Frequently Asked Questions

Below there are frequently asked questions arranged by category.

The “Twelve Traditions” of A.A. are suggested principles to insure the survival and growth of the thousands of groups that make up the Fellowship.…
We are a Fellowship of people who have lost the ability to control our drinking and have found ourselves in various kinds of trouble as a result of…
A.A. "service" is anything that helps us to reach a fellow sufferer. Much the way A.A. sponsors share their experience in recovery with their…
The “Twelve Steps” are the core of the A.A. program of personal recovery from alcoholism. They are not abstract theories; they are based on the trial…
Most groups try to hold a certain amount of money in reserve. There is no predetermined amount for such a reserve, but most groups try to put aside…
A central office or intergroup is an A.A. service office that involves partnership among groups in a community — just as A.A. groups themselves are…
To help support A.A.’s essential services, the General Service Conference suggests that individual groups, through an informed group conscience,…
The term “Conference-approved” describes written or audiovisual material approved by the General Service Conference for publication by GSO. This…
No. The recording is of a one-man play called Moments, An Evening with Bill W., written in 1989 by an A.A. member. According to the playwright, an…
“The 24-hour program” is a phrase used to describe a basic A.A. approach to the problem of staying sober. A.A.s never swear off alcohol for life,…
GSO provides a wide variety of material, much of it is available on the A.A. Literature page. These items include books, pamphlets and flyers,…
In our experience, the people who recover in A.A. are those who: a) stay away from the first drink; b) attend A.A. meetings regularly; c) seek out…