Faith in God: But without faith it is impossible to please him; for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him: (Heb 11:6)
Obeying God: Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward. For ye have need of patience that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promises (Heb 10:35-3 6)
God’s Two Great Commandments: Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it,
Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments
hang all the law and the prophets (Matt 22:37-40)
Forget not all his benefits: Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy
diseases; Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies. Who satisfieth thy mouth with
good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle’s (Psalm 103:3-5)
The Gospel: And he [Jesus] said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned. And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shalt they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover: (Mark 16:15-18)
Early AAs believed that the solution to all their problems was in the Good Book--the Bible.
The Book of James was their favorite. In fact, A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob declared that James, Jesus’ sermon on the mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 were all considered absolutely essential. The original A.A. Society considered it vital that they seek, find, know, and establish a relationship and fellowship with God. Also vital that they study the Book of Acts to see what Christians could and should do by reason of
the teachings and accomplishments of Jesus Christ before he ascended to heaven to be at the right hand of his Father, Yahweh, the Creator.
Tonight’s session will be divided into three parts.
First, I will select someone to read one or several chapters from (i.e.) the
Sermon Mount that Jesus gave and which is reported in Matthew Chapters 5, 6, and 7
Second, I will select someone to read the guide prepared for us by A.A. historian
Dick B. concerning or more of these chapters and the A.A. program.
Third, I’ll open the meeting briefly for comments and discussion on these items.
We will then have a period where each of us in the group may pray to God and to
seek His guidance and healing in respect of our own lives.
And now, we ask that newcomers raise their hands so that we can get to know you.
Please talk to someone after the meeting, give them your name and phone number,
and get theirs so that you may call them for prayers, help, and support. During the
period you are working with our particular meeting group, keep company with believers
whether in shopping, recreation, sports, church, meetings, movies, games, schools,
meals, and so on. See Acts chapters 1 through 4 for what they did in the First
Century that sustained their believing and carried their message of salvation.
For those who have not yet been born again of God’s spirit, please either see your
pastor and do so with that person if you wish, or see me after the meeting; and
we will have a brief ceremony where individually you can confess Jesus as your
Lordand confirm in your heart that God raised him from the dead. This was called
a “real surrender” in early A.A. It enabled a newcomer to be born again and thus
become a child of the living and true God.
Literature is available for purchase or order at the table in the rear. Be sure to
read your Bibles and pray each day.
Our next meeting will be on _____________.
We will close the meeting by joining hands in a circle and saying the Lord’s Prayer, which will be led by __________. Thank you all for coming. Please join us again.
____________________________________________________________________
Suggestions for Members of the Group
With these suggestions for the individual to follow daily:
Abstain. Under no circumstances, indulge in your temptation problem - alcohol, drugs, cigarettes, lust, over-eating, etc.
Be sure to seek medical help for withdrawal, sweats, shaking, etc.
Thank God for all his blessings, name them and for all blessings that you already have.
Ask God in the name of Jesus Christ to heal you of your illnesses, to guide you away from temptations, to forgive you for your mistakes, to guide you and instruct you to safe habits, friends, places, and activities.
Determine that you will change your life by following God’s commandments as they are set out in the Bible.
Renew your mind in your reading, thinking, speaking - filling it with simple ideas
such as those in Philippians 4:8, 1 John 4:8, and Ephesians 1:19.
Call other believers for prayers, company, joint reading, activities, recreation, meals.
Begin immediately finding someone you can help even if it is by phoning them,
giving them rides, joining them for an activity, reading the Bible with them, or simply keeping fellowship with that person. Urge them to come with you to our group meeting among other meetings.
Don’t give up! Don’t give in. Read James 4:7: Submit yourselves therefore to
God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
With these suggested readings for individuals or the group:
Read slowly, bit by bit, the Gospels, Acts, and go on with Romans, etc.
Read
Dick B.’s Why Early AAs Succeeded (a Bible study guide)
Use it, beginning at Chapter 4, for individual Bible study or
Group Bible study.
Dick B.’s The James Club: The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
Dick B.’s New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.
Read Psalms such as 23, 31, 56, 91; Proverbs 3:5-6.
With suggestions for filling your hours:
A job, volunteer work, exercise, sports, wholesome recreation, school, reading,
coffee and or meals together, fairs and amusement parks, museums and
exhibits, arranging your affairs, your business, your house, and your yard,
Heed the old AA adage: Don’t get too Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired.
Get a Sponsor: Ask someone who has a sound Christian life to be your contact and sponsor. Keep in touch. Share your problems as long as your contact provides
you with suggested prayers, Bible segments to read, and positive solutions - not just the “wisdom of the rooms,” sympathetic listening, or some secular experience or solution. Study the Bible, the Big Book, and take the “Steps” with him
Other Meetings Your Group Can Hold
First, consult the Creator for guidance as to content and leader.
Remember that in early A.A. and among the early Christians,
there were daily fellowships.
Then you might consider establishing or going to
. 1 meeting a week resembling the above original AA meeting
1 meeting a week on early AA History
1 meeting a week simply reading the Bible - using the Bible study primer
1 meeting a week teaching the Big Book chapter by chapter
1 meeting a week studying a step and its origins (using my Twelve Steps for You Book)
1 meeting a week on Steps 10, 11, 12, particularly explaining what is involved in
a real Quiet Time and: (1) Born again of God’s spirit. (2) Reading from the Word.
(3) Prayer to God with thanksgiving, praise, seeking guidance, seeking healing,
seeking forgiveness, asking help for others. (4) Asking for revelation from God
for any message He wishes to give. (5) Using devotionals like The Upper Room,
The Runner’s Bible, My Utmost for His Highest.. Read the Big Book instructions on Steps 10 and 11
As to Step 12,
(1) Note that the original spiritual experience was acceptance of Christ
(Romans 10:9), being born again of the Spirit (John 3:1-8), and receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit (Acts 1:1-8). Then walking by the Spirit of God and not the flesh.
(2) Note that the message that was to be passed on was: God has done for me what I could not do for myself.
(3) Note that the primary principles to be practiced are those specified in
1 Corinthians 13, the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17), the two Great
Commandments love God and love your neighbor (Mark 12:28-31);
Serving (Mark 10:42-45); and witnessing (Matthew 28:18-20).
Dr. Bob cited all the foregoing verses. He emphasized that the steps could
be simmered down to their essence - love and service. He concluded his personal story by assuring AAs that “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”
Twenty-five years later (after A.A. was founded, Rev. Sam Shoemaker was addressing A.A. conventions and declaring that a A spiritual awakening involves four things: (1) Conversion. (2) Prayer. (3) Fellowship, and (4) Witnessing.
Suggested Resources Your Group Should Acquire
1. As many copies of the Big Book (4th ed.) as there are members
Plus at least one reprint of the 1st Edition, and Poe’s Concordance to the Big Book.
2. As many Bibles (preferably King James Version) as there are members Plus Young’s Concordance to the Bible.
3. A reference set of the Dick B. 29 Titles - with discounted price.
4. As many of the following Dick B. titles for each as there are members (available at a 50% discount plus s & h)
The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible.
Why Early A.A. Succeeded (Bible study primer)
When Early AAs Were Cured. And Why.
Good Morning: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation
Twelve Steps for You
The James Club and The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and A.A.
Dickb@dickb.com; www.dickb.com
Gloria Deo
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
A.A. History: Taking, Believing, Understanding the 12 Steps of A.A.
Alcoholics Anonymous History
Taking, Believing, and Understanding the Twelve Steps
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved.
Why Take Them Before You Know What the A.A. Cofounders Said about Them?
Both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the cofounders of A.A., spoke explicitly on where the 12 Steps came from. In sum, they stated that the basic ideas came from: (1) the Bible; (2) Dr. William D. Silkworth; (3) Professor William James; and (4) Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.
As we will see in this article, that is not the whole story. But here’s what A.A.'s cofounders said:
In his last major address to AAs, delivered in Detroit in 1948, A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated:
When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps . . . we had no Traditions. But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James. [The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 13.]
It wasn’t until 1938 that the teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. But I think I probably had something to do with them indirectly. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as the result of our study of the Good Book. [The Co-Founders, 14.]
In The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (NY: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., 1988), A.A. cofounder Bill W. stated:
So, then, how did we first learn that alcoholism is such a fearful sickness as this? Who gave us this priceless piece of information on which the effectiveness of Step One of our program so much depends? Well, it came from my own doctor, “the little doctor who loved drunks,” William Duncan Silkworth. [p. 297]
Who, then, first told us about the utter necessity for such an awakening, for an experience that not only expels the alcohol obsession, but which also makes effective and truly real the practice of spiritual principles “in all our affairs”? Well, this life-giving idea came to us of AA through William James, the father of modern psychology. It came through his famous book, Varieties of Religious Experience. . . . William James also heavily emphasized the need for hitting bottom. Thus did he reinforce AA’s Step One, and so did he supply us with the spiritual essence of today’s Step Twelve. [pp. 297-98]
Having now accounted for AA’s Steps One and Twelve, it is natural that we should next ask, “Where did the early AAs find the material for the remaining ten Steps? Where did we learn about moral inventory, amends for harm done, turning our wills and lives over to God? Where did we learn about meditation and prayer and all the rest of it?” The spiritual substance of our remaining ten Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and my own earlier association with the Oxford Groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. [p. 298]
What God was Bill Wilson speaking of? In The Language of the Heart, Bill wrote at page 284:
And then the great thought burst upon me: “Bill, you are a free man: This is the God of the Scriptures.”
What God was Dr. Bob Smith speaking of? In Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), Dr. Bob wrote at page 181:
Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!
In 1975, Harper & Row published Robert Thomsen's biography of A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson under the title Bill W. – 50th Anniversary Edition – Commemorating the 1935 Meeting Between Bill W. and Dr. Bob that Launched Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975). In it, Thomsen wrote:
Ever since he [Bill W.] and [Dr.] Bob had tried to shape a program, their ideas had been based on Oxford Group principles: first admitting they were powerless over alcohol, then making a moral inventory, confessing their shortcomings to another, making amends whenever possible, and finally praying for the power to carry out these concepts and to help other drunks. [p. 282]
The difficulty with all these somewhat-conflicting statements is that the Twelve Steps themselves came from a much broader group of resources than any of the writers stated.
Why Take the 12 Steps Before You Know the Details about Their 26 Sources?
There are three different types of roots of the sources of the 12 Steps. Two of the three are detailed in a recent title my son Ken and I wrote: Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide: Historical Perspectives and Effective Modern Application, 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2010). They are:
The Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program: Page 54 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., quotes verbatim the seven-point summary of the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program in Akron developed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob beginning during the summer of 1935. This original A.A. program, documented in late February, 1938, by Rockefeller agent Frank Amos, is recorded on page 131 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980).
The 14 Specific Practices of the Akron A.A. Christian Pioneers: Pages 56-58 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., discuss in some detail the 14 actual practices employed by the Akron pioneers in their implementation of the original, seven-point, A.A. Program documented by Frank Amos. With my son Ken's help, I unearthed and reported on these 14 practices in conjunction with our 20 years of research on the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous.
So what are these 26 wellsprings or sources of the 12 Steps upon which Bill Wilson drew when he put together the Big Book published in 1939? In three of my recent titles, I listed and explained what are at least 16 different sources of the ideas Bill Wilson finally incorporated into the Twelve Step program he fashioned and presented in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet the more one searches for specifics, and the more one researches, the more the fullness of the wellspring details becomes
In brief, there are 26 wellspring ideas incorporated into the Twelve Steps as presented in the text of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published by Works Publishing Company in 1939. These sources include:
The King James Version of the Bible (affectionately called “The Good Book.”).
William D. Silkworth, M.D. (Bill Wilson’s psychiatrist).
Professor William James of Harvard, whose book Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob had read.
Dr. Carl Gustav Jung of Switzerland, who told Bill’s mentor, Rowland Hazard, that—because he had the “mind of a chronic alcoholic”—a religious conversion might help him overcome drinking.
The Oxford Group, to which Bill Wilson and his wife Lois belonged and with which Dr. Bob and his wife Anne were associated in Akron. Its 28 life-changing ideas influenced all four people.
The teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., with whom Bill had worked on his proposed program and whom Bill called a “co-founder” of A.A.
The “no-cure” ideas and language of the lay therapist Richard Peabody, whose book, The Common Sense of Drinking, both Bill and Bob read.
The teachings of Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne Ripley Smith, who compiled and shared with early AAs and their families her personal journal which she wrote between 1933 and 1939.
The Christian books, other religious literature, and devotionals, circulated by Dr. Bob among early AAs.
“Quiet Time” and the guidance of God.
Belief in, and conversion to, God through Jesus Christ.
Qualification of newcomers as to their decision to quit permanently, and as to their willingness to go to any lengths in order to get and stay sober.
Medical help for, or hospitalization of, newcomers.
New Thought writings and ideas.
Intensive work helping newcomers get straightened out.
Recommended social and religious comradeship.
Recommended weekly attendance at a religious service.
Evangelists like Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, and Billy Sunday.
Lay workers of the Young Men's Christian Association (the YMCA).
The Salvation Army.
Gospel or rescue missions.
The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor.
Dr. Bob’s extensive Christian upbringing and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont.
Bill Wilson’s extensive Christian upbringing, YMCA participation, and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont.
The “Farther Out” ideas manifested in Big Book language, and in the practices and experiments of Bill Wilson, and seemingly emanating from Bill’s extensive involvement in the Swedenborgian sect, in psychic experiments, in Richard Maurice Bucke’s Cosmic Consciousness book, in spiritualism, and in mysticism.
The idea of self-made religion, a self-made deity, and choosing one’s own conception of an “higher power.”
Through the years of my research and writing, all of the foregoing 26 ideas have been discussed; and today, substantial documentation can be found in several of my titles, including: (1) Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book As a Youngster in Vermont (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2008), 275-99; (2) Dick B., A New Way Out: New Path—Familiar Road Signs—Our Creator’s Guidance (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 14-32; and (3) Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.
Materials on the last two sources are discussed, from various viewpoints, in the following titles (among others): (1) Mel B., My Search for Bill W. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000); (2) Mel B., New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1991); (3) Susan Cheever, My Name is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Washington Square Press, 2004); and (4) William G. Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story When Love is Not Enough: A Biography of the Cofounder of Al-Anon (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2005).
Why Take the 12 Steps but Avoid the Prime Source of Instruction?
It would appear that today’s AAs and A.A. critics are stuck with ideas and approaches which seem to fill their individual beliefs, unbelief, or creeds—which sadly do not point them to the one place where the initial instructions for taking the Twelve Steps can be found.
We will suggest an approach, particularly for Christians, in a subsequent article. But it would be well to point to several inconsistent approaches today that leave something to be desired—by all concerned.
ñ Follow the instructions in Alcoholics Anonymous.
ñ Study the “Personal Stories” in the Big Book—including the original stories in the first edition (1939), all but three of which are omitted from the fourth edition (2001).
ñ Use one of the many secular “Step guides” that have all sorts of interpretations and have been published by Joe and Charlie from the Big Book Seminars, Hazelden (in a variety of forms), and a host of individuals.
ñ Use one of the so-called “Recovery Bibles”: Life Recovery Bible, Serenity: A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery, Recovery Devotional Bible, and the Celebrate Recovery Bible. Most are filled with page after page of attempted correlation of the Steps to the verse or section of scripture being read at any given time.
ñ Use one of the innumerable “Christian Step Guides” now in print, most of which append a writer’s view of one or more Bible verses deemed to be relevant to the Step under study.
Can any or all of the foregoing and other approaches be reconciled with the Bible and the Big Book? Can the Big Book and the Bible be reconciled at all? Can the Steps be used as life-changing guides emanating from biblical basics? Can the accuracy and integrity of the Word of God be preserved by a Big Book-Bible student who would like to utilize the Steps, the A.A. Fellowship, and the Bible in recovery? Can one study the Bible in conjunction the Big Book presentation of the Twelve Steps and meet the “requirement” of the Book of James—“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22)
When we address these issues in the next article, we will begin with the way in which Bill W. and Dr. Bob—though differing in theological viewpoints and religious backgrounds—were able to collaborate in the use of the Steps, build on the Bible basics, discuss A.A. history, and retain their own convictions as to how these elements could be used to help drunks.
Gloria Deo
Taking, Believing, and Understanding the Twelve Steps
Dick B.
© 2011 Anonymous. All rights reserved.
Why Take Them Before You Know What the A.A. Cofounders Said about Them?
Both Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob Smith, the cofounders of A.A., spoke explicitly on where the 12 Steps came from. In sum, they stated that the basic ideas came from: (1) the Bible; (2) Dr. William D. Silkworth; (3) Professor William James; and (4) Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr.
As we will see in this article, that is not the whole story. But here’s what A.A.'s cofounders said:
In his last major address to AAs, delivered in Detroit in 1948, A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob stated:
When we started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps . . . we had no Traditions. But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. To some of us older ones, the parts that we found absolutely essential were the Sermon on the Mount, the thirteenth chapter of First Corinthians, and the Book of James. [The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1972, 1975), 13.]
It wasn’t until 1938 that the teachings and efforts and studies that had been going on were crystallized in the form of the Twelve Steps. I didn’t write the Twelve Steps. I had nothing to do with the writing of them. But I think I probably had something to do with them indirectly. . . . We already had the basic ideas, though not in terse and tangible form. We got them, as I said, as the result of our study of the Good Book. [The Co-Founders, 14.]
In The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings (NY: The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., 1988), A.A. cofounder Bill W. stated:
So, then, how did we first learn that alcoholism is such a fearful sickness as this? Who gave us this priceless piece of information on which the effectiveness of Step One of our program so much depends? Well, it came from my own doctor, “the little doctor who loved drunks,” William Duncan Silkworth. [p. 297]
Who, then, first told us about the utter necessity for such an awakening, for an experience that not only expels the alcohol obsession, but which also makes effective and truly real the practice of spiritual principles “in all our affairs”? Well, this life-giving idea came to us of AA through William James, the father of modern psychology. It came through his famous book, Varieties of Religious Experience. . . . William James also heavily emphasized the need for hitting bottom. Thus did he reinforce AA’s Step One, and so did he supply us with the spiritual essence of today’s Step Twelve. [pp. 297-98]
Having now accounted for AA’s Steps One and Twelve, it is natural that we should next ask, “Where did the early AAs find the material for the remaining ten Steps? Where did we learn about moral inventory, amends for harm done, turning our wills and lives over to God? Where did we learn about meditation and prayer and all the rest of it?” The spiritual substance of our remaining ten Steps came straight from Dr. Bob’s and my own earlier association with the Oxford Groups, as they were then led in America by that Episcopal rector, Dr. Samuel Shoemaker. [p. 298]
What God was Bill Wilson speaking of? In The Language of the Heart, Bill wrote at page 284:
And then the great thought burst upon me: “Bill, you are a free man: This is the God of the Scriptures.”
What God was Dr. Bob Smith speaking of? In Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed. (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 2001), Dr. Bob wrote at page 181:
Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!
In 1975, Harper & Row published Robert Thomsen's biography of A.A. cofounder Bill Wilson under the title Bill W. – 50th Anniversary Edition – Commemorating the 1935 Meeting Between Bill W. and Dr. Bob that Launched Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Harper & Row, Publishers, 1975). In it, Thomsen wrote:
Ever since he [Bill W.] and [Dr.] Bob had tried to shape a program, their ideas had been based on Oxford Group principles: first admitting they were powerless over alcohol, then making a moral inventory, confessing their shortcomings to another, making amends whenever possible, and finally praying for the power to carry out these concepts and to help other drunks. [p. 282]
The difficulty with all these somewhat-conflicting statements is that the Twelve Steps themselves came from a much broader group of resources than any of the writers stated.
Why Take the 12 Steps Before You Know the Details about Their 26 Sources?
There are three different types of roots of the sources of the 12 Steps. Two of the three are detailed in a recent title my son Ken and I wrote: Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide: Historical Perspectives and Effective Modern Application, 3rd ed. (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2010). They are:
The Seven-Point Summary of the Original Akron A.A. “Christian Fellowship” Program: Page 54 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., quotes verbatim the seven-point summary of the original A.A. “Christian fellowship” program in Akron developed by Bill W. and Dr. Bob beginning during the summer of 1935. This original A.A. program, documented in late February, 1938, by Rockefeller agent Frank Amos, is recorded on page 131 of the A.A. General Service Conference-approved book DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers (NY: Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1980).
The 14 Specific Practices of the Akron A.A. Christian Pioneers: Pages 56-58 of The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed., discuss in some detail the 14 actual practices employed by the Akron pioneers in their implementation of the original, seven-point, A.A. Program documented by Frank Amos. With my son Ken's help, I unearthed and reported on these 14 practices in conjunction with our 20 years of research on the origins of Alcoholics Anonymous.
So what are these 26 wellsprings or sources of the 12 Steps upon which Bill Wilson drew when he put together the Big Book published in 1939? In three of my recent titles, I listed and explained what are at least 16 different sources of the ideas Bill Wilson finally incorporated into the Twelve Step program he fashioned and presented in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous. Yet the more one searches for specifics, and the more one researches, the more the fullness of the wellspring details becomes
In brief, there are 26 wellspring ideas incorporated into the Twelve Steps as presented in the text of the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, published by Works Publishing Company in 1939. These sources include:
The King James Version of the Bible (affectionately called “The Good Book.”).
William D. Silkworth, M.D. (Bill Wilson’s psychiatrist).
Professor William James of Harvard, whose book Bill Wilson and Dr. Bob had read.
Dr. Carl Gustav Jung of Switzerland, who told Bill’s mentor, Rowland Hazard, that—because he had the “mind of a chronic alcoholic”—a religious conversion might help him overcome drinking.
The Oxford Group, to which Bill Wilson and his wife Lois belonged and with which Dr. Bob and his wife Anne were associated in Akron. Its 28 life-changing ideas influenced all four people.
The teachings of Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, Jr., with whom Bill had worked on his proposed program and whom Bill called a “co-founder” of A.A.
The “no-cure” ideas and language of the lay therapist Richard Peabody, whose book, The Common Sense of Drinking, both Bill and Bob read.
The teachings of Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne Ripley Smith, who compiled and shared with early AAs and their families her personal journal which she wrote between 1933 and 1939.
The Christian books, other religious literature, and devotionals, circulated by Dr. Bob among early AAs.
“Quiet Time” and the guidance of God.
Belief in, and conversion to, God through Jesus Christ.
Qualification of newcomers as to their decision to quit permanently, and as to their willingness to go to any lengths in order to get and stay sober.
Medical help for, or hospitalization of, newcomers.
New Thought writings and ideas.
Intensive work helping newcomers get straightened out.
Recommended social and religious comradeship.
Recommended weekly attendance at a religious service.
Evangelists like Dwight Moody, Ira Sankey, and Billy Sunday.
Lay workers of the Young Men's Christian Association (the YMCA).
The Salvation Army.
Gospel or rescue missions.
The Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor.
Dr. Bob’s extensive Christian upbringing and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont.
Bill Wilson’s extensive Christian upbringing, YMCA participation, and Bible study as a youngster in Vermont.
The “Farther Out” ideas manifested in Big Book language, and in the practices and experiments of Bill Wilson, and seemingly emanating from Bill’s extensive involvement in the Swedenborgian sect, in psychic experiments, in Richard Maurice Bucke’s Cosmic Consciousness book, in spiritualism, and in mysticism.
The idea of self-made religion, a self-made deity, and choosing one’s own conception of an “higher power.”
Through the years of my research and writing, all of the foregoing 26 ideas have been discussed; and today, substantial documentation can be found in several of my titles, including: (1) Dick B. and Ken B., Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book As a Youngster in Vermont (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2008), 275-99; (2) Dick B., A New Way Out: New Path—Familiar Road Signs—Our Creator’s Guidance (Kihei, HI: Paradise Research Publications, Inc., 2006), 14-32; and (3) Dick B. and Ken B., The Dick B. Christian Recovery Guide, 3rd ed.
Materials on the last two sources are discussed, from various viewpoints, in the following titles (among others): (1) Mel B., My Search for Bill W. (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2000); (2) Mel B., New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 1991); (3) Susan Cheever, My Name is Bill: Bill Wilson—His Life and the Creation of Alcoholics Anonymous (NY: Washington Square Press, 2004); and (4) William G. Borchert, The Lois Wilson Story When Love is Not Enough: A Biography of the Cofounder of Al-Anon (Center City, MN: Hazelden, 2005).
Why Take the 12 Steps but Avoid the Prime Source of Instruction?
It would appear that today’s AAs and A.A. critics are stuck with ideas and approaches which seem to fill their individual beliefs, unbelief, or creeds—which sadly do not point them to the one place where the initial instructions for taking the Twelve Steps can be found.
We will suggest an approach, particularly for Christians, in a subsequent article. But it would be well to point to several inconsistent approaches today that leave something to be desired—by all concerned.
ñ Follow the instructions in Alcoholics Anonymous.
ñ Study the “Personal Stories” in the Big Book—including the original stories in the first edition (1939), all but three of which are omitted from the fourth edition (2001).
ñ Use one of the many secular “Step guides” that have all sorts of interpretations and have been published by Joe and Charlie from the Big Book Seminars, Hazelden (in a variety of forms), and a host of individuals.
ñ Use one of the so-called “Recovery Bibles”: Life Recovery Bible, Serenity: A Companion for Twelve Step Recovery, Recovery Devotional Bible, and the Celebrate Recovery Bible. Most are filled with page after page of attempted correlation of the Steps to the verse or section of scripture being read at any given time.
ñ Use one of the innumerable “Christian Step Guides” now in print, most of which append a writer’s view of one or more Bible verses deemed to be relevant to the Step under study.
Can any or all of the foregoing and other approaches be reconciled with the Bible and the Big Book? Can the Big Book and the Bible be reconciled at all? Can the Steps be used as life-changing guides emanating from biblical basics? Can the accuracy and integrity of the Word of God be preserved by a Big Book-Bible student who would like to utilize the Steps, the A.A. Fellowship, and the Bible in recovery? Can one study the Bible in conjunction the Big Book presentation of the Twelve Steps and meet the “requirement” of the Book of James—“But be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22)
When we address these issues in the next article, we will begin with the way in which Bill W. and Dr. Bob—though differing in theological viewpoints and religious backgrounds—were able to collaborate in the use of the Steps, build on the Bible basics, discuss A.A. history, and retain their own convictions as to how these elements could be used to help drunks.
Gloria Deo
The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works, by Dick B.
The second edition of The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous: A Design for Living That Works is one of author Dick B.'s leading A.A. History Books. www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml.
This covers the progenitors of the group and the various phases of the Group from A First Century Christian Fellowship to the Groups to the Oxford Group to Moral Re-Armament. It specifically lays out the 28 life-changing principles of the Oxford Group that had an impact on A.A., A.A. History, and A.A. Twelve Steps. It lists the many Oxford Group expressions with exact parallels in A.A. writings. It discusses the lives of Oxford Group founder Frank N.D. Buchman, Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker (a major leader in America), and Bill Wilson--cofounder of A.A.--who belonged to the Oxford Group from 1934 to August of 1937 and knew both Buchman and Shoemaker. There is a huge bibliography of hundreds of Oxford Group books Dick B. has read and cited and utilized in his A.A. history books and articles.
This book is now available in most bookstores, on amazon.com, in print-on-demand form, and soon to be in eBook format. It can also be purchased through Dick B.'s own website: www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml.
This covers the progenitors of the group and the various phases of the Group from A First Century Christian Fellowship to the Groups to the Oxford Group to Moral Re-Armament. It specifically lays out the 28 life-changing principles of the Oxford Group that had an impact on A.A., A.A. History, and A.A. Twelve Steps. It lists the many Oxford Group expressions with exact parallels in A.A. writings. It discusses the lives of Oxford Group founder Frank N.D. Buchman, Reverend Samuel M. Shoemaker (a major leader in America), and Bill Wilson--cofounder of A.A.--who belonged to the Oxford Group from 1934 to August of 1937 and knew both Buchman and Shoemaker. There is a huge bibliography of hundreds of Oxford Group books Dick B. has read and cited and utilized in his A.A. history books and articles.
This book is now available in most bookstores, on amazon.com, in print-on-demand form, and soon to be in eBook format. It can also be purchased through Dick B.'s own website: www.dickb.com/Oxford.shtml.
Monday, August 8, 2011
North American Summit Conferences in California - Details Available Right Now
For details about the 2 September 2011 International Christian Recovery Coalition's North American Summit Meetings in Costa Mesa, California and in Brentwood, California, go to the following:
http://dickb.com/ICRC/ICRC-North_American_Summit.shtml
Monday, August 1, 2011
Biography of Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous-Books to read
Monday, August 01, 2011
A Biography of "Dr. Bob," Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
The definitive biography of Robert Holbrook Smith, M.D., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has yet to be written. And we are working on that project right now.
In the meantime, here are excellent resources that tell bits and pieces about Dr. Bob of A.A. and his role in the history of A.A.
First, "Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont" www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml. This covers every aspect of Dr. Bob's bible training and how it was translated into early A.A. many years later in Akron. It covers Dr. Bob's boyhood house, his family, his Sunday School, his elementary school, the North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury where the entire Smith family was active, the services and sermons of that church, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor in that church and in which Dr. Bob was active--as were his parents Judge Walter P. Smith and Susan Holbrook Smith, his wife. It covers their activity in the YMCA--of which Judge Smith was president in St. Johnsbury. And it covers Dr. Bob's entire schooling in the Congregational Church led academy--St. Johnsbury Academy. There, Dr. Bob cut his teeth on important Christian and biblical ideas that shaped the early A.A. program. These included required daily chapel, required weekly church attendance, required Bible study, and a curriculum that covered Christian materials among many others.
Second, "Dr. Bob and His Library," 3rd ed. www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml. Dr. Bob was an avid reader and student of the Bible. And today's recovery community needs to know the vast amount of literature that Dr. Bob read, recommended, and circulated. It included books on the Bible, Jesus Christ, Christian healing, the Oxford Group, life-changing, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, and many devotionals such as The Upper Room and The Runner's Bible--both widely used in pioneer A.A.
Third, "The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous" www.dickb.com/Akron.shtml. This book shows the real origins and founding of A.A. in Akron, Ohio, and gives proper place to the roles of Dr. Bob and his wife Anne Smith in the process. This book is endorsed by family members, and by other noted A.A. historians.
Fourth, in 1980, Alcoholics Anonymous itself published "DR BOB and The Good Oldtimers" This book is still available. And it will start any student of A.A. on the road to knowledge of exactly how Dr. Bob spoke, led, and helped others--5000 of them--in the Akron program, which he called a "Christian Fellowship." Page 131 of this book provides an exact summary of the original program that achieved so much success in the late 1930's.
Fifth, no student of Dr. Bob's life should miss the exact transcript of his last major address to AAs in 1948 in Detroit. Here is where Dr. Bob made it plain that the basic ideas of A.A. came from the Bible, that early AAs considered the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 to be absolutely essential to their program. This pamphlet, numbered P-53 "The Co-Founders...." is A.A. General Conference-approved literature and, despite its vital importance, is often difficult to see or obtain at ordinary A.A. meetings.
There is much more on Dr. Bob and much more to be written. The foregoing should give any inquirer a sound, accurate, foundation of material on the unusual life of this co-founder of A.A.
Posted by Dick B. at 8:16 PM
Labels: A.A. and Dr. Bob's Christian upbringing, A.A.'s Dr. Bob, AA in Akron, Biography of A.A.'s Dr. Bob, Dr. Bob of A.A., Dr. Bob's youth, early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship in Akron
A Biography of "Dr. Bob," Co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous
The definitive biography of Robert Holbrook Smith, M.D., co-founder of Alcoholics Anonymous (A.A.) has yet to be written. And we are working on that project right now.
In the meantime, here are excellent resources that tell bits and pieces about Dr. Bob of A.A. and his role in the history of A.A.
First, "Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont" www.dickb.com/drbobofaa.shtml. This covers every aspect of Dr. Bob's bible training and how it was translated into early A.A. many years later in Akron. It covers Dr. Bob's boyhood house, his family, his Sunday School, his elementary school, the North Congregational Church of St. Johnsbury where the entire Smith family was active, the services and sermons of that church, the Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor in that church and in which Dr. Bob was active--as were his parents Judge Walter P. Smith and Susan Holbrook Smith, his wife. It covers their activity in the YMCA--of which Judge Smith was president in St. Johnsbury. And it covers Dr. Bob's entire schooling in the Congregational Church led academy--St. Johnsbury Academy. There, Dr. Bob cut his teeth on important Christian and biblical ideas that shaped the early A.A. program. These included required daily chapel, required weekly church attendance, required Bible study, and a curriculum that covered Christian materials among many others.
Second, "Dr. Bob and His Library," 3rd ed. www.dickb.com/drbob.shtml. Dr. Bob was an avid reader and student of the Bible. And today's recovery community needs to know the vast amount of literature that Dr. Bob read, recommended, and circulated. It included books on the Bible, Jesus Christ, Christian healing, the Oxford Group, life-changing, Rev. Samuel M. Shoemaker, and many devotionals such as The Upper Room and The Runner's Bible--both widely used in pioneer A.A.
Third, "The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous" www.dickb.com/Akron.shtml. This book shows the real origins and founding of A.A. in Akron, Ohio, and gives proper place to the roles of Dr. Bob and his wife Anne Smith in the process. This book is endorsed by family members, and by other noted A.A. historians.
Fourth, in 1980, Alcoholics Anonymous itself published "DR BOB and The Good Oldtimers" This book is still available. And it will start any student of A.A. on the road to knowledge of exactly how Dr. Bob spoke, led, and helped others--5000 of them--in the Akron program, which he called a "Christian Fellowship." Page 131 of this book provides an exact summary of the original program that achieved so much success in the late 1930's.
Fifth, no student of Dr. Bob's life should miss the exact transcript of his last major address to AAs in 1948 in Detroit. Here is where Dr. Bob made it plain that the basic ideas of A.A. came from the Bible, that early AAs considered the Book of James, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13 to be absolutely essential to their program. This pamphlet, numbered P-53 "The Co-Founders...." is A.A. General Conference-approved literature and, despite its vital importance, is often difficult to see or obtain at ordinary A.A. meetings.
There is much more on Dr. Bob and much more to be written. The foregoing should give any inquirer a sound, accurate, foundation of material on the unusual life of this co-founder of A.A.
Posted by Dick B. at 8:16 PM
Labels: A.A. and Dr. Bob's Christian upbringing, A.A.'s Dr. Bob, AA in Akron, Biography of A.A.'s Dr. Bob, Dr. Bob of A.A., Dr. Bob's youth, early A.A.'s Christian Fellowship in Akron
Sunday, July 31, 2011
New Dick B. YouTube Program on "Prayer and Meditation" - AA 11th Step
New Dick B. YouTube Channel Program features "prayer and meditation," "Quiet Hour," "Quiet Time," "Morning Watch" roots of A.A.'s Eleventh Step. Coming shortly. www.dickb.com/goodmorn.shtml
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
AA Big Book 1st Edition Reprint - Intro by Dick B. - to be released September 2011
First Edition Reprint by Dover Publications - with extensive introduction by Dick B. - has just reached us and will be released in September. It will open your eyes as to what the original A.A. program looked like when the personal stories were included in it. Thanks to Dover Publications
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
The James Club and the Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials now in ebook smashwords
The James Club and The Original A.A. Program's Absolute Essentials
Ebook By Dick B
Published By first.edition.design.ebook.publishing
Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: July 26, 2011
Category: Non-Fiction » Self-Improvement » Addiction and recovery
Category: Non-Fiction » Religion and Spirituality » Christianity
Words: 52121 (approximate)
Language: English
Ebook Short Description
Early Akron AAs wanted "The James Club" to be the name of their fellowship. The Bible's Book of James was their favorite; they also studied it, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. These three Bible segments were considered "absolutely essential" to their program. This book takes each verse in James, the Sermon, and 1 Cor 13, and shows the influence of such verses on A.A. language.
Extended Description
For years, A.A. has quietly acknowledged, primarily through one publication, that the early A.A. pioneers in Akron believed firmly that the answer to all their problems was in the "Good Book," as they called the Bible. A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob said that all the basic ideas were taken from their study of the Good Book. And he added many many times that the three parts of the Bible the old timers considered "absolutely essential" to their spiritual program of recovery were: (1) The Book of James. (2) Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). (3) 1 Corinthians 13, Paul's famous chapter on "love."
You can find the foregoing remarks in A.A.'s DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, in pamphlets published by Akron AA, and in several talks given through the years by Dr. Bob himself. And it was even his co-founder friend Bill Wilson who spoke of the studies of James, the Sermon, and Corinthians; the reading of these passages by Dr. Bob's wife Anne to Bill and Bob; and the fact that--as Bill put it--"J... (Read more)
Tags
bible, sermon on the mount, aa history, 12 step program, big book, book of james, james club
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Ebook By Dick B
Published By first.edition.design.ebook.publishing
Rating: Not yet rated.
Published: July 26, 2011
Category: Non-Fiction » Self-Improvement » Addiction and recovery
Category: Non-Fiction » Religion and Spirituality » Christianity
Words: 52121 (approximate)
Language: English
Ebook Short Description
Early Akron AAs wanted "The James Club" to be the name of their fellowship. The Bible's Book of James was their favorite; they also studied it, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, and 1 Corinthians 13. These three Bible segments were considered "absolutely essential" to their program. This book takes each verse in James, the Sermon, and 1 Cor 13, and shows the influence of such verses on A.A. language.
Extended Description
For years, A.A. has quietly acknowledged, primarily through one publication, that the early A.A. pioneers in Akron believed firmly that the answer to all their problems was in the "Good Book," as they called the Bible. A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob said that all the basic ideas were taken from their study of the Good Book. And he added many many times that the three parts of the Bible the old timers considered "absolutely essential" to their spiritual program of recovery were: (1) The Book of James. (2) Jesus's Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7). (3) 1 Corinthians 13, Paul's famous chapter on "love."
You can find the foregoing remarks in A.A.'s DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, in pamphlets published by Akron AA, and in several talks given through the years by Dr. Bob himself. And it was even his co-founder friend Bill Wilson who spoke of the studies of James, the Sermon, and Corinthians; the reading of these passages by Dr. Bob's wife Anne to Bill and Bob; and the fact that--as Bill put it--"J... (Read more)
Tags
bible, sermon on the mount, aa history, 12 step program, big book, book of james, james club
Available Ebook reading formats:
Single purchase gains access to all formats. How to download ebooks to e-reading devices and apps.
Format
Full Book
Sample First 20%
Online Reading (HTML, good for sampling in web browser)
Buy
View sample
Online Reading (JavaScript, experimental, buggy)
Buy
View sample
Kindle (.mobi for Kindle devices and Kindle apps)
Buy
Download sample
Epub (Nook, Sony Reader, Kobo, and most e-reading apps including Stanza, Aldiko, Adobe Digital Editions, others)
Buy
Download sample
PDF (good for reading on PC, or for home printing)
Buy
No sample available
RTF (readable on most word processors)
Buy
No sample available
LRF (Use only for older model Sony Readers that don't support .epub)
Buy
Download sample
Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices)
Buy
Download sample
Plain Text (download) (flexible, but lacks much formatting)
Buy
No sample available
Plain Text (view) (viewable as web page)
Buy
No sample available
Saturday, July 23, 2011
The Oxford Group, Bill W.'s "Steps," and Ebby Thacher
Go to my main blog for this discussion: www.mauihistorian.blogspot.com
Lingering Questions About the Oxford Group, Bill W.'s "Steps," and Ebby Thacher
Lingering Questions About the Oxford Group, Bill W.'s "Steps," and Ebby Thacher
[The following interchange has been lightly edited]
<>
From: Dick B. [mailto:dickb@dickb.com ]
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 9:38 AM
To: 'Karen H.'
Cc:
Subject: RE: Oxford Group
Sent: Saturday, July 23, 2011 9:38 AM
To: 'Karen H.'
Cc:
Subject: RE: Oxford Group
I don’t believe you read my answers carefully. And I suggest you do that first and then make your comments on the supposed contradiction. Also, you should read the variant six “ideas” in my title The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous. Have you done so? Also, I am not sure you are conversant with the difference between the original Akron program, the alleged six “word of mouth” ideas that Bill claimed were circulating in various ways, and the actual twelve steps which Bill seems to have fashioned in half an hour—building on his alleged six “ideas” and the Oxford Group twenty-eight and Shoemaker’s teachings about them. If you read Shoemaker, you will see almost verbatim transpositions from Shoemaker’s language to Step language.
As to what Ebby learned, conveyed, and said at which time and place, I don’t believe there is any reliable information about that. However, if you read Turning Point, you will read what I found at Stepping Stones twenty years ago, and some lengthy comments that Bill said were made by Ebby.
I do not want to get caught up in discussions which take off from misconceptions of the facts I laid out. If you have not read Turning Point, and if you have not studied the relevant pages of Bill’s Story, then you have failed to understand what we do know. Ebby transmitted IDEAS to Bill, not steps. When he transmitted them is not clear to me though it would Appear that it occurred when Ebby first visited Bill or perhaps at the time of Bill’s final hospitalization at Towns.
Again, there were no A.A. six steps. There were no Oxford Group six steps. There were no Oxford Group “steps” at all. That has been documented by Willard Hunter and by remarks in A.A. Conference-approved literature. And there were no twelve steps until Bill wrote them in December of 1938. There were 28 Oxford Group ideas which are thoroughly discussed in my book, The Oxford Group & Alcoholics Anonymous. These have been verified and endorsed by several leading Oxford Group activists including Garth Lean, Michael Hutchinson, James Newton, Eleanor Newton, and Willard Hunter—along with the many Oxford Group people who have read and discussed my points with me personally. Bill said he got the ideas for Steps 3 through 12 from the teachings of Sam Shoemaker (an Oxford Group leader).
In sum, to get the factual picture in focus, you should read the following titles I have written: (1) Turning Point. (2) The Akron
God bless,
Dick B.
From: Karen H. [last name withheld]
To: Dick B.
Subject: RE: Oxford Group
To: Dick B.
Subject: RE: Oxford Group
Hi Dick, I appreciate your comprehensive response! Your answers #5 and #8 seem to conflict: #5: Bills' own invention was that there were six ideas which he expanded to twelve. #8: Bill was informed of all 12 steps by Ebby. Am a little confused so hope you can expand. Thank you Dick. Lastly, if Ebby gave the Steps to Bill, when did he do this--at the time Ebby told Bill that he, Ebby, got religion? And where did Ebby get the 12 steps? Hope to hear from you soon! Merci, Karen :-) --- On Thu, 7/21/11, Dick B. From: Dick B. Subject: RE: Oxford Group To: "'Karen H. Received: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 2:51 AM Thank you very much for writing. Several comments:
You can find the summary on pages 12-14 of the 4th edition Big Book; and you can find the full details of what Bill related about Ebby and the Steps in Turning Point.
Please favor me with your name, mail address, phone, and email. And do keep in touch. Thanks again. You are the second in a day or so to raise Oxford Group questions, and this is healthy! God bless, Dick B. From: Karen Sent: Wednesday, July 20, 2011 1:11 PM To: Subject: Oxford Group
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