Sunday, March 6, 2016

Overview of Agnostic AA in Los Angeles

Los Angeles has a number of Alcoholics Anonymous groups that are helpful for agnostic/atheist members.  Los Angeles AA groups have always stayed close to AA as a whole, and they the opportunity for people to immerse themselves actively in AA "without having to accept anyone else's beliefs or deny their own."



For updates see the telephone app "Meeting Guide" (with symbol of chair; android or iphone) or the LA AA website here.


COVID UPDATE 2020

Most or all meetings are cancelled in person during Spring 2020.
But - 
Almost all these Agnostic meetings have video versions posted on the LA Central Website.
https://lacoaa.org/    Click on the banner for ONLINE MEETINGS.

For the Sunday night Culver City meeting, click on SHARE and ONLINE MEETINGS.

https://shareselfhelp.org/programs-share-the-self-help-and-recovery-exchange/self-help-support-groups/ 

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The six active Agnostic AA groups meet in Los Angeles:
  • Sunday Night Culver City (8 pm)
  • Sunday Night Studio City (Valley) (8 pm)

  • Tuesday Evening Santa Monica (7 pm) (new location 2020)
  • Tuesday Evening Hollywood/Los Feliz (7:30 pm)

  • Thursday Evening Hollywood/Los Feliz Women's (7:30 pm) (new 2019/2020)
  • Friday Evening Hollywood (8:00 pm) (new location 2020)
Updates (2019-2020, but before COVID):
  • NEW: Starting  Summer 2019, there is also be a Women's Agnostic meeting, Thursday 7:30 pm in Los Feliz (same address, same room as Tuesday, Ghandi Room, 4607 Prospect).
  • CHANGED:  Starting Summer 2019, the Friday Evening Hollywood meeting meets at 8:00 (not 8:30).  Beginning on and after Friday, January 31, 2020, it meets at the upstairs room at 4607 Prospect, like several other meetings.
  • CHANGED:  During 2019, the Tuesday Santa Monica meeting moved to: PARK (Douglas Park), Clubhouse, 2439 Wilshire Blvd, Santa Monica.

This blog provides:
  1. An LA regional map shows the four locations at a birds-eye view
  2. Individual detailed meeting descriptions (Sunday x 2, Tuesday x 2, Friday)
  3. A short section "What Agnostic AA Meetings Are Like"
  4. Links to other websites of interest in Agnostic AA
  5. At the bottom of this blog, find pictures of each meeting building



1. MAP OF  LOS ANGELES AREA MEETINGS 
(Click to Enlarge):



The Studio City meeting would actually be a little above the rest of the map (see "box").
Find "map buttons" at the meeting descriptions below.   (Note, the Tuesday Santa Monica meeting is now north of the 10 freeway; see address in this blog).






2.  INDIVIDUAL MEETING DESCRIPTIONS


* SUNDAY NIGHT (TWO MEETINGS) *
(1) Sunday Culver City
We Agnostics / Culver City / Sunday 8 pm
  • Meets at the multi group self help facility "SHARE" in Culver City, where the 405/Jefferson/Centinela/Sepulveda all cross and just a few blocks south of the Fox Hills Mall.  
  • The address is 6666 Green Valley Circle, Culver City, CA 90230.
  • The meeting is in a large room on the second floor.  Meetings are an hour long, with a brief lead speaker (5-10 min) and then open sharing.  This meeting has been running since 1988.
Insider's tips:
  Driving:  For extra driving tips, here.
  Parking: Always plenty of free on site parking.
  Flyer:  For a printable one-page flyer:  here.
  Protocol:  Meeting protocol online: here.
  Map.  (For building photos, see bottom of blog.)



(2) Sunday Studio City
We Agnostics of the Valley / Studio City / Valley / 8 pm

Held at a Unitarian Universalist church at 12355 Moorpark.  Head upstairs for Room 9.
The location is just a few blocks from the Laurel Canyon Exit off the 101.
This meeting is listed in the San Fernando Directory (here).
Google Map, click here.
Picture map, click here.




* TUESDAY NIGHT (TWO MEETINGS) *

(3) Tuesday Santa Monica
Westside We Agnostics / Santa Monica / Tuesday 700 pm

This group is one of the largest in Los Angeles, often with over 30 in attendance.  In 2019, the meeting left its former church meeting site and now meets in a park community building.   The address is 2439 Wilshire Blvd, in Santa Monica.  (Note: Be sure you have 2439 Wilshire in Santa Monica, not in LA.)

Insider's Tips:
  Driving: Not too far north from the 10.  Exit on Bundy or 20th/Cloverfield and drive north to Wilshire.
  Finding it: Park; community building in the park..
  Parking: Street park on different sides
  Map.  (For building photos, see bottom of blog.)


(4) Tuesday Los Feliz
We Agnostics Speaker Meeting / Los Feliz (North Vermont) / Tuesday 730 pm

This group uses a large community room at the church at 4607 Prospect Ave in the Los Feliz area, close to where Hollywood Blvd crosses North Vermont.  (Reach the Gandhi Room from the door at the northeast corner of the church building, on the Rodney Drive side, toward the back.)

There are also many coffee places and restaurants northbound on Vermont Ave from this area.  The "speaker" is a ten minute lead.   

Insider's tips: 
  Driving:  One block north, two blocks east from Hollywood & Vermont.
  Orientation: Can't miss it; big church in residential zone.
  Parking:  For extra parking tips, please click here.   Street parking can be dicey, but pay lots are $5 a couple blocks west at Vermont. At night the BofA bank lot is a pay lot.
  Secrets: The bathroom is the tiny door in the back of the room.
  Dog friendly.
  People often go out for dinner nearby after the meeting.
  Map.   (For building photos, see bottom of blog.)


(5) Thursday: Women's Agnostic Meeting


There is a Women's Agnostic Meeting at the Los Feliz church, 4607 Prospect, at 7:30 pm on Thursday.   Instructions as above.  This was getting started in mid 2019.



* FRIDAY NIGHT HOLLYWOOD *
(6) Friday Hollywood
Hollywood We Agnostics / Friday 800 pm

The only 90 minute meeting, this group is one of the granddaddy of Agnostic AA in Los Angeles.  

This meeting met for forty years at Kaiser Sunset in various buildings, but on January 31, 2019, this meeting moves to the church at 4607 Prospect as above.

If you happen to read this and go on exactly Friday January 24, 2020, find the Kaiser hospital building at 1515 Vermont..  Enter (by car or foot) via the parking ramp, entering only on the south or Sunset Blvd. side of this building.  Inside the parking area, walk to the right to the "Conference Center" entrance.  Through the Conference Center doors, the meeting will be easy to find.  The last meeting here is Friday, January 24, 2020.

Insider's tips: 
  
The Friday Night Hollywood meeting is the church as indicated above, 4607 Prospect , enter on the right side (Rodney Street).  The Friday Night meeting should be in the "Upper room" which is above the Ghandi Room; see staircase.  Parking includes neighborhood parking, or the big bank lot (with attendant for payment) at Vermont & Hollywood.  

For More Information About LA Meetings

For the local Los Angeles Central Office, where all these meetings are listed, call 323 936 4343 or www.lacoaa.org .





3.  WHAT AGNOSTIC AA MEETINGS ARE LIKE

Meetings usually include an introductory paragraph like this:
The We Agnostics Group maintains a tradition of free expression.  We neither oppose any religion nor endorse it.    We neither endorse atheism nor oppose it.   Our only wish is to assure you that anyone may achieve recovery in AA without having to accept anyone else's beliefs or deny their own.
At the end of the meeting we will have a moment of silence, and on the count of three, repeat the AA responsibility pledge:  "When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there, and for that, I am responsible."
We hope to see you at one of our meetings soon!




4. SOME OTHER WEBSITES OF INTEREST

AA Agnostica Website
For the most extensive website with information on Agnostic AA, nationally and internationally, see
   http://aaagnostica.org/ .  For example, find Orange County and San Diego and SF meetings here.

   Books on agnostic/humanist AA, see here. 

AA Beyond Belief
 http://www.aabeyondbelief.com/

Secular AA
https://secularaa.org/

California Agnostic Meetings
For a listing of all 38 Agnostic AA meetings in California, see  http://www.agnosticaanyc.org/worldwide.html#California

US & World Agnostic Meetings
A list of secular "world meetings" including the 50 states is maintained by the NYC Agnostic AA group, here:  http://agnosticaanyc.org/worldwide.html
See also a different "Secular AA Meeting List," here.

WAAFT & WAAFT-IAAC
For an agenda of Day 2 of their November 2016 international conference in Austin, TX, see here.
I understand this organization may adopt a shorter name, like "Secular" Alcoholics Anonymous.

LA Agnostic Meeting Business Cards
For a sheet of "LA Agnostic Business Cards" with all four meetings, which can be printed on Avery 5371 blank card stock, here.



Agnostic/AA/Freethinkers Conventions
2014:  October 2014, Santa Monica, California (Yay!)
2016:  November 2016, Austin, Texas.  
2018: August 24-25-26, 2018, in Toronto, Canada.  www.waaft.org
2019:  September 7, 2019, Canada, here: https://aaagnostica.org/2019/05/12/secular-ontario-aa-roundup/
They also run a YouTube channel, here.

History of LA Agnostic AA
For a history of Los Angeles Agnostic AA in the form of a memorial for the late Charlie Polacheck, here.

Short URL for THIS webpage:
http://tinyurl.com/AgnosticLA  





5.  PICTURES OF LA AGNOSTIC 
MEETING LOCATIONS/BUILDINGS

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SUNDAY - CULVER CITY LOOKS LIKE THIS:























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SUNDAY - STUDIO CITY LOOKS LIKE THIS:
Unitarian Church at 12355 Moorpark.













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TUESDAY - SANTA MONICA LOOKS LIKE THIS:

















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TUESDAY - LOS FELIZ LOOKS LIKE THIS
THURSDAY - WOMEN'S - LOS FELIX - LOOKS LIKE THIS
FRIDAY - HOLLYWOOD (FORMER KAISER MEETING) - LOOKS LIKE THIS

Enter rear door off Rodney St (near side palm tree in pic).
Tues/Thurs in GHANDI ROOM.
Friday / Should be in room "above" GHANDI ROOM.

For extra parking tips click here.






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