The 3 Legacies of AA

The Three Legacies of AA: Recovery, Unity, and Service

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The most important legacies of the first twenty years of Alcoholics Anonymous are those of recovery, unity, and service. With the help of the first, we recover from alcoholism, with the help of the second, we stay united, and with the help of the third, our community functions and serves its most important purpose: taking the message of AA to all who need and want it.

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The legacy of Recovery I is expressed in our Twelve Steps. The II legacy of Unity is expressed in our twelve traditions. The core of Service III's legacy is the action to bring the message of AA.

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AA's twelfth step, delivering the message, is a basic service provided by our fellowship. It is our main purpose and the main reason for our existence. AA is more than a collection of principles; it is a functioning community of recovered alcoholics.

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AA's III legacy includes all work and service related to message delivery, from the cup of coffee we offer, group meeting places, committee work, voluntary financial contributions to the work of AA's national and international central service offices.

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The legacy of Service III includes the council plan that AA inherited from its founders at the anniversary meeting in St Louis on July 3, 1955. AA's Service Manual sheds more detail on the matter.

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Bill W. wrote the book Twelve Concepts of World Service in 1962. The AA council had met twelve times in the past. In the work, Bill W. sheds light on the spiritual principles of service activities.

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The book AA Comes of Age accurately tells the history of all three legacies of AA.