Thursday night big book format
Good evening, my name is (your name here) and I am a member of Al-Anon.
Will you join me in a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer?
God grant me the serenity
To accept things I cannot change
The courrage to change the things I can
And the wisdom to know the difference.
We welcome you to the “CARE, SWEAR, REPAIR” Al-Anon Family Group and hope you will find in this fellowship the help and friendship we have been privileged to enjoy. We who live, or have lived, with the problem of alcoholism understand as perhaps few others can. We, too, were lonely and frustrated, but in Al-Anon we discover that no situation is really hopeless and that it is possible for us to find contentment, and even happiness, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not. We urge you to try our program. It has helped many of us find solutions that lead to serenity. So much depends on our own attitudes, and as we learn to place our problem in its true perspective, we find it loses its power to dominate our thoughts and our lives. The family situation is bound to improve as we apply the Al-Anon ideas. Without such spiritual help, living with an alcoholic is too much for most of us. Our thinking becomes distorted by trying to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it. The Al-Anon program is based on the Twelve Steps (adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous), which we try, little by little, one day at a time, to apply to our lives, along with our slogans and the Serenity Prayer. The loving interchange of help among members and daily reading of Al-Anon literature thus make us ready to receive the priceless gift of serenity. Anonymity is an important principle of the Al-Anon program. Everything that is said here, in the group meeting and member-to-member, must be held in confidence. Only in this way can we feel free to say what is in our minds and hearts, for this is how we help one another in Al-Anon
The “CARE, SWEAR, REPAIR” Al-Anon Family Group welcomes you. We are our own qualifiers and take full responsibility for our own recovery. We feel we do it with style and we have lots of fun doing it. We too suffer from the disease of alcoholism. We believe the emotional sobriety we seek, called serenity, is found in the 12 steps. we welcome all to our meeting, but if you wish to share, we ask that you Identify as Al-Anon only in the spirit of singleness of purpose. I will turn the meeting over to our secretary for announcements.
Secretary: The CARE, SWEAR, REPAIR Al-Anon Group meets 4 nights a week on Tuesday Through Friday nights at 6:15 Pacific time, 9:15 Eastern time. · If you would like a clickable reminder of our meeting in email, Just Private chat me your email address and I will see that you get them. Let’s thank our leader ________, I know they will do a great job.
7th Traditon: our 7th tradition states that we have no dues or fees, but we do support al-anon world service. We post a link in the chat and hope you will contribute generously. https://al-anon.org/contributions/member/
Leader: Since we are easy going and fun, don't worry if your kids or pets come and say hi, just please keep the antics to a minimum and your mute button is on uless you are sharing or speaking. Do we have any newcomers to our meeting tonight? If so, please introduce yourself by your first name so we can get to know you.
The format for this meeting is a dealer's choice Big Book study. Our leader open a page from the Big Book at random and will read for up to 5 minutes, since we are not in the other program 1 line IS enough and 1000 is too many. A link to a Pdf of the book will be provided in the chat. After that the leader has up to 10 minutes to speak. The topic will be what we read. Sharing will be limited to 3 minutes, the timer will give a reminder with 1 minute remaining by saying “1 minute” and at the end with the word “time” Is someone willing to be our timer tonight? This meeting will stay open for 15 minutes after the meeting for fellowship. If you want a little more fellowship the meeting room is open 15 minutes prior to the meeting.
LEADER NOW SHARES FOR 10 MINUTES:
We are now OPEN FOR SHARING.” I will pick the first person to share and since this is a tag meeting, you can pick the next person to share after your three minutes are up, no raised hands, and if you don't know who has shared, look in the chat, the secretary usually has a list in there. If you are open to share, please have your camera on, and if you are picking please try to pick someone that looks alert. .
Thank you to all those who have shared and those who serve at this meeting. Please stay after with us in our virtual coffee shop after the meeting, you will find a safe place for new friends and new ways to connect with people. Make sure you have a snackie.
In closing, I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you liked and leave the rest. The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this zoom and the confines of your mind. A few special words to those of you who haven’t been with us long: Whatever your problems, there are those among us who have had them, too. If you try to keep an open mind, you will find help. You will come to realize that there is no situation too difficult to be bettered and no unhappiness too great to be lessened. We aren’t perfect. The welcome we give you may not show the warmth we have in our hearts for you. After a while, you’ll discover that though you may not like all of us, you’ll love us in a very special way - the same way we already love you. Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, let the understanding, love, and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time. Will all who care to join me in closing with the Serenity Prayer?
God grant me the serenity To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can, And wisdom to know the difference.
