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The Second Nationwide A.A. History Conference
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The purpose of this conference is to present the well researched and documented history of Alcoholics Anonymous to 12 Step group members from all the various fellowships which have sprouted out from A.A.  The focus of this presentation will be on the spiritual roots of A.A.  The main presenter is Dick B., an active A.A. member, and a retired attorney from Hawaii.  Dick has published 21 titles on the history of A.A. and its early successes.  He is a regular presenter at the Wilson House and has spoken at Archives 2000 in Minneapolis and other A.A. conferences around the country. Dick will be joined by the archivist at Dr. Bob’s Home in Akron, the Director of Historical Information at Hazelden, a long-time woman educator from California, and a former woman professor of counseling and chemical dependency. All are recovered AA's.

Dick’s legal training and his eye for details has enabled him to do exhaustive research on why early A.A. was so successful-claiming between a 75%-93% success rate during A.A.’s program development period, starting in 1935.  As a professional counselor working in the addiction field for over 11 years I have been deeply concerned to see our overall success rate-between treatment and AA/NA- dwindle down to between 20-25%.  When dealing with the scourge of alcoholism and addiction, this downward spiraling of our ability to help those in crisis means more and more people are dying, more people are being institutionalized and imprisoned, and more families are being destroyed.

I believe that exposure to A.A.’s spiritual roots is vital for every recovering person, whether they decide to embrace them or not.  The spiritual aspect of the A.A. program is the turning point.  Much of A.A.’s early spiritual roots--the source of its overwhelming success rates--is either slipping away or has been lost.  Newcomers are coming into a program that has drifted away from its anchor, and the current failure rates are telling.

The early spiritual roots of A.A. are clearly, emphatically Biblical.  Our purpose in this conference is not to proselytize or convert but to inform and educate. The Prophets tell us that our people die from lack of knowledge, and addicts are dying from alcoholism and drug addiction an alarming rate.  This conference will present the well documented facts of the spiritual history of A.A. with confidence that an awareness of the truth will move us back toward the startling success rates of the “first 40”—the Pioneer AA's.

Lee H., Chairman, Conference at Wilmington, Delaware, Aug. 22-23

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