Hyannis Format
(Name of Meeting) Big Book Step Study Meeting Format
Chairperson: Your instructions are in italics; read all other material out loud.”A Vision for You” should be a separate printed document that can be given to a visitor or new member who agrees to read it at the designated point in the meeting.
1. Good (morning/afternoon/evening) everybody. Welcome to the (day of week) (time of day ) meeting of the (Name of Meeting) Big Book Step Study Group. Let's open the meeting with a minute of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer.
2. My name is_____ and I am a___________. Please silence all electronic devices.
Group Conscience statement (group preamble)
"Sobriety – freedom from our addiction – through the teaching and practice of the twelve steps is the sole purpose of this group." *
It was voted by group conscience that the purpose of this meeting is to help addicts achieve recovery by the studying, discussing, and practicing of the twelve steps as they are laid out in the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous.
We share our experience strength and hope with each other that we may solve our common problem and help others recover.
The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop using substances and engaging in addictive behaviors; all members of any 12 Step program are welcome.
We are self-supporting through our own contributions and are not affiliated with any other 12 step program or group. We are not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; do not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorse nor oppose any causes. Our primary purpose is to recover and help others achieve recovery.
It has been our hard-learned experience that other methods did not work with us. Some of us have tried other ways and the results were disastrous until we looked at the basic and simple approach that the Big Book offers.
It has become apparent to us that when we stopped blaming people, places, and things for our problems; decided to take an honest and fearless look at ourselves as the root cause of our addiction, and applied these twelve steps to our lives, that we got better.
We reserve the right of the chairperson to limit discussion to the Step being studied this (morning, afternoon, or evening.) If discussion strays from this step, the chairperson will remind you of the purpose of this meeting. It is not the group's intention to be intimidating or insulting to anyone. We only know that if you are talking about the problem, you cannot possibly be talking about the solution.
If you have done these steps as they are laid out in the Big Book with the help of a Big Book Step Study sponsor, please share your experience with us. If you haven't, we ask that you be open minded enough to listen. If you have a question pertaining to this step, please feel free to ask someone after the meeting. Group conscience has voted a (# of Minutes) limit on individual comments.
All of our members are more than willing to talk to you about other things. If you have a situation, feel free to discuss it with someone after the meeting.
3. Ask for Secretary's Report.
4. (Refer to the chart "Readings on the Twelve Steps.") This afternoon we are on step ____. The reading for this step is on page(s) __________ of the Big Book. (chairperson, Please read the step itself) We will go around the room reading the step a paragraph at a time. We ask that you do not introduce yourself during the reading, but wait until the discussion portion of the meeting to do so.
5. When the reading is finished, our speaker, ________, will share on the step. After the speaker has finished, we will go around the room discussing our experience with this step. This is a ninety-minute meeting.
6. If you need a book, take one from the middle of the table. If you are new to recovery and don't have a Big Book, feel free to take one with you. We will start reading with the person to my right.(or to the right of the speaker)
7. When reading is finished, announce: As chairperson I have asked ___________ to speak on this step. (Speaker shares his/her experience on the step for approximately 20 minutes.)
8. Once speaker is finished speaking, read: If you are new to this meeting please listen carefully. This type of meeting is highly structured. In order to speak at this meeting you must have completed a Fourth Step as it is laid out in the Big Book with the help of a Big Book Step Study sponsor and currently be practicing steps 9, 10, 11, and 12. If you haven't done the steps this way or are not sure, please pass and check with the chairperson after the meeting.
9. If you have done these steps as they are laid out in the Big Book, please share your experience with us. If you haven't, we ask that you be open minded enough to listen. If you have a question pertaining to this step, please feel free to ask someone after the meeting. Group conscience has voted a (# of Minutes) limit on individual comments.
10. Start members sharing their experience on this step beginning where the reading left off. (Stop discussion10 minutes prior to end of meeting) Let all who haven't shared introduce themselves.
11. Collection, pass the basket
12. Ask “Are there are any Announcements”.
13. I want to thank everyone for respecting the format.
14. Would those who have completed the process as it is laid out in the Big Book with the help of a Big Book Step Study sponsor and who are willing to sponsor others through the Twelve Steps please raise your hands.
15. I have asked _________ to read the closing from the chapter “A Vision for You”.
16. For those who wish, please join me in closing with The Lord's Prayer.
A Vision For You
A Vision For You
(From pages 162-163, and 164)
Thus we grow. And so can you, though you be but one man with this book in your hand. We believe and hope it contains all you will need to begin.
We know what you are thinking. You are saying to yourself: “I’m jittery and alone. I couldn’t do that.” But you can. You forget that you have just now tapped a source of power much greater than yourself. To duplicate, with such backing, what you have accomplished is only a matter of willingness, patience and labor.
Still you may say: “But I will not have the benefit of contact with you who write this book.” We cannot be sure. God will determine that, so you must remember that your real reliance is always upon Him. He will show you how to create the fellowship you crave.
Our book is meant to be suggestive only. We realize we know only a little. God will constantly disclose more to you and to us. Ask Him in your morning meditation what you can do each day for the man who is still sick. The answers will come, if your own house is in order. But obviously you cannot transmit something you haven’t got. See to it that your relationship with Him is right, and great events will come to pass for you and countless others. This is the great fact for us.
Abandon yourself to God as you understand God. Admit your faults to Him and your fellows. Clear away the wreckage of your past. Give freely of what you find and join us. We shall be with you in the Fellowship of the Spirit, and you will surely meet some of us as you trudge the Road of Happy Destiny.
May God bless you and keep you—until then. (group recites in unison)