Friday, August 30, 2013

The Christian upbringing, church attendance, and Bible studies of A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob in Vermont

Would you like some thoroughly documented information on the Christian upbringing, beliefs, and training received by A.A. cofounders Bill W. and Dr. Bob as youngsters in Vermont? Well you can see it and hear it at The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference in Portland Maine of September 6-7, 2013. Bill W. and Dr. Bob were both given extensive Christian training by their parents and grandparents--all of whom were strong Congregationalists. Bill W. and Dr. Bob both attended Congregational churches and Sunday schools as youngsters in Vermont--Bill at East Dorset Congregational Church, and then Manchester Congregational Church in Vermont; Bob Smith at North Congregational Church in St. Johnsbury Vermont. Both youngsters were active in the Young Men's Christian Association. Bob Smith and his parents were active in Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor. Bob Smith attended the Congregational St. Johnsbury Academy in St. Johnsbury Vermont; and Bill W. attended Burr and Burton Seminary and Norwich University -- the former at Manchester, Vermont. At their respective academies, both men attended required Congregational church services and Bible studies, Bill W. took a four year Bible study course. Both men attended daily chapel with its sermons, reading of Scripture, hymns, and prayer sessions. Bill was president of Burr and Burton YMCA, and his girl friend Bertha Bamford was president of Burr and Burton YWCA; and the couple attended "Y" functions together. And, now, after recent extensive research and travel to Vermont, we know how Bill W. frequently studied the Bible with his grandfather Griffith and with his friend Mark Whalon. Then, as Bill moved forward in high school, he became good friends with Ebby Thacher who attended the same seminary and had had extensive Christian training and Bible study in his younger years. There is lots more. Come to The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference in Portland Maine in September and ask questions, discuss facts, share your own knowledge, and hear experienced, long-recovered Christian A.A. and  12 Step leaders and workers tell you how they are conducting Christian recovery studies in their own areas and venues. dickb@dickb.com, www.dickb.com

Wednesday, August 28, 2013

How You Can Learn and Use "Old School" Akron A.A. History and Accomplish in Recovery Today


Alcoholics Anonymous History

 

 What Learning "Old School” Akron A.A.’s Program, Technique, and Resources Can Accomplish Today

 

Dick B.

© 2013 Anonymous. All rights reserved

 

[Do you want to know only a few things about A.A.? Or would you like to learn, study, and apply ALL of A.A. today? If it is the latter, here’s what you can do right now].

 

About Our "Old School” Akron A.A.

 

What “Old School” Akron A.A. Is  Not Today. Because It Is:

 

Not for "reforming,” "universalizing," or "revising" A.A., its Steps, or its Traditions.

 

Not desirous of turning, or aiming to turn A.A. into a Christian Fellowship today.

 

Not suggesting exclusion of atheists, agnostics, unbelievers, nonsense god worshippers, Protestants, Roman Catholics, Jews, or those who have no religious beliefs or affiliations.

 

Not teaching or promoting special recovery classes, special Christian conferences, alleged "basics," or reform literature.

 

Not ignoring A.A. and 12-Step Conference-approved literature.

 

Not changing A.A. or  its Conference-approved literature.

 

Not advocating your leaving A.A. or your Twelve-Step Fellowship in favor of some church, unaffiliated church group, religious group, anti-A.A. group, Christian fellowship, recovery group, therapeutic treatment plan, or splinter group.

 

Not proposing a return to the life-changing program of “A First Century Christian Fellowship” known as the Oxford Group and later as Moral Re-Armament.

 

Not approving or carrying out efforts to condemn, ridicule, insult, stifle, or prohibit some belief, religion, Bible, church, liturgy, religious literature, and religious teaching that mentions something you don’t or won’t like.

 

Not suggesting new therapies, treatment programs, rehabs, or therapeutic communities

 

 

What “Old School” Akron A.A. Advocates Are Trying to Enhance Your Recovery Today By Talking About:

 

A program that respects and tolerates a belief or practice within A.A. that advocates studying, learning, and applying the effective facets of Akron A.A. and its Christian Fellowship founded in 1935; Bill W.’s “new version” of the Twelve Steps in the Big Book, published in 1939; and the primary purpose of both A.A. programs in helping the alcoholic who still suffers—particularly the one or ones that want God’s help.

 

Learning, studying, respecting, and remembering our history before we forget of just lose it.

 

Looking at real early A.A.–Pioneer A.A. of Akron–the group Frank Amos described and summarized on page 131 of A.A. General Service Conference-approved DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers.

 

Reading and absorbing the First Edition of Alcoholics Anonymous, and particularly the personal stories of the A.A. pioneers—most of which were removed from sight and publication for decades.

 

Applying the language of “There is a Solution” which appears to this day on page 25 of the latest edition of Alcoholics Anonymous.

 

Discovering how the first three AAs – Bill W., Dr. Bob, and Bill D. – got sober, and how they did so before there were any Steps, Traditions, Big Books, drunkalogs, or meetings like those today.

 

Hearing about the religious upbringing of Dr. Bob as a youngster in Vermont, and how his “excellent training” in the Bible later was applied in early A.A.—training involving belief in God, coming to Him through Jesus Christ, Bible study, prayer meetings, hymns, sermons, Scripture reading, church and Sunday school and Christian academy attendance, as well as Y.M.C.A. and Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor participation.

 

Comparing to Dr. Bob’s religious training the very similar religious training of Bill W. as a youngster in Vermont, and Bill’s attendance at East Dorset Congregational Church and Sunday school, Manchester Congregational Church, Burr and Burton Seminary, Norwich University, and the other features of Bob’s upbringing mentioned above. Plus adding to it Bill W.’s later decision to follow Dr. Silkworth’s advice about Jesus Christ the Great Physician, and Bill’s trip to Calvary Rescue Mission in New York to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior at Calvary Mission in New York. Plus Bill’s writing in his autobiography—“For sure I’d been born again.” Plus Bill’s decision in a drunk and despairing condition to call on the Great Physician for help at Towns Hospital. Plus Bill’s cry to God for help, the blazing extraordinary white light that filled his hospital room, Bill’s sensing that he was on a mountain top and felt the breeze of the Spirit, and concluded: “Bill, you are a free man. This is the God of the Scriptures” Plus Bill W.’s conviction that he had seen and heard from—the One whose presence he sensed in his hospital room.

 

Reading and learning what the first three AAs all wrote about their cure of alcoholism, their individual church backgrounds, their Bible study, and their desire to help others—epitomized by their statements about their deliverance. Thus both Bill W. and A.A. Number Three said: “The Lord has cured me of this terrible disease, and I just want to keep talking about it and telling people” (Big Book, 4th ed., 191). And Dr. Bob wrote at the end of his personal story on page 181: “Your Heavenly Father will never let you down!”

 

Mastering the truth that the early Akron A.A. Pioneers recovered when there were no Steps, no Traditions, no Big Books, and no drunkalogs—while at the same time, conducting prayer meetings, Bible studies, Quiet Times, and ceremonies leading members to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior This occurred when A.A., had no “nonsense gods” and idols, and no ridicule or ostracism of those with differing religious views.

 

Defining the real pioneer Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship program—the one which claimed a 75% success rate in Akron and spawned the Cleveland A.A. program which produced a ninety-three percent success rate, documented by Cleveland rosters, by DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, and by Cleveland A.A. founder Clarence H. Snyder.

 

Passing on to others A.A.'s own General Service Conference-approved literature statements by its founders about Pioneer A.A. See Big Book, 4th ed., pp. 181, 191.

 

Putting on a "new pair of glasses" that will enable viewers to read and learn what early Akron A.A. "Spirituality" really was.

 

A stentorian shout that early Akron A.A. was a Bible-based, Christian fellowship that relied on God. And that present-day A.A. is currently stating in pamphlets that a newcomer need not believe in anything at all, and that the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. In short, today’s A.A. is not and will not become a Christian Fellowship. It is simply a recovery fellowship peopled with thousands of Christians.

 

What the “Old-school” Akron A.A. proponents today research, and urge fellow-members to learn and respect as to:

 

Looking first to our Creator for healing, forgiveness, and deliverance–just as Pioneers did, and just as present-day Conference-approved literature does today as exemplified by Big Book, 4th edition’s statement proclaims on page 25 that “There is a Solution” and that the Creator is at the heart of it.

 

Looking in the Bible as the old-school Akron AAs did for our Creator's will, promises, and commandments.

 

Avoiding "listening" to God today until and unless (as the Akron A.A. pioneers did)  one sees in A.A. Conference-approved literature that the Big Book frequently speaks explicitly about God and, twelve different times,  asserts God,  the Creator, is the “God of the Scriptures” mentioned in the first verse of the Bible, and enabling the inevitable conclusion that one does not “listen to,” cannot and does not reasonably speak to, and would not—in sound mental condition--advocate for some light bulb, door knob, or group of drunks as an object of worship, praise, and thanksgiving..

 

Avoiding “listening” (versus praying and communicating with God, the Creator) until you have first established a relationship with Him as His child, you've learned why AAs "surrendered" to Him by accepting Jesus Christ as Savior, and you know why our founders looked to the Good Book for instruction on who God is, who His Son is, what the Bible is, what it offers, and what it says about prayer, "meditation," and obedience.

 

In fact, studying the Book of James, Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5, 6, and 7), and 1 Corinthians 13 to find out why these segments of the Bible were considered “absolutely essential’ to success in the early Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship program. See The James Club, www.dickb.com/JamesClub.shtml.

 

Abstaining from prattling about the "nonsense gods of recovery"–higher powers, chairs, groups, rainbows, “good orderly direction,” the Big Dipper, Gertrude, and something that is “spiritual, but not religious.”.

 

Why? Because early Akron A.A. pioneers knew about and talked only about the one true living Creator, Yahweh, who certainly had the “power” that early AAs  thought was necessary to a cure. See Big Book, 4th ed., pp. 181, 191.

 

Reflections and Suggestions about “old school” pioneer Akron A.A. That Could Help You!

 

Help you to add and utilize "Old School” Akron A.A. approaches in today’s 12 Step programs. And teach you how and why it should be a primary history teaching made available to those who choose God’s help today. And why such information in no way constitutes making A.A. into a “Christian Fellowship.” Something long abandoned after 1939 when A.A.’s Bill Wilson and three others (a secretary, a Christian, and a man who wanted A.A. to be “irreligious”) decided to call their deity “a power greater than ourselves” and/or “God as we understood Him.”.

 

The “broad highway” of the Big Book does not lead to a Christian Fellowship today. It is neither “inclusive” nor “exclusive” in that realm. It enables Christians who are still suffering from alcoholism and addiction to join others with the common objective of abstinence and new life.

 

Helpful Reflections about A.A.’s Diverse Recovery Arena

 

There is no real substitute for one-on-one sponsorship, witnessing to those who still suffer, and fellowshipping with those who choose not to drink and to change their lives for the better.

 

Remember, literally just about anyone can form a group, hold a conference, start a class, buy tapes, and study some materials on Pioneer Akron A.A.'s biblical roots and program.

 

Then he or she can put his recovery efforts into learning the facts of A.A.—its origins, history, cofounders, the cofounders’ backgrounds, the way the founders got sober, the original Akron A.A. Christian Fellowship—consisting of the seven-point summary, and at least sixteen practices. See Stick with the Winners, http://mcaf.ee/s50mq.

 

Then, having learned about A.A.’s Big Book and other principal General Service Conference-approved literature, about the biblical sources of A.A.’s basic ideas, and about whence came the ideas for (1) the original 1935 program and later (2) Bill W.’s “new version of the program—the Twelve Steps in the Big Book—published in 1939 and then changed many times over since that time. See Alcoholics Anonymous: The Original 1939 Edition With a 23-Page Introduction By Dick B., published by Dover Publication, 2011.


Pass this information on to old-timers, newcomers, speakers, leaders, groups, meetings, and conferences and anyone else inquiring about A.A.

 

But Note: Adequate A.A. Teaching Begins Only with Good Teachers, Good Texts. Good Sponsors, and Good Speakers

 

Start with A.A.'s personal sponsorship idea. You learn. You share and compare. Then serve.

 

There is no substitute for learning the facts first. Therefore, start with A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature.

 

Master the Big Book, Twelve Steps, and the Frank Amos Reports of 1938.

 

Read DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers for a sketch of what pioneer A.A. was really like.

 

Read A.A.’s Co-founders pamphlet (Pamphlet P-53), particularly the excellent address by Dr. Bob.

 

Then learn the major Biblical roots of early Akron A.A.’s Christian Fellowship: (1) The Bible, (2) Quiet Time, (3) Anne Smith’s Journal, (5) The religious books early AAs read. (6) Group prayers. (7) the teachings of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, (8) The details of Bill W.’s conversion to God—per the recommendation of Dr. William Silkworth (Bill W.’s surrender and new birth at the Calvary Mission altar, (9)  Bill W.’s vital religious experience in his hospital room where he cried out to God, sensed the presence of God in his hospital room, said to himself, “Bill, you are a free man. This is the God of the Scriptures.” (10) Bill then lost all of his doubts about God, and he never drank a drop again. (11) the life-changing program of  A First Century Christian Fellowship, later called the Oxford Group, and still later Moral Re-Armament., and (10) the religious books early AAs read.

 

Also learn to recognize how early A.A. thinking was touched by the ideas of Professor William James; by "new thought" writers such as Ralph Waldo Trine and Emmet Fox; by the "higher power" language that later overwhelmed A.A. literature and by the ensuing babble in the 1950's and the many years following Dr. Bob’s death. These ideas emerged in A.A. from a small group of new thoughters who often disputed the biblical teaching of salvation and then countered with the idea that everyone had “Christ in him.”

 

Finally, see the difference in origins, approach, content, and beliefs between "Akron A.A." and "New York A.A.": (1) Akron developed ideas from the Bible in a Christian fellowship, with "old fashioned prayer meetings," Bible study, Quiet Time, and Christian literature. (2) New York fashioned today’s basic text primarily from ideas of Rev. Sam Shoemaker, Dr. William D. Silkworth, Professor William James, and the life-changing principles and practices of the Oxford Group. Or so said Bill W.

 

Next comes your decision, mission, and work with others carrying a helpful message about the foregoing

 

Will you continue to be a student? If so, there’s lots more to study.

 

Do you want to be a teacher? If so, there’s lots more to learn and organize.

 

Do you want to be a speaker? If so, prepare to tell our complete A.A. story; your own story of  how you entered the rooms of A.A., how you established your relationship with God, whether  and how you have taken the 12 Steps, and what you have done and will do to help others.

 

Do you want to be the leader of a group? If so, first find  members, topics, literature, a format, and a cadre.

 

Find a cadre of two or three who first are willing to learn, to study, to strive for accuracy, and to help and lead.

 

Help others by helping them to learn–individually, as a cadre, and--only then--as a group

 

Suggested Resources You and Your Cadre can Acquire, Study, and Use

 

You can begin your work with one or more of the Dick B. or Dick B. and Ken B. titles or groups of titles. E.g.:

 

Use Turning Point for a comprehensive overview of our spiritual history and roots, or

 

The Akron Genesis of A.A. for an accurate picture of how Pioneer Akron A.A. took shape, or

 

Study of our major biblical roots: (1) The Good Book and The Big Book, (2) Good Morning!–(quiet time, etc.), (3) Anne Smith’s Journal, (4) New Light on Alcoholism–Shoemaker, (5) The Oxford Group and Alcoholics Anonymous, A.A., and (6) Dr. Bob and His Library and The Books Early AAs Read for Spiritual Growth.

 

For background: (1) Making Known the Biblical Roots of A.A., (2) That Amazing Grace, and (3) The Golden Text of A.A.

 

For your cadre, your teaching, or study group itself: (1) The Good Book and The Big Book: A.A.’s Roots in the Bible. (2) Good Morning!: Quiet Time, Morning Watch, Meditation, and Early A.A. (3) God and Alcoholism: Our Growing Opportunity in the 21st Century. (4) By The Power of God: A Guide to Early A.A. Groups & Forming Similar Groups Today. (5) Why Early A.A. Succeeded: The Good Book in Alcoholics Anonymous Yesterday and Today (A Bible Study Primer for AAs and other 12-Steppers). (6) Utilizing Early A.A.’s Spiritual Roots for Recovery Today. 

 

For our latest– (1) Cured!: Proven Help for Alcoholics and Addicts. (2) The Conversion of Bill W., (3) Dr. Bob of Alcoholics Anonymous: His Excellent Training in the Good Book as a Youngster in Vermont. (4) Bill W. and Dr. Bob: The Green Mountain Men of Vermont. (5) A.A. Articles on our History: A Collection of over 1500 Articles by Dick B. (6) The acquisition of the Dick B. 29 Volume A.A. History Reference Set, for only $249.00

 

My own suggestions for planning your purchases, studies, and future service and glorification of God, and service to our fellow men

 

Don’t start a group. Start learning from texts, as an individual, with a sponsor, or with friends.

 

Purchase my entire 29-Volume A.A. History Reference Set at the substantial discount of $249. Shipping and handling free in the USA

 

Then you can pick and choose your books for study, or

 

Instead, purchase one of the books that interests you; or, preferably, if you know what you want to organize and study, select one or several titles for you group and receive these at the substantial group discount of 50% of retail, plus shipping and handling, or

 

When and if you start a group or gather as a group, you may purchase 10 or more titles of your choosing at a 50% discount plus shipping and handling [i.e., 10 Good Books (worth $179.95) at half price ($89.97), plus 10% retail shipping and handling].

 

Please don't hesitate to contact Ken B. or me for further details: Email: dickb@dickb.com; Ken B. (c) 808 276 4945; Mail: Dick B., PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837. To order now, simply use our online Order Form and adapt it, deducting discounts allowed above.

 

Contact:

Dick B.

P.O. Box 837

Kihei, Hawaii

96753-0837

Ph/fax: 808-874-4876

dickb@dickb.com

 

Gloria Deo

 

Monday, August 26, 2013

The First Inernational Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference - Sept 6-7 - Portland, Maine


The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference

 

September 6-7, 2013

Portland, Maine

[A.A. cofounder Dr. Bob was a member of Christian Endeavor

(Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed.,172), founded here 2/2/1881]

 

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

[Plus:  (1) Research tour of Dr. Bob’s birthplace, St. Johnsbury, VT, Sept. 8-10;

           (2) Free At Last Group A.A. meeting, Wed., Sept. 11; 5:30 pm potluck dinner;

    7:00-8:30 pm speaker discussion mtg.; guest speakers Dick B. and Ken B.]

 

Main Conference Location:

 

The First Baptist Church of Portland, Maine

360 Canco Rd., Portland, ME 04103; www.firstbaptistportland.org/

 

Conference Schedule

 

(** NOTE: Admission is FREE. Registration is required. **)

 

Friday, September 6 (** New start time to allow for additional speakers! **)

 

12:30 to 1:00 pm:        Initial on-site conference registration

1:00 pm:                     Conference begins with prayer by Ken B.

1:05 to 1:10 pm:          Welcome and Introduction by Dick B. and Ken B.

1:10 to 2:00 pm:          Mark Galligan, Ontario, Canada:

                                    The Akronites and Canadian Successes

            2:10 to 3:00 pm:          Gary Agnew, Connecticut:

A.A. History, Veterans, and Correctional Outreach

            3:10 to 4:00 pm:          Jim Haselhuhn, Washington:

Pictures from 2012 research in Vermont, Cleveland, and Akron

            4:10 to 5:00 pm:          Tim Kolstad, Colorado:

Clarence H. Snyder and the Came to Believe Retreats,

The Our A.A. Legacy to the Faith Community Workbook

5:10 to 6:00 pm:          Father Bill W., Texas

                                    Quiet Time

6:00 to 7:20 pm           Dinner break—on your own

            7:30 to 9:30 pm           Roundtable discussions w/presenters and conference participants;                                                   moderated by Dick B. and Ken B.

 

Saturday, September 7

 

9:00 to 9:45 am:          Conference registration (cont.), coffee and tea, hospitality

            9:45 to 9:55 am:          Second day of conference begins with prayer and brief overview

by Ken B.       

            9:55 to 10:00 am:        Welcome by Wally C., conference host

10:00 to 10:50 am:      Session One: Russell S., Miami:

                                    The 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous

11:00 to 11:50 am:      Session Two: Dick B. and Ken B.:

A. A. Origins, History, Founders, and Facts

12:00 to 1:15 pm:       Lunch Break: $5.00 onsite or on your own

            1:15 to 2:05 pm:          Session Three: Dick B.

Sponsorship Today: The Neglected Sponsor

2:15 to 3:05 pm:          Session Four: Dick B. and Ken B.

Orienting, Prepping, and Informing Newcomers

3:15 to 4:15 pm:          Friday’s speakers each summarize their talks in eight (8) minutes

            4:15 to 4:30 pm:          Break

4:30 to 5:20 pm:          Session Five: Dick B. and Ken B.:

“Stick with the Winners!—Part One”:

The Vermont story, and Christian training of Bill W. and Dr. Bob; how the first three AAs got sober; the original Akron A.A. Group Number One “Christian fellowship” program

5:30 to 6:20 pm:          Session Six: Dick B. and Ken B.

“Stick with the Winners!—Part Two”:

Personal Stories of A.A.’s Pioneers; Conference-approved literature that supports the pioneers’ message of reliance on God; applying “old-school” A.A. in recovery today

6:20 to 6:30 pm:         Conference ends with prayer by Ken B.

 

** We encourage conference participants to meet with each other for dinner and otherwise following the close of the conference on Saturday evening. **              

 

For more information about “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference,” please contact Dick B.’s son Ken by email at: kcb00799@gmail.com.

 


 

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.

 

Of alcoholics who came to A.A. and really tried, 50% got sober at once and remained that way; 25% sobered up after some relapses; and among the remainder, those who stayed on with A.A. showed improvement. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., xx]

 

Records in Cleveland show that 93 percent of those who came to us never had a drink again. [DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers, 261]

 

Your Heavenly Father will never let you down! [Dr. Bob in Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 181]

 

Bill [W.] looked across at my wife and said to her, “Henrietta, the Lord has been so wonderful to me, curing me of this terrible disease, that I just want to keep talking about it and telling people.” [AA # 3, Bill D., in Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 191]

 

When we [Bill W. and Dr. Bob] started in on Bill D., we had no Twelve Steps, either; we had no Traditions.

            But we were convinced that the answer to our problems was in the Good Book. [Dr. Bob in The Co-Founders of Alcoholics Anonymous: Biographical Sketches: Their Last Major Talks (A.A. pamphlet # P-53), 13]

 

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.

 

Conference Registration

 

Admission for “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference” is FREE! Registration is required. For more information about the conference please contact Ken B. by email at kcb00799@gmail.com or by phone at 1-808-276-4945. To register for the conference, please send to Ken B. by email at kcb00799@gmail.com: (1) your name; (2) your postal mailing address; (3) your email address; and (4) your telephone number. Ken B. will send you by email a confirmation as to the acceptance of your registration.

 

If you would like to make a donation to help offset the costs involved in putting on this conference, please contact Ken B. by email at kcb00799@gmail.com or by phone at 1-808-276-4945. Thank you!

 

Ongoing Conference Developments: Expansion!

 

Substantial, valuable, expansive changes are here announced as to “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference” in Portland, Maine, and related events over the seven-day period from September 6 through 12, 2013.

 

We are delighted to see many valued and distinguished registrations for this admission-free conference pouring in. Dick B. and Ken B. will be available to meet with many leaders and speakers before and after the Friday and Saturday conference events.

 

And a number of Christian leaders and workers in recovery arena from around the world will be giving presentations in which they will tell us about what they are currently doing in the recovery arena; how well the work is going; how others can help; and their vision for the future.

 

We are looking forward to having speakers and others attendees from throughout the United States and from other countries participate in “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference.” Conference topics will be diverse; e.g., Quiet Time and the Eleventh Step; the Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous; Sponsorship; Focus on Newcomers; 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 who are willing to go to any lengths to get it.

 

As our list of speakers grows, we hope to include topics such as the Wilson House, Burr and Burton Seminary, the YMCA, Rescue Missions, Evangelists, the Salvation Army, Congregationalists, and Christian Endeavor, and others.

 

Are you one of those would like to learn more about the following topics:

 

·         “Old-school” A.A.—particularly as it could be observed in Akron and in Cleveland during A.A.’s earliest days;

·         How much A.A. has changed since Bill W. included what he called “the new version of the program, now the ‘Twelve Steps’” in the first edition of Alcoholics Anonymous (“the Big Book”) published in April 1939 (see Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, 162); and

·         How “old-school” A.A. principles and practices--which drew on the power and love of “the God of the Scriptures” (as Bill W. called the Creator of the heavens and the earth on page 284 of The Language of the Heart: Bill W.’s Grapevine Writings)—may be applied today. Using A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature, and without “violating the Traditions.” Even in a Fellowship that certainly today includes Christians, Jews, Moslems, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, unbelievers, and those with no belief at all.

 

There is room in our Society for all when one heeds both the spirit and the letter of key statements in the Big Book, such as the following one about the Twelve Traditions:

 

. . . [W]e had to evolve principles by which the A.A. groups and A.A. as a whole could survive and function effectively. It was thought that no alcoholic man or woman could be excluded from our Society; that our leaders might serve but never govern; that each group was to be autonomous . . .

            This was the substance of A.A.’s Twelve Traditions, . . . [N]one of these principles had the force of rules or laws. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., xix]

 

There is no room in our Society for those who try to blockade free exercise of rights and privileges by any particular approach so long as that free exercise maintains the primary purpose of carrying the message to alcoholics and addicts who still suffer. There is plenty of room in the Fellowship for the individual who wants to share with the newcomer

 

. . . in his own language and from his own point of view the way he established his relationship with God. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 29]

 

And who wants to make known the major role that God, His Son Jesus Christ, and the Bible played in early A.A.’s astonishing successes (according to A.A. General Service Conference-approved literature), 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 that the heart of A.A. was and is “the Solution”:

 

There is a solution. . . .

 

The central fact of our lives today is the absolute certainty that our Creator has entered into our hearts and lives in a way which is indeed miraculous. He has commenced to accomplish those things for us which we could never do by ourselves. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 25]

 

Sound familiar? Of course! That was the message Bill W. said his friend Ebby T. had carried to him:

 

But my friend sat before me, and he made the point-blank declaration that God had done for him what he could not do for himself. His human will had failed. Doctors had pronounced him incurable. . . . Then he had, in effect, been raised from the dead, . . .

            Had the power originated in him? Obviously it had not.

            . . . It began to look as though religious people were right after all. . . . My ideas about miracles were drastically revised right then. [Alcoholics Anonymous, 4th ed., 11]

 

The “solution” set forth in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous is grounded on the Creator’s entering into the hearts and lives of those who have come to believe that Divine Aid is the solution for their alcoholism; and those who have recognized that they can't help themselves, that probably no human power can, that God can and will, and that they can choose to exit from the "medically incurable" category and enter into the “recovered” category.

 

Tens of thousands—if not hundreds of thousands--of Christians and potential Christians are currently involved in, or will soon be entering the rooms of, Alcoholics Anonymous and other 12 Step Fellowships. They are puzzled by talk of nonsense gods, higher powers, spirituality, and atheism. They are often intimidated by remarks in meetings to the effect that talk of Jesus and the Bible (and sometimes even talk of God) is against “the Traditions,” and/or that the Bible is “not Conference-approved.”

 

They need not be puzzled or intimidated! A major purpose of “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference” is to educate those who want to know about the facts of A.A.’s history and A.A.’s Christian predecessors who were successful in healing alcoholics and addicts. You will meet Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena who work with garden-variety alcoholics and addicts; as well as those who are knowledgeable of various disciplines and areas of study, including religion, medicine, psychiatry, “old-school” A.A., the origins of A.A., the founding of A.A., and the original “Christian fellowship” of A.A.

 

Many of the conference speakers have had the opportunity to observe what both Bill W. and Dr. Bob 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 in A.A.’s early days and is taking today.

 

A Further Conference Update

 

The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference will be held in Portland, Maine, on September 6-7, 2013. The conference itself will run from 1:00 pm to 9:30 p.m. on Friday evening, September 6; and it will continue from 9:45 a.m. until about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, at the following location:

 

The First Baptist Church of Portland, Maine

360 Canco Rd., Portland, ME 04103


 

Dick B. and Ken B. will be staying at the following hotel from September 5-12:

 

Hilton Garden Inn Portland Airport

145 Jetport Blvd., Portland, ME, 04102

1-866-767-0278

 

Dick B. and Ken B. check in Thursday, September 5, and check out on Sunday, September 8. Dick and Ken will be available for pre- and post-conference personal, small-group, and workshop meetings with Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena. These meetings will cover Dr. Bob’s wife, Anne Smith, and Quiet Time-Eleventh Step practices and resources; and other subjects being formulated as speakers emerge. The meetings are broadening in number and topic as Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena are registering right now.

 

We are also offering a research tour of St. Johnsbury, Vermont (about three hours away), September 8-10. (St. Johnsbury is the birthplace and boyhood home of A.A. cofounder Dr. Robert Holbrook Smith.) We will depart from Portland, Maine, by automobile on Sunday afternoon, September 8, about 1:00 p.m. We will depart from St. Johnsbury, Vermont, about 4:30 pm on Tuesday evening, September 10. This will allow for two full days of research and touring with Dick B. and Ken B. in St. Johnsbury. Dick B. will staying at the following hotel in St. Johnsbury—checking in on Sunday, September 8, and checking out on Tuesday, September 10:

 

Comfort Inn & Suites

703 US Route 5 South

Saint Johnsbury, VT 05819

Phone: (802) 748-1500

 

If you would like to participate in this optional research trip to St. Johnsbury—which will involve securing a hotel in St. Johnsbury on Sunday, Sept. 8, and Monday, Sept. 9--please contact Dick B.’s son Ken ASAP by email at kcb00799@gmail.com or by phone at 1-808-276-4945. [Please remember Dick B. and Ken B. live in Hawaii. 3:00 pm in New York (EDT) = 12 noon in California (PDT) = 9:00 am in Maui, Hawaii (H.A.S.T.)]

 

Other Meetings and Events with Dick B. and Ken B., September 6-11, 2013:

 

Sun., Sept. 8, to Tues., Sept. 10:         Research trip to Dr. Bob’s birthplace, St. Johnsbury, VT

 

Wednesday, Sept. 11:                                     Portland: Morn./afternoon: pers. mtgs. w/Dick & Ken B.;

Evening: Free At Last Group A.A. meeting, Wed., Sept. 11; 5:30 pm potluck dinner; 7:00-8:30 pm speaker discussion mtg.

 

To register for “The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference” (Admission is FREE!), or for more information about the conference, please contact Dick B.’s son, Ken, via email at kcb00799@gmail.com or on his cell phone at 1-808-276-4945.

 

Please join us in Portland September 6-7, 2013!

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Barnes and Noble's Excellent Display of Dick B. Alcoholics Anonymous History and Christian Recovery Books. Thank you!


Through the years of our research, reporting, publishing, and distributing books by Author and A.A. Historian Dick B., Barnes and Noble has provided us with a steady flow of orders for the Dick B. books.

To see their display, go to http://www.barnesandnoble.com/c/dick-b.

Dick B. www.dickb.com/titles.shtml; 808 874 4876; dickb@dickb.com

Thursday, August 15, 2013

Anne Smith's Journal 1933-1939


Alcoholics Anonymous History Anne Smith's Journal, 1933-1939  A.A.'s Principles of Success

By Dick B.

Search the full text of this book

Anne Smith's Journal, 1933-1939



Anne Smith - Anne Smith's Journal, 1933-1939: A.A.'s Principles of Success by Dick B. - Anne SmithUndoubtedly the most forgotten, least quoted, and least understood of early A.A.'s six major spiritual roots is Anne Smith's Journal. Anne Ripley Smith was the wife of A.A.'s co-founder, Dr. Bob. She was called by A.A.'s other co-founder, Bill Wilson, a "founder" of A.A. and the "Mother of A.A." It was she who read the Bible daily to Dr. Bob and Bill during the summer of 1935 when Bill was living with the Smiths and the spiritual recovery principles of A.A. were being developed. It was she, beginning in 1933, who recorded the basic ideas from the Bible, the Oxford Group's life-changing program, the Quiet Time practices, the Christian literature, and the practical ideas for depending upon God that became part and parcel of the A.A. Twelve Steps and A.A.'s Fellowship. Anne assembled these in her journal from 1933 to 1939. She read from this journal and used it as a basis for discussion from A.A.'s earliest Quiet Time days at the Smith home in Akron. Anne was declared to be the one who gave Bill W. and Dr. Bob a much needed "spiritual infusion." She attended all pioneer meetings. She acted as house-mother, nurse, evangelist, counselor, and employment agent for A.A. pioneers and their families. To know what Anne Smith wrote and was teaching is to know the real heart of A.A.'s spiritual ideas and program. This was the program that set the stage for the astonishing 75% to 93% success rate in Akron and Cleveland for "medically incurable" alcoholics who really tried and recovered. It was a program that put God and His Word first!

Foreword by Bob S., son of Dr. Bob & Anne Smith; co-author, Children of the Healer.

 

Endorsements

"My mother, Anne Smith, studied, knew, and believed in the Good Book, as did my father, Dr. Bob. She recorded in her workbook the spiritual principles she shared so often with the many alcoholics and their wives that she helped."

Sue Smith Windows
Daughter of Dr. Bob and Anne Smith
Co-author, Children of the Healer

"Dick's book is a 'page-turner' for those of us in A.A. who want to know and understand the origins of its spiritual principles."

Earl H.
Oklahoma City

"A valuable analysis of the thoughts and teachings of the wife of A.A.'s co-founder, Dr. Bob."

Mel B.
Author, New Wine: The Spiritual Roots of the Twelve Step Miracle

"Dick B. has painstakingly researched the...notebook Anne kept so faithfully, and, in doing so, has made the spiritual depth of that astonishing, lovely person available to all of us."

Robert Smith
Son of
Dr. Bob and Anne Smith
Co-author, Children of the Healer

Paradise Research Publications, Inc.; 180 pp.; 6 x 9; perfect bound; 1998; $22.95; ISBN 1-885803-24-9

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

The A.A. Grapevine and The Language of the Heart


Ken B. Response to Man Talking about Publisher of The Language of the Heart

 

Aloha to you, Tom, from Maui, Hawaii!

 

My dad (Dick B.--www.DickB.com) copied me on his response to your email message in which you stated:

"The Language of the Heart . . . is not an AA General Service Conference-approved book . . ."

As my dad observed, his copy of The Language of the Heart has a large "circle-and-triangle" symbol on the Copyright page (with a copyright date of 1988). In addition, there is a large "circle-and-triangle" symbol on the back cover of the dust jacket of his copy. (The ISBN number of my dad's copy is: 0-933685-16-5.)

While doing some preliminary research on the question, I noted that The Language of the Heart is found in the "AA Conference Approved Books" section of the Minnesota Recovery Page Online Bookstore:

http://www.minnesotarecovery.info/books/AAConferenceApproved.htm

I also noted that The Language of the Heart is found on the four-page document titled "This list is Conference Approved Literature" on the Arkansas Central Office Web site:

http://www.arkansascentraloffice.org/documents/centraloffice.pdf

In addition, I noted that The Language of the Heart is found on the Literature page of Northern Santa Barbara County AA Central Office Web site under the heading "Conference Approved Literature Available through the Central Office":

http://aa52centraloffice.org/Literature.html

I also noted that, on a Web page on the Alcoholics Anonymous Central Coast NSW Web site which clearly distinguishes between "Conference Approved Literature" and "Non Conference Approved," the book The Language of the Heart is found in the "Conference Approved Literature" category:

http://www.ccaa.org.au/literature.htm

I also see that The Language of the Heart is listed in the "F-10 Literature Catalog - 2011-2012" currently posted on the AA.org Web site. It is found in the "A.A. Grapevine Subscriptions, Books, Audio, Special Items, eBooks, Audio Downloads" section on page 38:

http://www.aa.org/en_pdfs/aacatalog.pdf

And I just came across the following article in the December 2010 issue of the MIRUS (Minneapolis Intergroup: Recovery, Unity, Service) Web site:

"Is The Grapevine Conference-approved?"  [http://www.aaminneapolis.org/pages/mirus/Mirus_1210.pdf]

The article (May 2007 Vol. 63 No. 12) states:

"So individual issues of the magazine and Grapevine books are, by design, not Conference-approved."

(Copyright May 2007 A.A. Grapevine, Inc.)

I would accept the May 2007 article from The Grapevine as authoritative. I do find the presence of the "circle-and-triangle" symbol on the book and its listing on various Web sites as "Conference-approved" to be interesting.

Thank you for writing to Dick B.

 

Dick B.'s son, Ken

Tuesday, August 13, 2013

A.A. History and Christian Recovery Events Where Authors Dick B. and Ken B. Scheduled to Speak Next 4 Months


Events Where Authors Dick B. and Ken B. Will Be Speaking the Next 4 Months

 

Aloha to you from Maui, Hawaii!

Here are firm and probable events my dad (Dick B.--www.DickB.com, www.ChristianRecoveryCoalition.com, www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com) and I expect to be speaking at over the next four-and-a-half months:

 

 

 

1. "The First International Alcoholics Anonymous History Conference," September 6-7, 2013, in Portland, Maine:


 

 

2. Northern California events, September 13-16, 2013:

Friday, September 13, 2013; 7:15 pm to 9:00 pm

Higher Power Celebration

Contact: Eddie G.: Email: eddieg1@comcast.net

Central Peninsula Church, Foster City campus

1005 Shell Blvd.

Foster City, CA

 

Monday, September 16, 2013; 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm.

Contact: Greg Pope: gregp@cornerstoneweb.org

Room C-217

Cornerstone Fellowship--Livermore Campus

348 North Canyon Parkway

Livermore CA

 

 

 

3. A.A. history / Christian Recovery meetings featuring Dick B. and Ken B.

Phoenix, AZ: possible/probably date: Friday, October 11, 2013; location: TBA

Tucson, AZ: possible/probable date: Saturday, October 12, 2013; location: TBA

 

 

4. Christian recovery overnight on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day (similar to a holiday "Alkathon"); Tuesday, December 31, 2013, to Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Tuesday, December 31, 2013, 12:00 noon, to Wednesday, January 1, 2014, 10:00 am

Adventure Christian Church: http://adventurechurch.org/

Contact: Greg Bagley, Recovery Pastor; Email: gregley1951@gmail.com

6401 Stanford Ranch Rd.

Roseville, CA 95678

 

Hope to see you again soon!

 

In GOD's love,

Dick B.'s son, Ken

Cell: 1-808-276-4945

Dick B.

Author, 46 titles & over 1,500 articles on A.A. History and the Christian Recovery Movement

Exec. Dir., International Christian Recovery Coalition

 

Christian Recovery Resource Centers - Worldwide

 

 

 

Christian Recovery Radio

 

 

 

www.DickB.com

DickB@DickB.com

(808) 874-4876

PO Box 837, Kihei, HI 96753-0837

 

Ps 118:17 (NJB):

I shall not die, I shall live to recount the great deeds of Yahweh.

 

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