FAQ

Many of us grew up in an atmosphere of religious/spiritual abuse, or religion and spirituality were used as a means of control and shame.  As we moved out of our families of origin we moved away from those religious beliefs and would prefer our recovery to be free from religious influence.

The only requirement for membership in WeAgnostics, as in any ACA meeting, is the desire to recover from the effects of growing up in dysfunction. In WeAgnostics meetings, everyone seeking recovery is welcome.

ACA/WeAgnostics meetings are not therapy sessions. In meetings, we share our experience, strength, and hope as we recover from childhood dysfunction while exploring healthier ways of dealing with everyday life.
Through meetings, we come to understand how our childhood behaviors developed and why they are no longer necessary, although they continue to impact our lives. Working the Twelve Steps can assist us by providing a framework within which we can learn to build new behaviors.

We have learned that recovery does not happen in isolation. Attending meetings regularly can help us create the connections we did not learn how to make in childhood.

Yes, to many, reciting the Serenity Statement might feel religious. That is not our intent. We modified the language to remove words that might be a barrier to recovery. Our version begins with “Today I seek the serenity…” This version holds a meaningful place in the WeAgnostics community as it reminds us of our shared commitment to finding serenity and healing.

The Serenity Statement provides a way for people to transition from the stress and thoughts of everyday life to the meeting space. It is a boundary or transition that allows us to center and ground ourselves into a “recovery” headspace. Many meetings also recite the Serenity Statement at the end of the meeting. This allows us a gentle transition back to our everyday existence.

There are no dues or fees to attend meetings. We are self-supporting through our own voluntary contributions. Donations can be monetary and/or through providing service to the community. There are numerous opportunities to provide service.

Anyone who has attended a meeting is welcome to volunteer to chair the meeting. The chairperson reads a script that is provided to them and all that is required is to call on the people who want to share during the meeting.

We are always willing to support people who want to provide service and we do our best to help people succeed. Other service opportunities ask that people attend WeAgnostics meetings regularly for at least three months. These include:

– The Safety Team
– Meeting Secretary
– Intergroup Representative
– Delegate to The Conference (for the World Service Organization)

The WeAgnostics Virtual Intergroup also has service opportunities available to everyone. These include participation on the Literature Committee and the Literature Committee Writing Subcommittee.

People often find it beneficial to attend different meetings because different topics are covered by each meeting in the WeAgnostics community.

Each meeting has a different sense of connection or grouping of people. It is important to find the meetings where you feel the most comfortable.

Meetings are all different. Some are topic meetings, some are speaker meetings, some are literature meetings, discussion meetings, or any combination of the above. Even literature meetings are different. No two literature meetings in the WeAgnostics community use the same literature. For example:
– Sunday night is a topic meeting and throughout the month the topic rotates each week.
– Monday Morning uses literature from the Adult Children of Alcoholics “Big Red Book.”
– Tuesday morning is our “emotions” check-in meeting and is a discussion meeting.
– Tuesday Night talks about our Adult Children traits and how they manifest outside the home.
– Wednesday Morning looks at emotional literacy.
– Wednesday‘s European meeting is a secular step study convenient to our European members.
– Wednesday night, twice a month, WeAgnostics has a beginner’s meeting.
– Thursday night is also a secular step study more convenient to North America.
– Friday Morning examines how Ancient and Modern Stoic writings assist us in recovery.
– Saturday Morning, twice a month, is our Traditions and Concepts meeting.

Discord is a communication platform similar to Slack or WhatsApp. There are NO advertisements. There is no spam. There is no requirement to participate in ongoing conversations.

We use Discord for three primary reasons:
1. To stay in touch in between meetings.
2. To get to know each other in this virtual world.
3. To build a virtual community.

We know that community, connection with others, is an important aspect of our recovery, and we use Discord to help build that connection.

If you are unfamiliar with Discord, the two YouTube videos below will help you get started:
– What is Discord (6 minutes);
– How Discord works (3 minutes).

Please see the Chat area during meetings to join the We Agnostics ACA Discord Server by invite only.

WeAgnostics Discord Community Guidelines:
– We require all Names and/or “Nicknames” of We Agnostics Discord Members contain no abusive, vulgar, offensive, racist, threatening or harassing content. Naming conventions utilized on We Agnostics ought to be your first name and last initial, or your first name and a location identifier. For example: Julianne, Julianne V., Julianne Indiana.
(We all dislike being told what to do. I get it. Consider this a STRONGLY worded suggestion and the server administration has the final word on the appropriateness of names/nicknames.)
– We will remove content that contains abusive, vulgar, offensive, racist, threatening or harassing content, personal attacks of any kind, or offensive terms that target specific individuals or groups.
– We will remove content that promotes services or products, or that involves political campaigning or lobbying.
– We may remove content that contains personal information (whether your own or someone else’s), including home address, home or cell phone number, or personal e-mail address, in order to protect privacy.
– Do not post anything that you do not have the right to post or include links to copyright infringing material. (You may post links to material in the areas where posting links is allowed – some channels are read only.)
– This Discord server is owned by Julianne V. and is operated on behalf of the WeAgnostics community. I ask for your understanding in this as I, Julianne V., had to agree to certain EULA (End User License Agreements) in order to establish this server. The WeAgnostics ACoA Discord is in compliance with Discord T.O.S. and Community Guidelines. Thank you for your understanding.