About us

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for AA membership. We are self-supporting through our own contributions. AA is not affiliated with any sect, religious denomination, political agency, organisation or institution. AA will not engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any cause. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.

Is AA religious?

Spirituality is the opposite of the material and concerns the soul, the self. Spirituality is not the same as religious doctrine or religion, but is rather about an increased awareness and understanding of our inner spiritual life – our thoughts, feelings, and our presence in and participation in a larger context.

In AA, we speak of a spiritual awakening because that is what happens when we work our way through the Twelve Steps. As alcoholics, we are spiritually impoverished. Through working the Steps, we gain freedom and new insights. We emerge from the hopeless and dark tunnel. We discover and experience things with new, sober eyes and a healthier mind, in ways we have never experienced before. We recover spiritually through a higher spiritual power that has entered our lives.

A Higher Power is needed because we are powerless over alcohol. Many members experience the AA group itself as their Higher Power. AA is not religious, but is based on broad, universal spiritual principles that work both for those who have a religion and for those who do not wish to have one. (From se.aa)