Big Book Study Meeting

Many of the founding members of the How It Works Group had attended one or more 18-week group study meetings of The Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous (the "Big Book"), sponsored in Palm Springs by a group of visiting A.A. members from Canada. The first of those Big Book study meetings was held in January 1988.

Initially, the biggest attraction of the How It Works Group was the promise made to the alcoholic, including both experienced A.A. members and newcomers alike, that if he attended a weekly How It Works Group study of the Big Book, and attended How It Works Group meetings on a daily basis, he would find a solution to his alcoholism. How It Works Group members who took its message seriously would never have to go back to using addictions.

The discussion topic at each regular How It Works Group twice a day meeting is taken directly from the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. For a time, the group included twice annual Big Book study sessions, but through a Group Conscience vote in Palm Springs, the Big Book study described below is now held only once a year from January through May. Because some chapters take longer to read than others, the group meeting may be extended beyond the normal one-hour duration. As announced at the Big Book study meeting, this meeting will end in 90 minutes to ensure that everyone in the room has had an opportunity to share.

The Big Book study meeting consists of an audio rendition of each chapter with each member reading along in the book. The audio component of the Big Book study session recorded by a founding member of the Los Angeles Group is a particularly effective way to present the material to those who, for example, are afflicted by attention deficit disorder (ADD), dyslexia, or for whom English is not their native language, and/or those who cannot read or simply cannot afford or otherwise do not have appropriate reading glasses. For all members, the combination of hearing, seeing, and then sharing their understanding and experience has proven a boon.

The power of the Big Book study is the combined experience of the group. Repeating the Big Book study on a regular or annual basis gives it even more power. Oldtimers, having attended meetings once or twice daily for years, have read the book over and over in the form of snippets and pieces from the How It Works daily readings. But the Big Book study offers them a chance once again, to consolidate everything into a whole, to see the program in its broadest form rather than in its more narrowly focused components. They are given the opportunity to see the big picture, and once again to both learn and practice humility.

For the newcomers, the practice of a group study of the Big Book gives them an opportunity to work on the solution to the disease of alcoholism within the context of a collective experience. Rather than struggling as an individual, the newcomer gains from the combined experience of the group, and the stories and understanding shared by the more experienced members. The first How It Works Group found this collective or group process more effective than linking each alcoholic with an individual sponsor.