Nothing Can Compel a Group

No one outside an A.A. group can order it to do anything, and the capture starts when a group forgets that and obeys. Bill W. put the rule for all of A.A. in two sentences (A.A. Comes of Age): "Therefore it is now clear that we ought never to name boards to govern us. It is equally clear, however, that we shall always need to authorize workers to serve us." To authorize is to give someone permission to act. If A.A. itself has nobody who can give a group orders, a landlord certainly doesn't. Here is how it goes. A group rents a room in a facility. The facility starts adding conditions: its clients speak first, a staff member sits in, the meeting ends early to fit the facility's schedule, and the facility's handouts go on the table. Each request is small and the rent is cheap, so the group says yes, and one day the facility's policy is the meeting's format. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563): "For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience." A group that can't say no to its landlord can always vote to find another room. Test it tonight: ask whether any rule in your meeting came from the building, rather than from a vote of the members.