A Secular AA Group
Brown Baggers Group was started in 1994 and ran as a fairly “traditional” meeting for about 20 years. Realizing that there were incongruities between what AA “said” and what it did, a group conscious decision was made to close our meetings with the AA Responsibility Statement.
This was the beginning. We continued to make decisions at group business meetings to enhance our policy of inclusiveness. As of January 2020, Brown Baggers became officially listed as a Secular AA group.
We created a statement that is read at every meeting:
“In the true spirit of our Steps and Traditions, we at Brown Baggers, encourage everyone here to share their truth as it is for them pertaining to their recovery. And to do so without fear of judgment or censure. We feel that if it is within a member, it belongs within this room. We respect and welcome all points of view and paths to spirituality as well as our individual right to introduce ourselves as we feel comfortable. We honour the concepts of freedom of choice and speech. We ask that all those attending our meetings do the same so that we may all learn from each other and grow together in recovery. Thank you.”