An affiliated Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) group in Somerset has been censured for including the Lord’s Prayer in its meetings. Reportedly, a new member of the group that meets in a church in Yeovil felt ‘uncomfortable’ with the inclusion of the prayer at the beginning of the meeting, so the group was told it would be removed from AA’s register.
Andrea Williams, chief executive of Christian Concern, spoke to GB News about how AA groups had been founded on Christian values and precepts after its founder, Frank Buchman, was converted in the 1930s.
Andrea commented: “In this particular group, Mr Palmer, who leads the group, had been there since the 1980s, at it was through that particular group that he himself had been introduced to Christianity. It became something radically life-transforming for him; it changed everything about his life.” She spoke of how there was never any pressure to recite the Lord’s Prayer, and how, over the four decades that Mr Palmer has been part of the group, he has seen many lives transformed: “Mr Palmer’s motivation is to see people get free from their own alcohol addiction. There’s no bashing round the head or forcing Christianity on people. But he also doesn’t hide the roots of the group.”
Perhaps this shows a growing intolerance of Christian values in society? Andrea commented: “We can talk about mindfulness, we can talk about yoga, we can talk about a whole manner of other things and nobody would bat an eyelid. But dare to pray the Lord’s Prayer in a situation like this and someone doesn’t like that, then you can find yourself in trouble.”
3 January 2022
GB News