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March 21st, 2025
401-438-8860
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Unity
Tradition Four, Long Form:
With respect to its own affairs, each AA group should be responsible to no other authority than its own group conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect AA as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the General Service Board.
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Group Anniversaries
Fri March 28th No. Kingstown- STEP INTO LIFE– Wickford Junction, 1051 Ten Rod Rd., 20th Anniversary. 7PM Guest Speaker and Buffet.
Sat. April 5th Attleboro, MA- HONEST WOMEN TRYING– Murray Universalist Ch., 505 No. Main St.19th Anniversary 9:45AM Breakfast-10AM Speakers and great raffle
Wed. April 9th Woonsocket-TOGETHER WE RISE– St. Joseph’s Church Hall, 1200 Mendon Rd. 1st Anniversary, Guest Speaker and Buffet.
Wed. April 16th Gloucester/Chepachet- NEW FREEDOM– St Eugene’s Church, 1251 Putnam Pike 44th Anniversary. 7PM Potluck Guest Speakers 8PM.
Mon. April 21st Warwick-NEW WAY OF LIFE-Kent County Hospital, (Doctor Auditorium), 455 Toll Gate Rd. 51st Anniversary 7:30PM Guest Speakers & Refreshments
Sat. April 26th Providence-BROTHERS IN SOBRIETY– St. Martin Church, 50 Orchard Ave., 41st Anniversary 6:30PM – 8PM Guest Speakers w/ Potluck to follow
Mon. April 28th Providence-JUDGEMENT FREE-Bell Street Chapel, 5 Bell St, 5th Anniversary , 6:30PM
Thu. May 1st Lincoln- FOOTPRINTS– Lincoln Woods State Park, 2 Manchester Print Works Rd., 7 AM.11th Anniversary Followed by May Breakfast
Sat. May 3rd Kingston– KINGSTON SATURDAY NIGHT- St. Augustine’s Church, 15 Lower College Rd. 50th Anniversary 7:30PM Meeting Guest Group/Buffet to follow.
CHANGES
Providence- BREAKFAST WILL BILL– Our Lady Of The Rosary, 71 Travers St. Beginning Saturday April 26th Thru Saturday May 31st The Saturday Meeting will change time will meet from 8AM to 9AM.Sunday Thru Friday meetings will continue to meet from 7AM to 8AM
Providence- BROKEN ELEVATOR BIG BOOK STUDY– has changed their name and location. They are now called MEETING IN PRINT and they meet at First Unitarian Church, 1 Beneficent St. St , 3rd Floor, Moon Rm. Tuesdays at 8PM
Smithfield- SCITUATE BIG BOOK– has changed their name and location They are now called THE BIG BOOK and they meet at Greenville Baptist Church, 1 Church St, Tuesdays at 12noon
Woonsocket-UNITY– Precious Blood Church Hall, 94 Carrington Ave., will be changing their start time to 7:30PM beginning Monday April 7th
Providence- THE GIFT– Open Big Book. Bulter Hospital (Ray Hall),345 Blackston Blvd., Friday at 7PM have asked you enter through the side door facing parking lot
Warwick- SURVIVAL– will change their format back to Open Speaker/Commitment Warwick Central Baptist Church, 3270 Post Rd. Wednesdays at 7PM Starting April 2nd
Newport- JUST FOR TODAY Open Discussion has added a Saturday Meeting. St Paul’s Church, 12 Marlborough St. They now meet Mon thru Saturday at 10 AM
Providence- YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE IRISH– Open Discussion. Will be moving to Providence Presbyterian Church ,500 Hope St. Thursdays at 7:30PM. Starting Thursday April 3rd
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Pawtucket- TRIANGLE – Open Speaker St Lukes Church ,670 Weeden St, will not meet Friday, April 18th
Kingston– KINGSTON SATURDAY NIGHT-St. Augustine’s Church, 15 Lower College Rd. will not meet on Saturday,April 19th
Providence-BOOZE BUSTERS St Augustine Church,635 Mount Pleasant Ave will not meet on Saturday April 19th
GROUPS RE-OPENING
Pawtucket- TRIANGLE- has reopened as of Friday March 28th. They now meet at St Lukes Church ,670 Weeden St, Fridays at 7PM
Lincoln- FOOTPRINTS– Lincoln Woods State Park, 2 Manchester Print Works Rd., daily at 7 AM. Rain Days meet in the Gazebo. Starts Thursday, May 1st.
NEEDS SUPPORT
Warwick- KEEP IT SIMPLE LIVE-Open Discussion. So. RI Intergroup, 2845 Post Rd. Mon thru Fri at 10AM
DISBANNDED
Providence-OUT TO LUNCH BUNCH-Mathewson St Church,134 Mathewson St,Wed &Thurs at 12:15PM
No Scituate- NO SCITUATE – Open Discussion, St Joseph’s Church, 151 Danielson Pike. Thursdays at 7:30 PM
BOOKIES MEETING
The DESIRE TO STOP group will host a Bookies Exchange Session the last Saturday of each month at 11:30AM (Prior to the OLD TIMERS MEETING) Cameron Recovery Center, 68 Falmouth St., Attleboro, MA
EASTER ALCATHON
District 1 Is hosting a Easter Alcathon Holy Family Church, 414 So. Main St . , Woonsocket Sunday April 20th, 3PM to 9PM Meetings, Literature Raffles, Food, Fun, Fellowship ************************************************************************Service
ATTENTION ALL GROUPS and INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
RI CENTRAL SERVICE Treatment & ACCESSIBILITIES Committee will once again provide AA meetings for both the Detox Unit and the Dual Diagnosis Unit at Roger Willams Hospital. Any Groups or Individual member willing to provide AA Speakers for a monthly commitment please contact RI Central Service
RI Central Service is always in the process of up-dating our 12-STEP LIST. Anyone willing to be added to the list should contact their Group Secretary or call Central Service. “When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there and for that I am responsible
The next regular meeting for Central Service Delegates will be held Via Zoom on Wednesday, April 23rd, 2025, New Delegates Orientation will begin at 6:45PM , Regular Delegates Meeting at 7PM Zoom Meeting ID: 312 255 2726 – Password : RICS1. Meeting ID and links will be sent to all registered Central Service Delegates and will also be available on website
We need volunteers to help with our monthly mailing – takes less than one hour. The next mailing will take place at Central Service, 1005 Waterman Ave, E. Providence on Wednesday , April 23rd at 9AM.
R.I.C.S PI/DUI Committee is recruiting a pool of Volunteer Speakers willing to occasionally share at State Driver
Retraining Classes. We will be answering requests from all CCRI Campus (Lincoln, Warwick, Newport and
Providence). If you would volunteer for this vital service or would like more information
please contact Gordon E. at [email protected] or call the Central Service Office
“The Area 61 Treatment and Accessibilities Committee (TAC) is looking for groups to share their experience, strength and hope across RI in various treatment and detox facilities. Please visit the “Treatment and Accessibilities” sub-committee page on AAinRI.com (found under the “Area 61 Subcommittees” button in the main navigation bar) and click the “Submit Group Interest in Facility Commitment” button to see facilities in need of commitments. Please complete the required fields in the form and submit. A TAC member will respond within 72 hours with available day/time openings for the facility.”
“Unity “ group will be host the District 1 JOY OF SERVICE on Monday May 19th at 7:30PM Precious Blood Church Hall, 94 Carrington St., Woonsocket. AA “Game Show Style” and Ice Cream Bar Bring a Newcomer and Learn about Service
So RI Intergroup is always looking for members willing to volunteer to do 12 Step Work. Manning the Office, Answering Phones, Rides, as well as people wanting to become involved in Committee Work. There are several Opportunities for Service Available Contact So RI Intergroup at 401-739-8777 for more information
***Please note the deadline for submitting any information for the next today is Friday, April 18th
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RECOVERY
RICS will sponsor a virtual “OPEN MIC NIGHT NITE” Saturday May 3rd Starting at 8PM. Zoom Meeting ID: 856 8703 0297 Passcode:891419 Anyone interested in performing or needing more information should contact Austin D Email: [email protected]om
Central Service will sponsor our annual GOLF SCRAMBLE on Friday, May 9th.
at the Cranston Country Club
69 Burlingame Rd., Cranston. $138 per person includes Greens fees, Carts,
Golf balls, Prizes, Coffee, Snacks and great Buffet
Registrations have been sent to all registered group secretaries
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All sorts of outfits have tried to move in on us, including communists and heroin addicts, prohibitionists and do-gooders of other persuasions. Nearly all of these people, who happened to have an individual problem with alcohol, not only failed to change AA, but, in the long run, AA changed them. I have a number of them among my closest friends today, and they are among the best AAs I know.
Bill W., March 1972
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Tradition Four
Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
Tradition Four is a specific application of general principles already outlined in Traditions One and Two. Tradition One states: “Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. AA must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.” Tradition Two states: ” For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as he may express himself in our group conscience.”
With these concepts in mind, let us look more closely at Tradition Four. The first sentence guarantees each AA group local autonomy. With respect to its own affairs, the group may make any decisions, adopt any attitudes that it likes. No overall or intergroup authority should challenge this primary privilege. We feel this ought to be so, even though the group might sometimes act with complete indifference to our Tradition. For example, an AA group could, if it wished, hire a paid preacher and support him out of the proceeds of a group nightclub. Though such an absurd procedure would be miles outside our Tradition, the group’s “right to be wrong” would be held inviolate. We are sure that each group can be granted, and safely granted, these most extreme privileges. We know that our familiar process of trial and error would summarily eliminate both the preacher and the nightclub. These severe growing pains which invariably follow any radical departure from AA Tradition can be absolutely relied upon to bring an erring group back into line. An AA group need not be coerced by any human government over and above its own members. Their own experience, plus AA opinion in surrounding groups, plus God’s prompting in their group conscience would be sufficient. Much travail has already taught us this. Hence we may confidently say to each group, “You should be responsible to no other authority than your own conscience.”
Yet please note one important qualification. It will be seen that such extreme liberty of thought and action applies only to the group’s own affairs. Rightly enough, this Tradition goes on to say, “But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, these groups ought to be consulted.” Obviously, if any individual, group, or regional committee could take an action that might seriously affect the welfare of Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole or seriously disturb surrounding groups, that would not be liberty at all. It would be sheer license; it would be anarchy, not democracy.
Therefore, we AAs have universally adopted the principle of consultation. This means that if a single AA group wishes to take an action that might affect surrounding groups, it consults them. Or, it confers with the intergroup committee for the area, if there be one. Likewise, if a group or regional committee wishes to take any action that might affect AA as a whole, it consults the trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation, who are, in effect, our overall general service committee. For instance, no group or inter group could feel free to initiate, without consultation, any publicity that might affect AA as a whole. Nor could it assume to represent the whole of Alcoholics Anonymous by printing and distributing anything purporting to be AA standard literature. This same principle would naturally apply to all similar situations. Though there is no formal compulsion to do so, all undertakings of this general character are customarily checked with our AA general Headquarters.
This idea is clearly summarized in the last sentence of Tradition Four, which observes, “On such issues our common welfare is paramount.”
Copyright © The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., March 1948
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