A.A.’s Spiritual Roots: They Center on
New England
An International Christian Recovery
Coalition Fall Leaves Workshop
Informative Visits to Historic A.A.-Related
Locations in Vermont
By Dick B.
© 2012 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
Come Join Us!
Here are some principal
leads:
We are planning a Fall Leaves
Workshop centered on the New England Area and definitely zooming in on historic
A.A.-related locations in Vermont: the Green Mountain territory of Bill W.’s
and Dr. Bob’s youth. It’s where my son Ken and I identified and examined in
great depth some of the Christian roots of A.A. And we gathered an immense
amount of historical evidence, embodied it in our books and articles, posted it
on the Web, and included it in our www.ChristianRecoveryRadio.com presentations. But there’s nothing like the
excitement of seeing it all for yourself with excellent guidance.
If we can get the response
and assured funding of our own travel from Maui to Vermont, you will be able to
participate in September 2012 events involving:
1. St. Johnsbury and Dr. Bob’s boyhood home;
2. North Congregational Church—the Smith Family church
and location of the historical collections in Dr. Bob Core Library;
3. Identifying Akron A.A.’s “Christian fellowship” program with Dr. Bob’s
Young People’s Society of Christian Endeavor;
4. The immense historical resources in the St. Johnsbury Athenaeum (library);
5. The St. Johnsbury Fairbanks Museum, the Courthouse
where Dr. Bob’s dad was probate judge, the former location of the YMCA building
where Dr. Bob’s father was President;
6. St. Johnsbury Academy—where Dr. Bob’s mother was a
teacher and later an historian, where Dr. Bob’s father was an examiner, and
where Dr. Bob attended daily chapel and weekly church services and Bible
studies, and participated in YMCA events;
7. East Dorset and Bill W.’s birthplace;
8. The Wilson House where Bill W. was born and where many
A.A. meetings, seminars, and tours and offered;
9. The Griffith House where Bill was raised by his
maternal grandparents for several years and where he studied the Bible with his
maternal grandfather, Fayette Griffith;
10. The Griffith House Library which probably contains the
largest collection
of A.A. historical books and articles and pamphlets
and memorabilia of
any place in the world
11. East Dorset Congregational Church, where Bill, Bill’s
parents, and
both
sets of grandparents attended; and where Bill attended church and
Sunday
school, along with revival and conversion and Temperance meetings;
12.
The Bill and Lois Wilson gravesites;
13.
Manchester, where Bill attended Burr and Burton Academy, attending its
required
daily chapel and four-year Bible study course, and was its president
of
the Young Men’s Christian Association during his senior year; and
14.Your optional personal detour to see
the Fall Leaves display.
Want to come? This tour and
workshop will give you a take on A.A. history, A.A. historical collections, and
A.A.’s Christian roots and origins you’ve probably never heard about or
understood. It will provide you with important keys to the Christian upbringing
of Dr. Bob and Bill W. It will show you
more about real “spirituality”; ie., the relationship with God that the Big
Book talks about. You visit a location with thousands of A.A.-related historical
items. It will take you to an area filled with New England charm. It will be
far more than just a walk through a memorial building or two. It will be at a
time when the Fall Leaves displays and Leaf pickers are about. And Dick B. and
Ken B. will be there to show you what’s what.
What is needed to make it
happen:
Prayer.
A
real interest in learning something very vital about “old-school” A.A. ideas
and their applicability today.
A
zest for a guided tour to inspect and handle scads and scads of historical
evidence, attend meetings if you wish, and hear Dick B. and Ken B. report on 22
years of research as you move about and stop for some short talks.
Benefactors
to provide funds for our travel are needed.
Your
plans for a car or car pool with friends.
Accommodations
at the St. Johnsbury Marriott hotel and in East Dorset.
And
an essential willingness to walk, look, listen, and learn.
Since this will be an
International Christian Recovery Coalition workshop, we are looking for a cadre
of Christian leaders and workers in the recovery arena who want to learn and
pass on to others what we’ve found and you have actually seen.
This will be unlike other
history and archive conferences, seminars, and forays.
You’ll see and enter the
buildings. You’ll pick up and examine the historical items. You’ll explore on
your own, too. You’ll hear from two speakers who have researched, written
about, and spoken about the whole scene—many times.
This may be the only time in
your life that you will have such an opportunity.
July is the month to plan and
let us know if you’ll be coming and when. It is also the month to help fund our
trip. And then to make your car and hotel reservations.
If the light is green in July,
we’ll go. In August, we’ll act. If the light is other than green, at least
you’ve had a chance to make the trip or plan a future one.
Gloria
Deo
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