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events about the early days of the fellowship. At these meetings, he saw people practicing a program that did not even remotely resemble the 'original' program of the 1940's. meetings until the 1980's when he was working with a grandson who had a drinking problem. Since the Oxford Group had been responsible for his spiritual awakening, James remained with the fellowship even after it changed its name to Moral Re-Armament in 1938. got its ideas of self-examination, acknowledgment of character defects, restitution for harm done, and working with others straight from the Oxford Groups and directly from Sam Shoemaker, their former leader in America, and from nowhere else.' Bill Wilson attended Oxford Group meetings at the Calvary Church and Sam was instrumental in assisting Bill Wilson with the writing of the 'Big Book' Bill acknowledged this linkage when he wrote on page 39 of Sam Shoemaker was the rector of the Calvary Church in New York City, which was the United States headquarters of the Oxford Group. fellowship through Sam Shoemaker, a mutual friend of his and Bill Wilson's. On numerous occasions, he has stated that the 'Big Book' is Oxford Group literature written for a specific segment of the Oxford Group fellowship.ДЄlthough James stayed in the Oxford Group, he did have contact with the early A.A. James is the only person alive today who has first hand knowledge of the material Bill Wilson and the other 'Big Book' authors used to write the bookДЄlcoholics Anonymous. Bob didn't leave the Group until 1940 almost a year after the 'Big Book' was written. James remained in the Oxford Group, as did Rowland Hazard, Cebra Graves, Victor Kitchen, and Charles Clapp among others.

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In 1937, Bill left the Group to work full time with alcoholics.ДЄs James explains it, when Bill Wilson left the Oxford he didn't take all the drunks with him. Only God could remove our addictions and afflictions, provided we established an intimate two-way relationship with Him. The Group believed that self could not overcome self. All of these behaviors left us in the dark relying on self-will, rather than There was no more emphasis on alcohol than there was on smoking, womanizing, or drug addiction. The Oxford Group considered all addictions to be equally detrimental in terms of cutting a person off from God. James attended Oxford Group meetings with Bill Wilson in Frederick, MD from 1935-1937. Bob Smith, and the other 'Big Book' authors, James had his spiritual awakening as the direct result of taking the Oxford Group Four Steps of Surrender, Sharing, Restitution and Guidance. found God and sobriety in the Oxford Group. Bob Smith, and the other 'Big Book' authors, James He is ninety-five years old, sixty-six years sober, and one of the greatest 'life-changers' of the past one hundred years. The objective ofД«ack to Basics is to reverse this decline by reintroducing the 'original' Beginners' Meetings that worked for three out of every four people who entered the rooms of Alcoholics Anonymous. Prior to the 1990's, the fellowship doubled in membership every ten years. has only a 5-10% recovery rate, depending upon which study you read.ДЇigures published by GSO show that the fellowship peaked in 1992 at 2.2 million members and has declined 20% since then. The program has continued to change over the years and has reached a point where today A.A. They don't realize that the program of the 1970's was quite different from the 'original' program of the 1940's. Many people today know very little about the early days, except for what they have read or what they have heard from some 'old-timers' (actually newcomers compared to James James is the last living link to the spiritual roots of the Alcoholics Anonymous program that produced a 75% recovery rate from alcoholism. has played in bringing this highly successful 'design for living' back to the fellowship. community who are unfamiliar with this 'original' meeting format or the role James This is certainly the case when trying to explain the relationship of JamesД«ack to Basics Beginners' Meetings, and Alcoholics Anonymous.Д«ack to Basics Beginners' Groups throughout the world which have produced more than 100,000 recoveries, there are still people within the A.A. Sometimes there are no easy answers even when the questions seem to be simple and straightforward. The three questions that come up the most are: Archivist, Historian, and AuthorДuring the past five years, I have been asked on numerous occasions to answer specific questions about James Of Life Changing Video | Converting Barriers to Bridges |Д«y Wally P. Houck Frequently Asked Questions | The 5 C's Christian Walk through the Steps of Recovery | The

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