Alcoholics Anonymous Meetings in Portland

What Is Alcoholics Anonymous?

Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is an international fellowship of men and women who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others recover from alcoholism.

AA meetings are free of charge and open to anyone seeking help with drinking problems, whether they consider themselves an alcoholic or not.

First Congregational Church

• Monday – Friday: 12 pm (open)
• Tuesday: 5:30 pm (closed, women only)
• Saturday: 10 am (closed, men only)

Downtown Chapel

• Monday – Sunday: 12 pm, 5:30 pm, 8 pm (open)

East Portland Alano Club

• Monday – Sunday: 6 am, 8 am, 10 am, 12 pm, 2 pm, 5:30 pm, 7 pm, 8:30 pm (open)

Mt Scott Church of God

• Tuesday: 5:30 pm (open)
• Friday: 7:30 pm (open)

The 12 Steps of AA

Alcoholics Anonymous outlines a 12-step program to help members achieve and maintain sobriety. The steps aim to motivate members toward positive change across Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, and the United States.

1. Admitting one is powerless over alcohol and that one’s life has become unmanageable.
2. Coming to believe that a Power greater than oneself can restore sanity.
3. Making a decision to turn one’s will and life over to the care of God as we understand Him.
4. Making a searching and fearless moral inventory of oneself.
5. Admitting to God, to oneself, and to another human being the exact nature of one’s wrongs.
6. Being entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.
7. Humbly asking Him to remove our shortcomings.
8. Making a list of all the people we had harmed and becoming willing to make amends to them all.
9. Making direct amends to such people wherever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. We continued to take personal inventory and when we were wrong, we promptly admitted it.
11. Seeking through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understand Him, we pray only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out.
12. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.

Getting Started with AA in Portland

Use the meeting search on udetc.org to find local meetings in your area. Both in-person and online/virtual meetings are available.

Attending Your First Local AA Meeting

AA meetings in Portland can be “open” or “closed.” Open meetings welcome anyone interested in Alcoholics Anonymous. Closed meetings are for those who have a desire to stop drinking.

Arrive early and introduce yourself as a new local member. Share your experiences if you feel comfortable. You may receive welcome keychain tags at your first meeting to mark milestones in your sobriety journey. Common key tags include:

• 30 days
• 60 days
• 90 days
• 6 months
• 9 months
• 1 year
• 18 months
• Multiple years

The most important things are attending meetings, connecting with other members, and taking things one day at a time. AA provides a supportive community for achieving and maintaining sobriety.