Tradition 6 · June 26

Superintend It

Daily Traditions · June 26

The threat

In 1937 even the founders planned an A.A. hospital. While A.A. was hoping for funds from John D. Rockefeller Jr., the man looking into the Fellowship as the basis for that request was steered first to Akron, and Bill W. gave the reason (A.A. Comes of Age): "If an A.A. hospital were to be put into operation, the Akron location would be better, and Dr. Bob would be available to superintend it." To superintend is to be in charge. The report came back glowing and asked for a large grant, to support two or three members and so that "a down payment on the hospital could be made". To the founders it looked perfect: "Here was medicine, here was religion, and here was a great good work, all in one package." Then: "Mr. Rockefeller flatly turned down this plea for a large sum". The hospital money never came. Nine years later the Long Form named what they had been walking toward (Big Book, p. 563): "Problems of money, property, and authority may easily divert us from our primary spiritual aim." Today the package is still on offer: a program that will fund the meeting, house the newcomers and employ the old-timers, all under one roof. Test it tonight: ask what your group would have to stop being in order to accept a package like that.

Sit with

The founders wanted an A.A. hospital, and the money to build it never came. What package would my group find hard to say no to?

Grounded in: A.A. Comes of Age (the 1937 report and Mr. Rockefeller's answer); long form, Tradition 6 (Big Book, p. 563).

Tradition 6

"An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose."

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 6 → Get the app →

← June 25Known as A.A. Tradition 6All of June June 27 →Even Sober Drunks

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).