About Groups
The long form of Tradition Three states, “Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.” — Reprinted from The A.A. Group….Where It All Begins, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Clarification of an A.A. group may be found in the Twelve Concepts for World Service, Concept Twelve, Warranty Six:
- no penalties to be inflicted for nonconformity to A.A. principles;
- no fees or dues to be levied — voluntary contributions only;
- no member to be expelled from A.A. — membership always to be the choice of the individual;
- each A.A. group to conduct its internal affairs as it wishes — it being merely requested to abstain
- from acts that might injure A.A. as a whole; and finally
- that any group of alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group
provided that, as a group, they have no other purpose or affiliation.
Reprinted from The A.A. Service Manual combined with Twelve Concepts, 2021-2023 Edition (page c58), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Further reading can be found on the A.A. Group Handbook, which contains a variety of resources that many groups find helpful.