Secular Ontario AA Roundup - SOAAR 2023

Secular Ontario AA

It all begins with an idea. Find your sobriety without having to accept anyone else’s beliefs or deny your own.

The Spire

<p>Jarrod P. serves as Emcee, bringing sounds of Scotland to our exciting and educational Roundup.  Co-leading the opening session on Roles in Recovery is acclaimed New York Times best selling author Marya Hornbacher, along with secular recovery trailblazer Joe Chisholm.  Then we welcome Gord Garner, shaper of policies, practices, and educational materials in Canada, and at the UN, on harms associated with Stigma. Marsha F. will complete our morning with an update on some of today’s challenges to being unconditionally accepted.  </p><p>In the afternoon we hear from Roger C., historian, author and creator of the first website for secular AA people searching for sobriety.  Then Johnathan CJ, recent District Committee Member for Kingston and the Islands, speaks about service work and healthy AA environments.  Derek H. and fellow members of the Review share their experience as a Zoom group that welcomes people from every Anonymous fellowship to participate in a nightly Tenth Step using page 86 of the Big Book.   Closing out our day are Donna B., Martin D., and Kate W., alcoholics who helped convince a skeptical District to let us take the ‘God Excuse Off the Table’ and keep suffering alcoholics from giving up, and dying.</p>

Agenda

• Friends of Bill W.; Register, Acclimatize, Socialize, Meet, Smudge… • Pied Piper of Kingston

Opening

Welcome & Recovery Countdown

We all use labels such as ‘Sponsor, Alcoholic… Powerless’. How does how we identify empower us; how does it limit us? Can we get ‘stuck’ in our recovery because of our relationship with Identity? Join Marya and Joe as they take an inciteful look into contemporary recovery lifestyles, and what it takes to be Honest with one’s ‘self’.

Roles Of Identity In Recovery

Gord Chairs Recovery Day Ottawa, an annual event aimed at reducing the stigma surrounding addiction and raising awareness about recovery. Informed by his own 38 years of active addiction and influenced by those who helped him, he is a national public speaker and trainer with expertise in Person-First Language and addressing stigma.

Harms Associated with Stigma

Well known for service work inside and outside of the many international Zoom rooms of AA, Marsha is willing to stand up, push back, and advance secular recovery through non-violent, direct action. She is tireless in her advocacy for the unconditional acceptance of Women, Minorities, LGTBQIA+, Atheists, Agnostics, and Youth…

Ongoing Challenges Of Being Accepted

Brown Bag Light Lunch

The Pipes Are Calling

Founder of AAAgnostica.com, the first website inviting secular AA people to share their experience, strength and hope. For nonbelievers in recovery, AAAgnostica is a comfort and inspiration, a helping hand for the alcoholic who is disturbed by the religious content of many AA meetings and our conference approved literature.

Secular AA; Past, Present, Future

Service work is a Key to Secular Acceptance. The Group Conscience and Group Inventory are Keys to a Healthy Recovery Environment.

Spirituality Of Service, and Group Inventories

Break

Beyond Weekly, Secular AA – a Nightly, Non-Denominational, Step Ten zoom meeting. The Review meets nightly at 10PM ET to share our experience, strength and hope to solve our common problems and help others to recover from physical, substance, behavioural, and spiritual disease(s). We use page 86 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, as a guide; “When we retire at night we constructively review our day…”.

"The Review" - All the A’s, Every Night, Practicing Step Ten

Who are we to say that everyone must have a God of your understanding to recover in AA? Before you give up, try a Secular AA meeting.

No More God Excuse

Music by Friends of Bill W. While We Fill Out Feedback Forms

Wrap-up & Piping Hot Close

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Secular Ontario AA Roundup - SOAAR 2023

More events from Secular Ontario AA

Discover more events from Secular Ontario AA, from Health to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Kingston and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.

Secular Ontario AA Roundup - SOAAR 2023

More events from Secular Ontario AA

Discover more events from Secular Ontario AA, from Health to other experiences you might love.

More Health events

Browse more Health events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Kingston and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.