I regularly attend different groups. Initially my HG was Wednesday Gawber, becasue it was the first meeting i attended. i still have a spot for that group and work permitting it's the one I don't miss.
Then there's Monday Mapplewell, which is a step meeting, but I don't consider it my home group, although I like to hit that one as often as possible.
Tuesday is the Tuesday beginners meeting - this was once my HG (after i stopped considering Wednesday my HG), but no longer. I don't get this one too regularly.
Friday is Penistone. I had a break from Friday Penistone because I fell out with it. This is my current HG.
Saturday is another newcomers meeting. I like to attend this whenver I can. this is not my HG.
Tuesday and Saturday are my giving back meetings, Monday and Friday are my learning meetings and Wednesday is the big safe meeting I know I can go to to get stuff off my chest.
I guess that Penistone is my HG then, closely followed by Wednesday. I'd prefer it to be wednesday, but i don't go often enough. I'll attend conscience meetings at any meeting, but will only vote on Fridays.
So really I've only got the one HG, but I fancy Wednesday as well. Would that be unhealthy?
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
participate in many, vote in one for area stuff, and if you are a regular in other groups, participate in their group consciences as well, since you are a member of that group.
The only thing is I don't know how it is set up there, where I got sober, each meeting was a seperate entity, a seperate "group" and as such, had their own business meetings, I was a participating member of a number of "groups" or "meetings as a group" but only voted at one for area stuff and only served as GSR for my home group although I had "commitments" at many meetings (secretary, chair set up, clean up etc) So I would participate in any group conscience where I was a regular member or where I had a commitment, when it was "required" (suggested strongly to the point of ostercism if I missed GC's)
Where I am now, they have "Halls" where one "group" will have maybe 40-50 meetings, and all 40-50 meetings only have one business meeting, one treasurer, etc. quite frankly I am not sure how that would work spanning different groups.
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Build a man a fire and he will be warm for a night, light a man on fire and he will be warm for the rest of his life
I have a special place in me for the very first meeting I ever stepped into. I considered this my homegroup for years and there is a part of me that always will consider it my homegroup.
My recovery path has led me into a direction in which my old homegroup is not a group I attend on a regular basis. I have another meeting now that I never miss and in order to get that connection with the group I volunteered this year to take on the group representative position.
My home group has changed, but it is just the night that I go for me as my new home group is in the same church same room as my old homegroup. Some of the faces are different, but it's still a meeting that I get what I need out of and I am giving back. I can still point to the chair in the corner that was the seat that was waiting for me.
I had to accept that it didn't matter what night I went. What mattered was that any seat is still the seat I earned.
Yours in recovery, Mandy
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"We are not punished for our unforgiveness, we are punished by it" Jim Stovall
On the subject of multiple homegroups, It's important to belong to only one homegroup because that is how AA keeps track of our population and how central office decides where money is distributed. This doesn't mean you can't go to other meeting or even be active members at other groups, but you should only be on the books at one group. Plus its good practice to go to meetings you are NOT a part of so to learn to accept and respect others 4th tradition, and not have a say at every meeting in town.
Welcome to MIP CarriePie, ... ... ... glad you're here ...
I think what she shared makes sense ... ... ... not that there's a law against multiple home groups, but I think it would spread me a little thin to do that ... (of course I just moved and need to find a new home group ASAP ...) ... (and I did officially 'leave' my old home group) ...
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'Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything.'
In my home town we have about 60 meetings a week and probably about 6 of those could be identified as a group. To me there is a big difference between a meeting and a group. A group practices all the traditions, creates service opportunities for it's members, participates in wider AA, and is active as a group in carrying the message.
The meetings, on the other hand, are called groups but, have few committed members except perhaps for the secretary, pass their 7th trad onto intergroup to spend (if there is any surplus) are not active in carrying the message except for one hour a week when the meeting is on,
have very infrequent GCs, officers scuh as there are are usually appointed rather than elected because no one is usually interested in service.
It is not uncommon for all the faces in a meeting to change from one week to the next. I have often been the only one present who was there last week. Newcomers to these groups are not usually offered any special suppport like temp sponsor, they are pretty much left to their own devices.
My impression of some AA in the USA is that a group may base itself in a club room and hold several meetings each week. This sounds ideal to me.
My impression of some AA in the USA is that a group may base itself in a club room and hold several meetings each week. This sounds ideal to me.
That's how it is in the club I go to...But they hold the meetings seven days a week.
8:00 AM
Noon
5:30 PM
7:00 PM
8:30 PM
It's great for me because my work schedule varies so much. I also attend meetings at different clubs...Big Book and Step. Out of those five only the 5:30 is not a group....But they can be some very good meetings....Depending on who is there. You see a lot of the same people...That carry the message at all of these meetings. It works for me.
That sounds good to me. Once we had a meeting room under the control of intergroup which held meeting twice a day, 7 days. It seemed to work pretty well, perhaps the same location everyday made it better. We closed it down in the end, there was always a lot of contention around it being outside the traditions. There is a group of people trying to get a club going, but they can't seem to get the funds together.
Incidentally, I would estimate our total membership across all 60 groups to be no more than 600 hundred and probably less.
Thank you for that. I have only ever had one homegroup. It helped me to commit, and I had a big problem with commitment when I came into the rooms. Also the old timers where I got sober used to call me an AA butterfly (someone who flitted from group to group), and having a say everywhere I went. This gave me a great feeling of power. And we all know where that leads to when you're new in recovery.
7 years later. One home group. I do service there. I contribute to group conscience there.
I go to other meetings regularly and frequently. I keep my nose out of their business.
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It's not having what you want, it's wanting what you got. BB
