AA Meetings

AA meetings take a variety of forms depending upon the preferences of the group members. Time taken for a meeting varies with most lasting an hour or an hour and a half with many meetings in the evening but daytime meetings are also common. Meetings are run by AA members and are self-supporting through the contributions of the group members who make Tea and Coffee that are usually accompanied with a couple of biscuits.

Primarily, meetings come in two forms, open and closed meetings. Closed meetings are for alcoholics only whereas open meetings are, as the name suggests, open to anyone who may wish to attend. They may be partners, friends or family of a member or people who may have a professional interest in AA such as doctors, spiritual leaders and social workers.

In either of these meeting types the AA message will be discussed and presented in a variety of ways. Some meetings read portions of AA literature, often about the Twelve Steps of AA, and then discuss the topics this raises or share their experience with the AA program of recovery. Others have a speaker or ‘Share’ who will speak for a while about what their life was like before recovery, how they recovered and what their life is like now commonly refereed to as experience strength and hope. Members are then often invited to share also and inevitable choose a meeting that suits their needs. Visitors are free to participate or not.

For a directory of all the meetings within Severn Intergroup please click here.