Tradition 2 · February 9

A Brand-New Committee

Daily Traditions · February 9

How a group breaks it

A group committee that starts making rules for members has stopped serving the group and started governing it. Bill W. described what an A.A. committee is (A.A. pamphlet P-17, p. 38): "they have only the authorization to serve, never to command. Each committee carries out what it believes to be the wishes of its group. That is all." Then what happened when committees forgot: "Though A.A. committees used to try to discipline wayward members, though they have sometimes composed minute rules and regulations and now and then have set themselves up as judges of other people's personal morals, I know of no case where any of these seemingly worthy strivings had any lasting effect — except, perhaps, the election of a brand-new committee!" Minute rules means tiny ones. Picture it. The steering committee posts a list: shares capped at three minutes, phones in a basket at the door, latecomers at the back. Nobody voted on it. Each rule sounds sensible, which is exactly how a committee drifts from serving to governing. The remedy is the one Bill named, and it belongs to the group: a new committee. The Long Form (Big Book, p. 563) puts the decision in "our group conscience," not with whoever holds the clipboard. Test it tonight: ask which of the rules in your room the group actually voted on.

Sit with

An A.A. committee has the authority to serve and never to command. Which rules in my room did the group itself vote on?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 2 (Big Book, p. 563); P-17, p. 38 (Bill W., "Will A.A. Ever Have a Personal Government?", 1947).

Tradition 2

"For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 2 → Get the app →

← February 8Another's Conception Tradition 2All of February February 10 →No Orders

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).