“There is only one thing more contagious than enthusiasm and that is a lack of it!”
Recently I heard of a 12 Step Group closing its doors due to lack of support and attendance. Those few remaining members expressed a sincere saddness that the group was no longer. Other members in the fellowship commented that it was sad for them too, because it was the first group they attended when they came into the fellowship.
Factors that cause a 12 Step Group to close its doors
Twelve Step Groups are dynamic entities–members come and go as the please, they relapse, move away, join other groups, pass away, or just stop coming to meetings altogether. There are other reasons for a Group to close it doors, perhaps it holds its meeting at a inconvenient time or day of the week or is located “off-the-beaten path”. These reasons should be considered when a Group notices its membership dwindling–prudent action is for a Group to take regular Group inventory.
Many groups periodically take a “group inventory,” for an honest and fearless discussion of the group’s weaknesses-and strengths. Questions may include:
- What is the basic purpose of the group?
- What more can the group do to carry the message?
- Considering the number of alcoholics or addicts in our community, are we reaching enough people?
- What has the group done lately to bring the 12 Step message to the attention of physicians, judges, members of the clergy, and others who can be helpful in reaching those who need help?
- Is the group attracting only a certain kind of alcoholic, or addict or are we getting a good cross section of our community?
- Do new members stick with us, or does turnover seem excessive?
- How effective is our sponsorship? How can it be improved?
- Has everything practical been done to provide an attractive meeting place?
- Has enough effort been made to explain to all members the need and value of kitchen and housekeeping work and other services to the group?
- Is adequate opportunity given to all members to speak and participate in other group activities?
- Are group officers picked with care and consideration on the basis that officership is a great responsibility and opportunity for Twelfth Step work?
- Does the group carry its fair share of the job of helping out at the Intergroup/Area?
- Do we give all members their fair chance of keeping informed about the whole of 12 Step Recovery, Unity, and Service?
Carry the message NOT the addict
Another reason many Groups close their doors is because they have lost focus on Tradition Five: Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic (addict) who still suffers. Furthermore, Tradition Five (Long): Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose–that of carrying its message to the alcoholic (addict) who still suffers.
One aspect of this focus is the “message” that a group carries. “It has been my experience that too many times a group turns into a social club or an hour-long rap session. Many newcomers have been taught in treatment centers that it is a good thing to talk over your problems, to let it out. Don’t let them or even veterans of the program turn your meetings into a whining session…we all need to remember our primary purpose, the core of our being. The one thing we all have in common and know will work, regardless of where we came from or what is going on in our lives at the moment. We need to always talk the solution and not the problem. We need to find within our groups those with the time and desire to reach out. To ‘carry the message to the addict who still suffers.'” (CA NewsGram, Second Quarter 2004, Vol. 20 No. 2 “Carry the Message not the Wreckage”)
Our Sole Purpose
A.A. Co-founder, Bill W. says in his book, As Bill Sees It, pg. 79: “A group cannot take on the personal problems of its members–the primary responsibility for the solutions of all their problems of living and growing rest squarely upon the individual themselves. Should a group attempt this sort of help, its effectiveness and energies would be hopelessly dissipated. Sobriety — FREEDOM from the obsessive thoughts, compulsive feelings, and physical cravings that ruled our lives, through the teaching and practice of the Twelve Steps, is the SOLE PURPOSE of the group. If we don’t stick to this cardinal principal, we shall almost certainly collapse, and if we collapse, we can’t help anyone.” On page 86 of the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous it says: “But we must be careful not to drift into worry, remorse or morbid reflection, for that would diminish our usefulness to others.” Furthermore, when members are focused on Tradition Five is says on page 89 of the Big Book of Alcoholics: “Life will take on new meaning. To watch people recover, to see them help others, to watch loneliness vanish, to see a fellowship grow up about you, to have a host of friends — this is an experience you must not miss. We know you will not want to miss it. Frequent contact with newcomers and with each other is the bright spot of our lives.”
P.S. Dead Groups serve no one.
Let us hear about your thoughts and reasons as to why Groups closed their doors forever.
When I came to my home group 9 years ago, the average sobriety was over 5 years. Since then I’ve watched that number drop to about 6 months. Now we have newcomers with a month or less chairing meetings. During this time, it appears to me that the group was taken over by a clique. The head of the clique informed the group, in a share that, that there are no cliques! Try giving a minority opinion at a business meeting where the immediate response is an insult. I’ve moved my attendance to a couple of other groups where there is considerable long term sobriety. Gladly, I found a lot of the “old timers” I have known were attending these other meetings now. I have required of myself to continue attending the afore mentioned group until that time that I can process what happened and end my negativity about the decent of my original group here. I got to the point where I just had a hard time forcing my self to go. Now, I just sit, listen, pray, and surround myself with an aura of protection.
How sad that the old timers have moved away from a group that sounds as if it is full of new comers who don’t yet know the program. Who will guide them? I think those who left are missing a chance to SERVE. aren’t we here to give what we were given? our primary purpose is to help another alcoholic achieve sobriety
Marcella T.
sober since 12/27/1990
After the great shut-down of 2020, my home group suffered a drastic reduction of attendees , some from fear, some due to death, and some from ambivalence. Newcomers to the program took to the notion that Zoom was AA , and couldn’t be bothered getting out of their comfort zone of gazing at their cell phones. Meanwhile, face to face meetings struggled to make rent payments with donations and many ceased to exist. My home group found our core members getting older with many not wanting to come out at our 8:00 PM meeting. Something needed to be done. Group conscience time. After 30 years, we changed our start time to 7:00PM. Amazing, something as simple as this has had a drastic increase in attendance , with many of the oldtimers voicing their appreciation for the new start time. Truly, there is nothing like a face to face meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous !
Hallelujah. How many business meetings did it take for the old goats (sorry, oldtimers) to accept this decision?
I’m speaking about a permanently disbanded an Alano Club, from 1979 to the present. At one time, it split into two similar groups, with one group being jet setters and the other street addicts. At the end there was remnants of members holding some small meetings. A lot of the Board Members golfed together – they wanted “The Club” to be their personal Country Club – their mutated primary purpose. They blame the membership for a lack of loyalty – but at one time or another they banned people for sins like washing their face in the bathroom sink. The drug courts played a huge part in making the old, safe place into a truly spooky place to watch convicts argue. The last meeting I went to was about 80% drug court convicts. The area meetings still in existence are studies in Trump/Biden Covid Schisms. The meetings and the people in them are at war, “socially.” Between the drug courts, the social elitists, and the political bickering I think AA and NA are on a path to die out, indeed are dying out. The 90-90% drug court people will not attend one day longer than they are forced to – with rare exceptions. A few hit bottom before their court hearing, but these few will not support the decay of AA. If you really want to take the Group’s inventory, don’t forget the deep selfishness of most members and their reluctance to do anything except blame others for their selfishness. These are not the members of the 1950s-1970s.
Gosh that doesn’t sound so good. Well I hope you guys are NOT all going over your war stories from when you first got sober because none of these kids can identify with that or relate with that. I was always taught to explain the outcome if one doesn’t recover, and then to go over all the gifts I’ve received since I got sober. A person in their 20s can relate to getting their license back, getting insurance on a vehicle, getting a vehicle actually, getting an apartment, getting a house, getting a family back.
And then I get them through the steps right away as most people can’t hang on for six months to four years and not “pick up”without having a spiritual awakening. Young kids today certainly don’t know much about delayed gratification so going through the steps quickly gets them on solid ground and then I monitor their work on step 11 which includes daily self appraisal, prayer and meditation.
I certainly don’t know if this will help at all and maybe you’re already doing it this way – May God be with you!
Our group is experiencing huge turnover. We get about 100 newcomers every week but seldom see them again. Most pass instead of sharing. We have tried to figure this out by interviewing them but after the meeting they run out the door. Most are in their 20’s. We are over 50 and have decades clean. Many are from the courts but now they have ‘gps’ monitored ankle bracelets so we never know how many without paper are also from the courts. We have tried to contact the courts but they will not respond. We are going broke trying to buy coffee, creamer and sugar. Central office has no answers. We are lost here.
I am the Archivist in my area and have researched and written about the histories of over 500 groups that have existed over the years. Of the ones that no longer meet, apathy seems to be the number one offender. That can creep in very quickly, too. I have seen a group of 10/12 AAs get together in a diner all gung-ho about starting a new meeting. A year later the meeting they started folds. Reality sets in what is involved when you start a group. I have no idea what people were thinking or maybe they just got caught up in the fervor. It takes dedication and work for a group to continue. Sadly most AAs (I really can’t answer about other fellowships but assume the same dynamic exists) will not put the effort in.
Great article.
Here in Reno, AA is just another part of the criminal justice system.
Instead of a fellowship growing, host of friends , …that you must not miss.
It’s a clique that must not allow real alcoholics anywhere near AA.
The singleness of purpose is strictly fundraising.
Only the clique is in central office, secretary etc.
Lots of suffering alcoholics die.
I believe this article is right. I gave been at meetings where…they wish attention by crying over what happened 10 years ago instead of positive results from following the 12 steps. We have all been desperate afraid sick etc. Understandable when they first come in and the sympathy and support is there. Discussing their personal problems and asking for help from the group is okay but some things could be resolved before or after the meeting or discussing with their sponsor. I am not here to judge them but I do have an opinion which could be wrong. Consideration respect knowing none of us are perfect…we are there for a reason. To be of service and reach out from what worked for us knowing it may not be the answer for them. Everyone is welcome that have the desire to stop drinking. The rest are suggestions…such as attending every meeting in the beginning or finding a sponsor. Some cannot not make every meeting and they may not be able to honor the time a sponsor is willing to devote. They may have an AP on there phone they read the big book, 12 by 12 or other publications. The objective is not to drink. To help others. I know when I need to be in a meeting….and I go. A good group is a powerful source of hope and inspiration. Sorry I had no idea I wold spend more than my 5 minutes.
AA and NA are dying here. No one will admit it but I go all over to meetings and see the same thing everywhere. I think it is Drug Court, but everyone says I’m wrong. Meetings get creepy when 90% of the people don’t want to be there and you are trying to bear your soul. It seems like most of the talk in meetings these days is arranging Drug Court people to get sober and drop their nasty habit. Kind of brow beating them. But I am not going anywhere. I gotta go to meetings. Just saying, its really in flux.
Good article. If people don’t go to meetings, the more difficult it is for a group to stay open. That is one of the reasons I go.
The meaning of anonymity “in all public media” is confusing. We can advertise our AA and OA meetings in the newspaper but there is zero visibility on social media. Anonymity, the way 12-step approaches it in this day and age, equals invisibility. There needs to be an organizational inventory done to assess how 12-step communicates its presence within communities.
In the beginning it was Bill W. and Dr. Bob and then came Bill D.–A.A. Number three.
Through applying the Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions, we grow in love, tolerance, and respect for each other. This spiritual growth allows us to rise above prejudice, regardless of religion, ethnicity, economic status, age, gender, or sexual orientation, to carry the C.A. message. Though we are different, we are the same. Regardless of the author, we share the same story. Recovery is possible—together. — CA World Service Handout – Unity
"…he finds he cannot keep this priceless gift unless he carries the A.A. message…the moment this Twelfth Step work forms a group, another discovery is made—that most individuals cannot recover unless there is a group. Realization dawns that he is but a small part of a great whole; that no personal sacrifice is too great for preservation of the Fellowship. He learns that the clamour of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group survive or the individual will not." — AA, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, P. 130
Definition of a Cocaine Anonymous "Group": A meeting is when two or more people gather together to share their experience, strength and hope with each other.
The basic unit in C.A. is the local Group, which is autonomous except in matters affecting other Groups or C.A. as a whole. The Group has but one primary purpose, which is to help others to recover through the Twelve suggested Steps. — C.A. World Service Manual 2011 Edition p. 14