Frequently Asked Questions

Below there are frequently asked questions arranged by category.

In most groups, the chairperson or another officer calls the business meeting, which ordinarily is held on a monthly or quarterly basis. While some…
An open meeting of A.A. is a group meeting that any member of the community, alcoholic or nonalcoholic, may attend. Nonalcoholics may attend opens…
A closed meeting is for A.A. members only, or for those who have a drinking problem and have a desire to stop drinking. Closed meetings give members…
An A.A. meeting may take one of several forms, but at any meeting you will find alcoholics talking about what drinking did to their lives, their…
Most A.A. members meet in A.A. groups as defined by the long form of our Third Tradition. However, some A.A. members hold A.A. meetings that differ…
They will be there for the same reason that you are. They will not disclose your identity to outsiders. At A.A. you retain as much anonymity as you…
Like everyone else, public figures should have the protection of anonymity to the extent that they desire it.
As stated in A.A.'s Responsibility Pledge, “I am responsible … when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be…
The "group conscience" is the collective conscience of the group membership and thus represents substantial unanimity on an issue before definitive…
To help support A.A.’s essential services, the General Service Conference suggests that individual groups, through an informed group conscience,…
Family members or close friends are welcome at “open” A.A. meetings as observers.
Occasionally a person who has been sober through A.A. will get drunk. In A.A. a relapse of this type is commonly known as a “slip.” It may occur…