Alcoholics Anonymous History In Your Area
Bellevue, Washington
http://www.msag.org/Group%20History.htm
Men’s Step Application Group – History of the Group
The evolution of what would become our Group really began with one of our member’s spiritual journey to the Queen Charlotte Islands off the coast of northern British Columbia in the late summer of 1993. He had set aside two months to travel north from the Seattle area to stay with a friend, who at the time, was living outside the little town of Port Clements. As was their custom, they stayed up late into the night discussing anything and everything, including their relationship with the fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous. On one particularly intense evening, they found themselves praying together on one simple thought: asking to be shown how to create the fellowship they craved.
Their hair raised on end, their eyes were wildly alive and they knew they were in the midst of a powerful presence. That moment gave birth to many others wherein the vision began to take shape. Both had had similarly empty experiences with a weakened fellowship, full of fear and misinformation. The two simply made a decision to change the nature of their experience through the creation of a Real Home Group. Their sense of purpose was [and is] very strong.
The member was sent back to his little house in Kirkland, Washington, with a set of Big Book tapes and some sketchy printed material. He began to reach out to men he already knew and they, in turn, reached out to others. Our first attempt TO DO THE STEPS together involved 12 men. Terms of sobriety ranged from 1 month to 12 years. The range of Step experience covered a large spectrum as well. The format was simple: we would go through the Big Book using the tapes and our own reading and when it came time TO DO A STEP, we did it together. We let the arbitrary ‘names in the hat’ process decide who shared 5th Steps with whom and soon our bonds were very strong and full of trust. As the spiritual momentum began to take over, we knew that the dynamic mother lode had been struck.
Suddenly we realized that God was doing for us what we could not do for ourselves. Fires were lit in many hearts and these in turn lit other fires. The hunger in others that we intuitively knew must exist now became self-evident. The powerful experience of the first 100 who wrote our textbook, Alcoholics Anonymous, was no longer just an intellectual historical record but was being re-created in our own direct experience. The Process of the Steps was alive and was working to provide a whole new spiritual outlook in our lives.
As soon as the first group had completed its Step process, we started up another group. By now, the products of 12-Step calls began to arrive and the second group was fresh and vibrant. After the third group was finished, we realized that the powerful core energy must take the show on the road. Besides, the little box in Kirkland had become too small to function as a place for new men trying to get sober, as a meeting hall and as a personal residence.
Not without fear, we took the leap and registered as a regular AA Group. We began our ‘outside’ journey in a little room in a hospital and called ourselves the Men’s Step Application Group. While we soon moved to a larger facility, our meeting format has remained relatively unchanged. Two men present a Step for 2 weeks and then we move on to the next Step with two different men. The idea is TO DO the STEP after the initial presentation and then report back with action taken. Our primary reference is our Basic Text, Alcoholics Anonymous. In addition, individual members sometimes organize material from other sources meaningful to them and share it with the Group.
We are interested in recovery from alcoholism through the use of our 12 Steps and not in following the course of an ever-increasing rigidity currently in vogue. Steps 11 and 12 are actively promoted as our essential tools. Individual members are supported in whatever energies they show toward personal spiritual growth and in trying to carry the message to others.
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