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What is Alcoholics Anonymous?
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international fellowship of people who want to achieve and maintain sobriety. AA groups provide peer support for staying sober and avoiding relapse.
First Congregational Church
- 38 South Winooski Ave, Burlington, VT 05401
- Meetings daily at noon and 7:30pm. Open discussion meetings.
Bethany Church
- 115 Main St, Montpelier, VT 05602
- Meetings Mondays at noon, Thursdays at 7:30pm. Closed meetings for those who have a desire to stop drinking.
Grace Congregational Church
- 8 Court St, Rutland, VT 05701
- Meetings Tuesdays and Fridays at 8:00pm. Open speakers meetings featuring AA members sharing their stories.
The 12 Steps of AA
Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) outlines a 12-step program to help members achieve and maintain sobriety. The steps aim to motivate members toward positive change across Vermont.
- We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable.
- Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could restore us to sanity.
- Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.
- Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
- Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.
- Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
- Humbly asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
- Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
- Made direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
- Continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
- 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.
The 12 steps aim to help members take responsibility for their alcoholism, make amends, and provide peer support for others struggling with alcohol addiction. The program outlines a lifelong process centered on spiritual growth.
Getting Started with AA in Vermont
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 the state.
Attending Your First Local AA Meeting
There are two main types of AA meetings in Vermont:
- Open Meetings: Open to anyone interested in Alcoholics Anonymous’ program of recovery from alcoholism. Attendees may include non-alcoholics.
- Closed Meetings: Only for those who have a desire to stop drinking. Closed meetings provide alcoholics an opportunity to share openly and honestly with one another without being hindered by having non-alcoholics present.
When attending your first local meeting, consider arriving early and introducing yourself to some of the other attendees as a new local member. If you feel comfortable, share a bit about your experiences and struggles with alcohol.
Many AA groups have welcome keychain tags for new members celebrating sobriety milestones such as:
- 30 days
- 60 days
- 90 days
- 6 months
- 9 months
- 1 year
The most important things are attending regularly, participating if willing, and staying open-minded. AA and its members will provide support.