September 6-7, 2013
Portland, Maine
(Christian Endeavor—of which Dr. Bob was a
member—was founded here on February 2, 1881)
Featuring A.A. Historian Dick B. of Maui, Hawaii, and
Special Guests
Conference Theme:
“The History of Alcoholics Anonymous:
Another View Which Includes Its Christian Beginnings
in New England”
Meetings, Roundtables, Speakers, Research,
and Workshops in Portland, Maine
(and possible A.A. history research tour of Dr.
Bob’s birthplace, St. Johnsbury, VT, Sept. 8-10)
Main Conference Location:
The First Baptist Church of Portland, Maine
Conference Schedule
Friday, September 6
10:00 AM to 3:00 PM: Pre-conf. pers. mtgs. available with
Dick B. and Ken B.
4:30 PM to 5:30 PM: Pre-conf.
roundtable mtgs. w/leaders and visitors
5:30 PM to 7:00 PM: Dinner
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM: Mtgs.
with Dick B. & Ken B., or Celebrate Recovery mtg.
Saturday, September 7
9:00 AM to
9:45 AM: Conference registration,
coffee and tea, hospitality
9:45 AM to
9:55 AM: Conference begins
with introduction and prayer by Ken B.
9:55 AM to 10:00 AM: Welcome by Wally C.
10:00
AM to 10:50 AM: Session One: The
12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous
11:00
AM to 11:50 AM: Session Two: A. A.
Origins, History, Founders & Facts
12:00 PM to 1:15 PM: Lunch
1:15 PM to 2:05 PM: Session Three: Sponsorship Today
2:15 PM to 3:05 PM: Session Four: Orienting and Informing
Newcomers
3:35 PM to 4:15 PM: Session Five: A.A. History: Past,
Present & Future
4:15 PM Ken B. closes conf. w/prayer, networking,
dinner (optional)
The First International
Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference
Other Meetings and Events with Dick B. and Ken B.,
September 8-11, 2013:
Sun., Sept. 8, to Tues., Sept. 10: Portland: Personal meetings with Dick
B. & Ken B.; and/or
Possible
trip to Dr. Bob’s birthplace, St. Johnsbury, VT
Wednesday, Sept. 11: Portland: Morn./afternoon:
pers. mtgs. w/Dick & Ken B.;
Evening:
Dick B. speaking at regular A.A. meeting
Conference Mission
The mission of this
conference is to present an accurate and comprehensive picture of Alcoholics
Anonymous history which includes the roles played by God, His Son Jesus Christ,
and the Bible in early A.A.’s astonishing successes (75% claimed overall; 93% with
no relapses in Cleveland).
Conference Audience
This conference is
for members of 12 Step Fellowships (including old-timers, speakers, sponsors,
newcomers, and garden variety drunks and addicts); other International
Christian Recovery Coalition “participants”; physicians, clergy, recovery
pastors, and other Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena; and
professionals working in the fields of intervention, detox, treatment, sober
living, counseling, psychology, and psychiatry.
** Dick B. and Ken
B. will be hosting personal and small group meetings during the morning and
afternoon of Friday, September 6, and from Sunday afternoon, September 8,
through Wednesday afternoon, September 11. These meetings will cover: (a) Dr.
Bob’s wife, Anne Smith, and Quiet Time-Eleventh Step practices and resources,
and other topics; and (b) working with impaired physicians, nurses,
pharmacists, dentists, attorneys, and other licensed workers. **
Conference Registration
Admission for the
First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference is FREE! Registration is required. To register for the conference, please contact
Ken B. by email at kcb00799@gmail.com or by phone at 1-808-276-4945. If you would
like to make a donation to help offset the costs involved in putting on this
conference, please contact Dick B. by email at DickB@DickB.com.
Please join us in Portland September 6-7, 2013!
Ongoing Conference Developments – Expansion!
Dick B., Author, A.A. Historian, Bible
Student, 27 Years continuous sobriety -
Substantial,
valuable, expansive changes are here announced as to The First International
Alcoholics Anonymous Conference in Portland Maine over the seven day period in
September . We are seeing many registrations for this admission free conference
pouring in. And they enable us to meet with many leaders and speakers before
and after the Friday and Saturday conference events. They also enable us to
allot 10 minute presentations by the distinguished speakers--no audience
participation--where the speakers will tell us what they are currently doing in
the recovery arena; how well it is going; needs to be met, and future visions
under way.
The conference will
endeavor to have representatives from many states and from other countries. The
subjects will be diverse--Quiet Time and 11th Step, Sponsorship, Focus on
Newcomer, The real historical Christian roots of A.A., and how old school A.A.
ideas can and should be applied in today's recovery fellowships and programs as
a powerful opportunity for those who want God's help in overcoming alcoholism
and addiction and are willing to go to any lengths to get it.
If you are one of
those who sees the need for learning more about old school A.A., about how much
it has changed through revisions since 1935, how it is still appropriate to
apply the principles and practices of of God's help in a fellowship that
certainly today includes Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, atheists,
agnostics, unbelievers, and those with no belief at all.
There is room for
all. There is no room for those who try to blockade free exercise of rights and
privileges by any particular approach so long the free exercise maintains the
primary purpose of helping the alcoholic and addict who still suffers. There is
plenty of room for those who want to share their experience with a newcomer and
make known the major role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played
and can play in recovery today. Room for those who want truth, not opinion.
Room for those who help, instead of criticize and hinder. Room for those who
want healing, instead of in-and-out bondage, temptation, and relapse. Room for
those that recognize the heart of A.A. was and is The Solution set forth on
page 25 of the 4th edition of the Big Book--a solution grounded on bringing the
Creator into the hearts and minds of those who believe Divine Aid was the
solution sought in the beginning and sought now by those who recognize that
they can't help themselves, that
probably no human can, that God can and will, and that they can choose
to exit from the "medically incurable" fellowship to the reliance on
God segment.
Tens and tens of
thousands of Christians and others are still in and coming in to 12 Step
fellowships. They are puzzled by talk of nonsense gods, higher powers,
spirituality, atheism, and restrictive remarks in meetings. They need not be,
and ours is the only international gathering devoted to disseminating the truth
and the options. You will meet leaders in the fields of garden variety
drinking, garden variety addictive behaviors, religion, medicine, psychiatry,
old school A.A., the origins of A.A., the founding of A.A., the original
Christian Fellowship of A.A., and the opportunity to observe what both Bob and
Bill stressed: (1) Love and tolerance as our code. (2) Love and service as the
essence of the program--old and new--and the form it took and is taking.
And here is a letter we started sending out
today to those already registering, inquiring, and attending;
Aloha to you, Sandy, from Maui, Hawaii!
My dad (Dick
B.--www.DickB.com) and I are very glad to know that you will be joining us at
the First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference in Portland,
Maine, September 6-7, 2013. The conference will be held Friday evening and
throughout the day on Saturday at the following location:
The First Baptist Church of Portland, Maine
360 Canco Rd.
Portland, ME 04103
http://www.firstbaptistportland.org/
My dad and I will be staying at:
Hilton Garden Inn Portland Airport
145 Jetport Blvd.
Portland, ME, 04102
1-866-767-0278
We will be checking
in on Thursday evening, September 5, and will be checking out on Thursday
morning, September 12. We will have plenty of time for personal and small group
meetings before, during, and after the conference proper; and we look forward
to spending time with you and other Christian leaders and workers in the
recovery arena.
In GOD's love,
Dick B.'s son, Ken
Cell: 1-808-276-4945
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