AA in Southeast Missouri finds new ways to meet during COVID-19

Editor’s note: The person interviewed for this story about Alcoholics Anonymous asked his name to be withheld.

The requirements of Gov. Mike Parson’s stay-at-home order, while obligatory, have nonetheless complicated the lives of many Missourians.

Perhaps no single organization puts such a premium on meeting in person as does Alcoholics Anonymous.

“We very reluctantly gave up on face-to-face, but it is necessary,” said the secretary of AA’s District 7, which covers the counties of Cape Girardeau, Scott, Perry and St. Genevieve.

As many as 60 AA District 7 meetings were being held weekly until the pandemic shut many things down.

“We still need one another, though,” said the official, “and we meet virtually every morning and evening.”

Using the Go-to-Meeting platform, which AA participants may download for free, those in recovery can meet for an interactive time of reflection every morning and evening.

“I lead one (virtual) meeting Monday through Sunday at 7 a.m.,” said the official, who says another seven-day-a-week session is held at 6 p.m., plus a once-a-week opportunity at 1 p.m. Sundays.

Anyone who needs a meeting is invited to download Go-to-Meeting and enter “AAD7” to get connected.

The official admits this arrangement is far from ideal.

“Isolation, loneliness and secrecy are so much of part of this disease,” he said.

“Being face-to-face with one another, the way AA has always met,” he said, “is a way we can make the presence of a Higher Power a reality.

“The whole point of (an alcoholic’s) being is tied into drinking and the (resultant) shame.”

The secretary is a clergyman who has been in alcohol recovery for 40 years and has lived for the last 19 years in Cape Girardeau.

“I sponsor a number of men (alcoholics) one-on-one,” said the secretary, who explained he always meets outdoors, one at a time, and keeps 10 feet apart at all times.

“I wash my hands and face before we meet and also afterward,” he added.

“But we only do gather every couple of weeks,” said the official, who explained the normal contact is now by telephone.

The website Alcohol.org reports it conducted a study of 3,000 employees working from home across the U.S. to find out how many are using their new office setup as an excuse to drink.

The study also found 32% of Missourians said they have drunk alcohol during work hours while operating from home.

“I’m not familiar with Alcohol.org, so I can’t vouch for its research,” said the secretary, “but intuitively, (the study) is a prudent warning.”

One of the 60 groups in District 7 is the secretary’s home club, at Christ Episcopal Church in downtown Cape Girardeau, often referred in the neighborhood as the “Red Door” church.