UNITY
ALCOHOLICS
ANONYMOUS
BUSINESS MEETING DOCUMENTS
What Is A.A.?
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who come together to share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.
It doesn’t cost anything to attend A.A. meetings. There are no age or education requirements to participate. Membership is open to anyone who wants to do something about their drinking problem.
A.A.’s primary purpose is to help alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
How A.A. Works
Members use the Twelve Steps to maintain sobriety. Groups use the Twelve Traditions to stay unified.
A.A.’s Twelve Steps are a set of spiritual principles. When practiced as a way of life, they can expel the obsession to drink and enable the sufferer to recover from alcoholism.
The Twelve Traditions apply to A.A. as a whole. They outline how A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world around it.
The book Alcoholics Anonymous describes the A.A. program of recovery. It also contains stories written by the co-founders and stories from a wide range of members who have found recovery in A.A.
How Can I Find Out More?
Here are pamphlets with answers to questions you might have about A.A.
Ready for your first meeting?
Anyone with a desire to stop drinking is welcome, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income or profession. And it’s free.
You can just sit and listen and learn more about recovery, or you can share about your situation. It’s completely up to you.
Reprinted from AA.org, 2026
