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The Twelve Steps
Study of these Steps is essential to progress in the Al-Anon program.
The principles they embody are universal, applicable to everyone,
whatever your personal creed. In Al-Anon, we strive for an ever-deeper
understanding of these Steps, and pray for the wisdom to apply them to
our lives.
1. We admitted we were powerless over alcohol -- that our lives
had become unmanageable.
2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could
restore us to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the
care of God as we understood Him.
4. Made a searching and fearless moral inventory of ourselves.
5. Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the
exact nature of our wrongs.
6. Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of
character.
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7. Humbly
asked Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Made a list
of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them
all.
9. Made direct
amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would
injure them or others.
10. Continued
to take personal inventory and when we were wrong promptly admitted it.
11. 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.
12. Having had
a spiritual awakening as the result of these Steps, we tried to carry
this message to others, and to practice these principles in all our
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The Twelve Traditions
These
guidelines are means of promoting harmony and growth in Al-Anon groups and
in the worldwide fellowship of Al-Anon as a whole. Our group experience
suggests that our unity depends upon our adherence to these Traditions.
1. Our common
welfare should come first; personal progress for the greatest number depends
upon unity.
2. For our group
purpose there is but one authority -- a loving God as He may express Himself
in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not
govern.
3. The relatives
of alcoholics, when gathered together for mutual aid, may call themselves an
Al-Anon Family Group, provided that, as a group, they have no other
affiliation. The only requirement for membership is that there be a problem
of alcoholism in a relative or friend.
4. Each group
should be autonomous, except in matters affecting another group or Al-Anon
or AA as a whole.
5. Each Al-Anon
Family Group has but one purpose: to help families of alcoholics. We do this
by practicing the Twelve Steps of AA ourselves, by encouraging and
understanding our alcoholic relatives, and by welcoming and giving comfort
to families of alcoholics.
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6. Our Al-Anon
Family Groups ought never endorse, finance or lend our name to any outside
enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our
primary spiritual aim. Although a separate entity, we should always
cooperate with Alcoholics Anonymous.
7. Every group
ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
8. Al-Anon
Twelfth-Step work should remain forever non-professional, but our service
centers may employ special workers.
9. Our groups, as
such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or
committees directly responsible to those they serve.
10. The Al-Anon
Family Groups have no opinion on outside issues; hence our name ought never
be drawn into public controversy.
11. Our public
relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need
always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, TV and
films. We need guard with special care the anonymity of all AA members.
12. Anonymity is
the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place
principles above personalities |
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The Twelve Concepts of Service
The Twelve Steps and Twelve
Traditions are guides for personal growth and group unity. The Twelve
Concepts are guides for service. They show how Twelve Step work can be
done on a broad scale and how members of a World Service Office can
relate to each other and to the groups, through a World Service
Conference, to spread Al-Anon's message worldwide.
1. The ultimate responsibility and authority for Al-Anon world
services belongs to the Al-Anon groups.
2. The Al-Anon Family Groups have delegated complete
administrative and operational authority to their Conference and its
service arms.
3. The Right of Decision makes effective leadership possible.
4. Participation is the key to harmony.
5. The Rights of Appeal and Petition protect minorities and
assure that they be heard.
6. The Conference acknowledges the primary administrative
responsibility of the trustees.
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7. The
trustees have legal rights while the rights of the Conference are
traditional.
8. The Board
of Trustees delegates full authority for routine management of the
Al-Anon Headquarters to its executive committees.
9. Good
personal leadership at all service levels is a necessity. In the field
of world service the Board of Trustees assumes the primary leadership.
10. Service
responsibility is balanced by carefully defined service authority and
double-headed management is avoided.
11. The World
Service Office is composed of standing committees, executives and staff
members.
12. The
spiritual foundation for Al-Anon's world services is contained in the
General Warranties of the Conference, Article 12 of the Charter
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