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What is Alcoholics Anonymous?
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international fellowship of people who have had a drinking problem. It is nonprofessional, self-supporting, nondenominational, and available almost everywhere.
St. Peter’s Church
211 N State St, Chicago, IL 60601
- Monday – Friday at noon – open speaker meeting
- Tuesday at 6:30 pm – closed step study meeting
- Saturday at 6:30 pm – open speaker meeting
First Presbyterian Church
321 S 7th St, Springfield, IL 62701
- Monday at 8:00 pm – open discussion meeting
- Wednesday at noon – closed step study meeting
- Friday at 6:00 pm – open beginner’s meeting
Universalist Unitarian Church
3000 W Richwoods Blvd, Peoria, IL 61604
- Sunday at 10:30 am – open speaker meeting
- Tuesday at 8:00 pm – open discussion meeting
- Thursday at 6:00 pm – closed step study meeting
The 12 Steps of AA
Alcoholics Anonymous outlines a 12-step program to help members achieve and maintain sobriety. The steps aim to motivate members toward positive change across Illinois.
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- We came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- We made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- We made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- We admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- We were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- We humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- We made a list of all persons we had harmed and became willing to make amends to them all.
- We made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
- Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.
Getting Started with AA in Illinois
Use the meeting search on wfmh.org to find local meetings in your area. Both in-person and online/virtual meetings are available in most places across Illinois.
Attending Your First Local AA Meeting
AA meetings in Illinois may be “open” or “closed”. Open meetings allow anyone to attend, while closed meetings are only for those who have a desire to stop drinking.
Arrive 10-15 minutes early and introduce yourself to others as a new local member. Share your experiences if you feel comfortable. You may receive welcome keychain tags marking periods of sobriety at your first meeting or when you reach a milestone, such as:
- 30 days
- 60 days
- 90 days
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 1 year
- 18 months
- 2 years
- 3 years
- 5 years
- 10 years
The tags provide motivation and are given unconditionally – the only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. Attending meetings regularly helps build a supportive fellowship.