Hyannis Format

Format

(from a handwritten original)

I. Greeting:

Good evening, everybody, this is the usual ________ night's meeting of the _______ Men's (and Women's) Big Book Step Study Group and we will open the meeting in the usual manner with a moment of silence to do with as you wish.

II. My name is _______ and I am an alcoholic.

III. Preamble of A.A.

IV. Preamble of this group. “ Sobriety... [to] ...discussion to tonight's step.”

V. Secretary's Report

VI. Commitment Chairman's Report

VII. Tonight we are on Step _______, which is on p. (or pgs.) _______ in the Big Book. Commence with the Reading.

VIII. As chairman, I have asked _______ to speak on this step. Then Speaker.

IX. Read to the group the last part of the Preamble from “ If you have done this step...feel free to take one with you.”

X. Proceed to member's sharing their experiences on step.

XI. Collection.

XII. Closing and Prayer.

Hyannis Preamble

Preamble

“Sobriety—the freedom from alcohol—through the teaching and practicing of the twelve steps is the sole purpose of an AA group.”

It was voted by group conscience that the purpose of this meeting is to help alcoholics achieve sobriety by the studying, discussing, and practicing of the twelve steps as they are laid out in the Big Book.

It has been our hard-learned experience that other methods did not work with us. Some of us have tried other methods and our results were disastrous, until we looked at the basic and simple approach the Big Book offers.

We ask only that discussion be limited to the step being studied tonight. It has become apparent to us that when we stopped blaming people, places, and things for our problems, and decided to take an honest and fearless look at ourselves as the root cause of our alcoholism, and decided to apply these twelve principles in our lives, we got better.

If discussion strays from the step being studied, the chairperson will remind you of the purpose of this meeting. It is not the group's intention to be intimidating or insulting to anyone. We only know that if you are talking about the problem, you cannot possibly be talking about the solution. We reserve the right of the chairperson to limit discussion to he step being studied tonight.

*If you have done this step as it is laid out in the Big Book, please share your experience with us. If you haven't, we ask that you be open minded enough to listen. If you have a question pertaining to the step, please feel free to ask. Group conscience has voted a five-minute limit on comments.

All of our members are more than willing to talk to you about other things. If you have a situation, feel free to discuss it with someone after the meeting.

Hyannis Rotation