Twelve Steps to Religionless Spirituality

The Twelve Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous provides a spiritual program dramatically distinct from religion. Twelve Step spirituality is based on experience, not doctrine; it is pragmatic, focusing on what works and not on theory; it is centered in a community that is inclusive, welcoming all who desire to stop drinking; it seeks rigorous honesty even when that honesty involves painful questioning; and it centers upon service to the still suffering alcoholic. The power found in working the Steps is transformational, moving participants from despair to hope, from self-focused resentment to concern for others, and from angry efforts to control to gratitude for gifts received. It works for atheists and agnostics, secularists and free thinkers, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and other faiths. At a time when more and more people identify themselves as spiritual but not religious and the traditional religious institutions are in decline in Western culture, Twelve Step spirituality provides insights that can assist in the renewal and reinvigoration of our churches, synagogues, and mosques. In our time of dramatic social polarization, it can provide a foundation for bridging differences. Largely unknown outside the recovery community, this book examines how this transformative program can be relevant to today.


About the Author
Ward B. Ewing is uniquely qualified to discuss Twelve Step spirituality and religion. He retired as the Dean and President of The General Theological Seminary, New York, in 2010 after twelve years of service there and thirty-one years as a pastor in congregations. He has been involved with Alcoholics Anonymous as a non-alcoholic for over forty years. In 2004 he was elected to serve as a Trustee on the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous for US and Canada, and in 2009 elected to serve as Chair of the Board.