Stories of experience, strength & hope.
We have but one primary purpose - to carry our message to those still suffering alcoholics & addicts.
SOAAR 2023 SPEAKER LINEUP
Jarrod P. - Master Of Ceremonies
A member of Kingston’s Journey Through Recovery AA group, Jarrod is our Trusted Servant responsible for keeping us engaged and on time as we explore Unity Through Diversity.
Rehab, my mind closed to their prescribed recovery program, blocked by that GOD word. Told a childhood acquaintance I’m just not getting much out of rehab because of the religious/spiritual stuff – and he introduced me to Secular AA. Although nobody in rehab knew about secular, I felt a real sense of hope. With that came a new outlook on recovery – an open mind and the feeling that there would be a place to fit in when I got out.
Attended 233 zoom meetings in my first 90 days, and am grateful for more than two years clean and sober. Happily, and heavily involved in recovery life, still making 11 meetings/week. Treasurer for my AA home group, Journey Through Recovery. and Administrator of the Review.
We invited Jarrod to bring bagpipes when he MCs SOAAR 2023! Although it’s his first AA Roundup, he’s piped concerts in Canada, the USA and Scotland with the world’s best.
Marya H. & Joe C. – Roles of Identity in Recovery
We all 'identify as' something—usually a lot of things. Identity is shaped in part by the labels we use to describe who we are; sponsor, alcoholic, parent, partner, worker, friend. How does our primary identity empower us; how does it limit our growth? Can we get ‘stuck’ in our recovery by holding onto identity traits and roles? Join Marya and Joe as they take an insightful look at contemporary recovery lifestyles and discuss what it takes to be honest with one’s ‘self.’
Marya H. is a writer, editor, teacher, lecturer, award winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author of Wasted: A Memoir of Anorexia and Bulimia, as well as Madness: A Bipolar Life, and Waiting: A Nonbeliever's Higher Power. Her book Sane: Mental Illness, Addiction, and the Twelve Steps is a practical, funny, user-friendly guide to working the Twelve Steps for people who deal with a dual diagnosis of mental illness and addiction.
For more a more comprehensive picture, please visit Marya at http://www.maryahornbacher.com
Joe C. is a stalwart champion of inclusiveness for AA in Ontario, and the wider world. In 2013 he published Beyond Belief, the first secular collection of daily readings on life and recovery. It found a “niche” audience of more than 27,000 Agnostic Musings for 12 Step Life. Some AA Zoom meetings kick off with this daily reading, giving people something to identify with, argue with or focus on for sharing.
Pay our friend Joe C. a visit at Rebellion Dogs to review what's new in addiction/mental health, publications, demographics and trends. Discover a wealth of valuable recovery audios, videos, books, timely podcasts, links and much more at https://rebelliondogspublishing.com
Marsha F. - Being Accepted In Recovery
Ongoing Challenges of Acceptance for Women, Minorities, LGTBQIA+, Atheists, Agnostics, Youth.
Well known for service work inside and outside of the many international Zoom rooms of AA, Marsha is willing to stand up, push back, and advance secular recovery through non-violent, direct action. She is tireless in her advocacy for the unconditional acceptance of Women, Minorities, LGTBQIA+, Atheists, Agnostics, and Youth.
Gordon Garner – Harms Associated with Stigma
Gord Chairs Recovery Day Ottawa, an annual event aimed at reducing the stigma surrounding addiction and raising awareness about recovery. Informed by his own 38 years of active addiction and influenced by those who helped him, he is a national public speaker and trainer with expertise in Person-First Language and addressing stigma.
Since 2016, he has presented across Canada, helping shape policies, practices, and educational materials on harms associated with stigma. For three years in a row (2018-2020) Gord presented at the United Nations Commission on Narcotic Drugs, a policy-making body of the UN with prime responsibility for drug-related matters.
He remains dedicated to removing barriers to enable policy writers, academics, researchers, and people with lived and living experience of substance use disorders to take evidence-based actions to improve the lives of people impacted by substance use.
Roger C. - Secular AA; Past, Present & Future
Founder of AA Agnostica, the first website inviting secular AA people to share their experience, strength and hope. For nonbelievers in recovery, AA Agnostica is a comfort and inspiration, a helping hand for the alcoholic who is disturbed by the religious content of many AA meetings and our conference approved literature.
“There are many versions of the 12-Step program of recovery. In fact, there are about as many versions as there are alcoholics in AA who use the program to get sober and to maintain their sobriety”, states Roger in The Little Book: A Collection of Alternative 12 Steps which contains 20 alternative versions. He has also researched and published Ontario Secular AA Groups: Histories, Times and Places which tells the story of how 24 secular groups started in Ontario. A wealth of information is yours at aaagnostica.org
Jonathan C-J. - The Spirituality Of Service
Service work is a Key to Secular Acceptance. The Group Conscience and Group Inventory are Keys to a Healthy Recovery Environment.
Jonathan joined AA in 2009 and discovered that doing service helped keep him sober. The concept of making one's group the higher power grew to include one's district as well. Having found out about secular AA through the de-listing controversy in Toronto, when he moved to Kingston in 2017 he joined a secular group and found it a better fit spiritually, and continued working at district level as a GSR.
A surprise nomination in 2020 to run for DCM, and election to that, was a signal that things had changed for the better in the acceptance of secular members in service roles. A few Area 83 committees have also been happy to have a secular member pitch in. Navigating these roles as a secular member working towards the benefit of all AA members has its challenges and fulfillments.
Derek H. & Friends From “The Review” - Who We Are & What We Do
The Review meets nightly at 10PM ET to share our experience, strength and hope to solve our common problems and help others to recover from physical, substance, behavioural, and spiritual disease(s). We use page 86 of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, as a guide; “When we retire at night we constructively review our day.”
Our meeting is open to all, and the only requirement for group members is a desire to recover. There are no dues or fees, we are self-supporting through our own contributions. The Review is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution, does not engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes.
At the Review, you can voice any doubts or disbelief you may have, share your own personal form of spirituality, your search for it, and even your rejection of it. We do not endorse atheism nor oppose it. We do not oppose any religion, nor endorse any belief system.
Our primary purpose is to stay sober, and help others achieve sobriety.
Donna B., Martin D. and Kate W - No More God Excuse!
Who are we to say that everyone must have a God of your understanding to recover in AA? Before you give up, try a Secular AA meeting.