Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings in Columbus

What is Alcoholics Anonymous?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a free peer support program for those struggling with alcohol addiction. AA provides a judgment-free space for members to share their experiences and help each other achieve and maintain sobriety. Regular group meetings are available throughout Columbus and Franklin County.

North Community Counseling Centers

• Monday at 6:00 PM (Closed Meeting)
• Tuesday at 6:00 PM (Closed Meeting)
• Friday at 6:00 PM (Closed Meeting)

This location hosts closed AA meetings exclusively for those who have a desire to stop drinking. Attendees share their struggles and successes in overcoming alcoholism.

Shepherd’s Corner Emanuel Lutheran Church

• Sunday at 7:30 PM (Open Speaker Meeting)
• Wednesday at 7:30 PM (Closed Step Study Meeting)

This church hosts both open speaker meetings where the general public can attend to learn about AA, as well as closed step study meetings for AA members only.

Broad Street Presbyterian Church

• Monday at 7:00 AM (Closed Meeting)
• Monday at 12:00 PM (Closed Meeting)
• Tuesday at 12:00 PM (Open Meeting)

Broad Street Presbyterian Church provides the space for three weekly AA meetings, including two closed discussions for existing AA members on Monday mornings and afternoons. There is also an open Tuesday afternoon meeting.

The 12 Steps of AA

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) outlines a 12-step program to help members achieve and maintain sobriety. The steps aim to motivate members toward positive change across Columbus, Franklin, Ohio. The 12 steps are:

1. Admit that you are powerless over alcohol and that your life has become unmanageable.
2. Believe that a Power greater than yourself can restore you to sanity.
3. Make a decision to turn your will and life over to the care of God as you understand Him.
4. Make a searching and fearless moral inventory of yourself.
5. Admit to God, yourself and another human being the exact nature of your wrongs.
6. Become entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly ask Him to remove your shortcomings.
8. Make a list of all the people you have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all.
9. Make direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when doing so would injure them or others.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and promptly admit when you are wrong.
11. Seek through prayer and meditation to improve your conscious contact with God as you understand Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for you and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, try to carry this message to other alcoholics and practice these principles in all your affairs.

By following these 12 steps, AA members across Columbus and Franklin, Ohio aim to achieve sobriety, restore sanity, improve conscious contact with a higher power, make amends with others, and undergo positive personal change. The program provides motivation and a path forward for recovering alcoholics.

Getting Started with AA in Columbus

Use the meeting search on udetc.org to find local AA meetings in your area. Columbus and Franklin County have both in-person and online/virtual AA meetings available.

Attending Your First Local AA Meeting

AA meetings in Columbus and Franklin County can be either “open” or “closed.” An open meeting welcomes anyone interested in Alcoholics Anonymous to attend, while a closed meeting is only for those who have a desire to stop drinking.

When attending your first local AA meeting:

• Arrive early and introduce yourself as a new member
• Share your experiences if you feel comfortable

Receive welcome keychain tags marking periods of sobriety:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 1 year

The most important things are attending regularly and finding support. Reach out, ask questions, and connect. Focus on your sobriety one day at a time.