The Twelve Traditions
The Twelve Traditions of AA provide guidelines for relationships between the groups, members, the global Fellowship and society at large. Questions of finance, public relations, donations and purpose are also addressed.
Tradition 1
“Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.”
Tradition 2
“For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.”
Tradition 3
“The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.”
Tradition 4
“Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.”
Tradition 5
“Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
Tradition 6
“An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.”
Tradition 7
“Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.”
Tradition 8
“Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.”
Tradition 9
“A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.”
Tradition 10
“Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.”
Tradition 11
"Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.”
Tradition 12
“Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.”
The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous
Known as the "Big Book," the basic text of Alcoholics Anonymous has helped millions of people recover from alcoholism since the first edition appeared in 1939. How It Works Global focuses on the Big Book in the majority of our meetings, using the first 164 pages, plus Dr. Bob’s Nightmare and Spiritual Experience as the basis of our program.
We hold five Zoom meetings every day of the year.
USA - Pacific
4:00am
7:30am
11:00am
2:30pm
10:30pm
USA - Eastern
1:30am
7:00am
10:30am
2:00pm
5:30pm
UK - GMT/BST
6:30am
12:00pm
3:30pm
7:00pm
10:30pm
EU
7:30am
1:00pm
4:30pm
8:00pm
11:30pm