Online Sponsors

Many of us have found there is nothing like a live voice at the end of the phone, or a warm hug in face-to-face contact when we are overwhelmed with a problem in our lives. On-line sponsorship can add another dimension to your recovery as do on-line meetings. Each month, GROW provides a list of available online sponsors who have volunteered for this service. Please be aware that you can also ask anyone in GROW to be your sponsor. Online sponsors are not limited to this list. Know that it may take a few trials to find the right fit for you in a Sponsor.

GROW’s Sponsor Listkeeper sends out the list of available online sponsors at the beginning of each month. If you want to contact our Sponsor Listkeeper, you can find the e-mail address of the current Trusted Servant by going to the Members section on our website at http://g-r-o-w.com/member-welcome/trusted-servants/. At the bottom of the page will be a link to the current roster. Look for the Sponsor Listkeeper on that list.

A.A.’s booklet “Questions & Answers on Sponsorship” contains information for people who are looking for a sponsor as well as for people who want to be a sponsor. The following two questions and answers give brief guidance:

How does sponsorship help the newcomer?
It assures the newcomer that there is at least one person who understands the situation fully and cares – one person to turn to without embarrassment when doubts, questions, or problems linked to alcoholism arise. Sponsorship gives the newcomer an understanding, sympathetic friend when one is needed most. Sponsorship also provides the bridge enabling the new person to meet other alcoholics – in a home group and in other groups visited.

How should a sponsor be chosen?
The process of matching newcomer and sponsor is as informal as everything else in A.A. Often, the new person simply approaches a more experienced member who seems compatible and asks that member to be a sponsor. Most A.A.s are happy and grateful to receive such a request.

An old A.A. saying suggests “Stick with the winners.” It’s only reasonable to seek a sharing of experience with a member who seems to be using the A.A. program successfully in everyday life. There are no specific rules, but a good sponsor probably should be a year or more away from the last drink – and should seem to be enjoying sobriety.
– From the pamphlet, Questions and Answers on Sponsorship. 1983, p. 9.

May a newcomer change sponsors?
We are always free to select another sponsor with whom we feel more comfortable, particularly if we believe this member will be more helpful to our growth in A.A.
– From the pamphlet, Questions and Answers on Sponsorship. 1983, p. 11.