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+ Last updated:
May 29, 2009
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Alcoholics Anonymous History
New Study Groups
Going Gangbusters
By Dick B.
New Study Groups
Going Gangbusters
The
Rapid Growth of Groups To Date
In the past two or three years, a number of
individuals, groups, and meetings have established Good Book/Big Book,
Good Book/12 Step, A.A. Roots Revival, A.A. History, The James Club
studying the links and origins of early A.A. These have included Bible
study, Big Book study, 12 Step study, Early A.A. history studies,
Reading the literature of early AAs, and reviewing the impact on A.A. of
other roots—Anne Smith’s Journal, Dr. Bob’s Library, the Oxford Group
life-changing program, the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Quiet Time,
Silkworth, Jung, James, Peabody, and New Thought writers.
Most of the groups floundered for a time, not knowing where to start,
what to use, or what was permissible. Some wondered what A.A. would
think. Some wondered what their church would think. But once it was made
clear that there is no “conference dis-approved” literature, that it was
OK to study the very things our founders studied, that it was kosher to
do the very things our founders did and to read their pamphlets, real
progress was made. Most of the groups are just getting started and
learning, but several have grown from small to large in a short time.
Then I began producing specific guides I thought would help; and they
came along in this order: (1) The Good Book and The Big Book. (2) By the
Power of God. (3) Utilizing A.A.’s Spiritual Roots Today. (4) Why Early
A.A. Succeeded. (5) Making Known the Biblical History and Roots of
Alcoholics Anonymous. (6) When Early AAs Were Cured and Why. (7) The
James Club and The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials. (8)
Twelve Steps for You
Turning Point, The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous, and New Light
on Alcoholism were the landmark books dealing with A.A.’s Oxford
Group/New York Genesis. The Akron Genesis of Alcoholics Anonymous was
the landmark dealing with A.A.’s Akron Genesis. Any and all of these,
plus the eight books mentioned above, plus a complete reference set of
my 23 history titles can be purchased in bulk, at a discount, and from
http://aa-history.com/bookstore.
As the need for specific plans grew, I wrote and posted on several
different websites various articles suggesting how to conduct study
groups, what resources might be needed, and what other books and
materials were recommended. Then, three old-timer Clarence Snyder
sponsees asked me to compile and edit their great guidebook on how to
take the Twelve Steps the way that Clarence Snyder did (See
http://www.cametobelieve.org). Then Bill M. (who is an ardent Sam
Shoemaker fan) and I compiled a guidebook to Shoemaker’s teachings which
he likes to call “Shoemaker Light” because it condenses the massive
amount of material in New Light on Alcoholism: God, Sam Shoemaker, and
A.A.
You can find my articles on how to conduct study groups on a number of
sites other than my own. And you can certainly find them here:
http://www.dickb.com/index.shtml;
http://www.dickb-blog.com;
http://aa-history.com. They will tell you what you need to do, how
to organize and conduct, what books to obtain for the group, and what
resources to have on hand. And most of the groups today are using one or
more of the following:
Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.
King James Version of the Bible, or one of their choice like NIV, or one
of the three “twelve step” Bibles.
The James Club and The Original A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials
http://www.dickb.com/JamesClub.shtml
Twelve Steps for You
http://www.dickb.com/12StepsforYou.shtml
The Good Book and The Big Book
http://www.dickb.com/goodbook.shtml
They can and do buy these in bulk and at a
discount from
http://aa-history.com/bookstore. And you can buy them from me, on
Amazon.com,
through
BarnesandNoble.com, and by asking any bookstore to order them for
you.
Most groups also obtain a complete set of my 23 history reference titles
so that members can look up Anne Smith, Sam Shoemaker, the Oxford Group,
Akron, Dr. Bob’s Library, and Quiet Time, along with all the others, at
any time it helps the other study work.
These are continuing, growing, highly helpful groups—whether conduct by
individual AAs and 12-Step students, whether presented in groups or
meetings, whether incorporated in Christian Track and Christian Recovery
Treatment programs, or whether utilized by church-related or
Christ-centered groups. It’s something that hasn’t been done because
most try to apply the early principles from their own Bibles or through
their own church or through Christ-centered guidebooks, but without any
knowledge or guide to the original A.A. program. Yet that is the program
that, in its very simple form, was the key to the 75% to 93% cure rates
in early A.A.
Our Just Released Key Guidebook
We just completed and published a guidebook that
covers all the bases. It is already being snapped up for use. And its
name is The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook. You can see the cover, the
description of contents, and a review on Amazon.com, on my sites
http://www.dickb.com/index., http://aa-history.com/bookstore, and on
other sites. It’s the key to running a group, and it’s directly tied to
all the resources mentioned above.
The Track Record To Date
People contact me from all over the United States,
Canada, and Great Britain, asking how to get linked to and/or
participate in one of these new Christian-oriented A.A. Groups.
Therefore, I will be glad to inform you of those already in progress and
where they are located, but I will not provide you with the names. If
you wish to get in touch with one, you can send me an email (dickb@dickb.com);
and I will forward your request to the relevant leader or group. And
here they are:
Melrose, New York
Columbia, Connecticut
Groton, Connecticut
Kaneohe, Hawaii
Kihei, Hawaii
Kailua, Hawaii
Sebastopol, California
Woodland, California
Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada
Gilbert, Arizona
Yuma, Arizona
Seattle, Washington
Bellevue, Washington
Santa Ana, California
East Sussex, England
Miller Place, New York
Newmanstown, Pennsylvania
Dresden, Ohio
Spencerville, Indiana
Townsend, Delaware
Newark, Delaware
Wisconsin, Delaware
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
Amery, Wisconsin
Cornish, New Hampshire
Melbourne, Florida
Hollywood, Florida
Miami, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Seminole, Florida
Orlando, Florida
Garden City, Idaho
Medina, Washington
Downey, California
Rohnert Park, California
Montreal, Quebec
Edgemere, Maryland
Schofield, Wisconsin
Hastings, Nebraska
Norfolk, Nebraska
Suffield, Connecticut
San Francisco, California
Baltimore, Maryland
El Paso, Texas
Euless, Texas
Leonardtown, Maryland
Edmond, Oklahoma
Norco, California
Austin, Texas
New York, New York
Cincinnati, Ohio
Van Nuys, California
Gresham, Oregon
Roanoke, Virginia
Kodiak, Alaska
Chesapeake, Virginia
St. George’s, Bermuda
Sun City, Arizona
Marietta, Georgia
Rancho Santa Margarita, California
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Ponte Vedra, Florida
Hitch Up Your Wagon
If you would like to join the growing number of
individual study groups, study group meetings, Christian A.A. study
groups, Big Book-12 Step-Good Book study groups, churches instituting
A.A. Christian History and Biblical Study Meetings, Christ-centered or
para-church groups who see the applicability of early A.A. history,
principles, and practices to the treatment efforts of today, join the
group!
We now have the guidebook for you: The Good Book-Big Book Guidebook by
Dick B.
The actual study books now being used: The James Club and The Original
A.A. Program’s Absolute Essentials; Twelve Steps for You; Anne Smith’s
Journal, Dr. Bob and His Library, When Early AAs Were Cured and Why, and
Why Early A.A. Succeeded.
The foregoing can be studied by you, in a group, at a seminar, or in
meetings – one by one - using the guidebook to help you. They can be
studied in sequence over a year’s period. They can be the topic of
teaching, discussion, application, and sponsorship. They can be used in
conjunction with a set of Dick’s 23 published historical reference books
on every aspect of early A.A. history.
They can be most usefully applied if you have on hand as part of your
study resources: Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.; King James Version of
the Holy Bible; Poe’s Concordance to the Big Book; Young’s Concordance
to the Bible; and a Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
Optional helps: Copies of the Upper Room (obtainable from a Methodist
Church), The Runner’s Bible (Christian bookstore), My Utmost for His
Highest (Christian Bookstore), Drummond’s The Greatest Thing in the
World (any bookstore); The Christ of the Mount by E. Stanley Jones;
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount by Oswald Chambers; The Sermon on the
Mount by Emmet Fox [bearing in mind that Fox does not teach or believe
in salvation by faith and gives a “New Thought” twist to his writings];
The Life Recovery Bible [which is filled with “private interpretation”
and uses modern language which is not necessarily accurate or helpful];
and Recovery Devotional Bible [which comes from the NIV translation,
attempts to combine the Steps and the Bible in practice, and is short on
useful remarks].
My own preference is that the student stick to the Bible itself—the King
James Version. This was the version used by the A.A. pioneers. In one
form or another, it was the Bible of choice for several centuries. And
it is not cluttered up with insertion of “Steps,” “Step ideas,” and
prophylactic opinions about Biblical commandments and verses. Stick to
the Bible. Then review my titles like The James Club. Then look at the
early helps such as The Runner’s Bible; and you’ll be studying what the
pioneers studied and understanding the three most important Bible
segments as they understood and applied them. Discussion and questions,
if preceded by skilled teaching, can then cover topics that the Bible
itself covers, how they relate to A.A. ideas, and how they can be
implemented in daily life.
Obtain your Dick B. books from our bookstore:
http://aa-history.com/bookstore.
end
Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837;
dickb@dickb.com.
http://www.dickb-blog.com
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