Breaking Barriers at SOAAR 2025 

The founder of Alcoholics Anonymous Bill W. spoke at the 1953 General Service Conference on variations in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, commenting “The more we insist on strict conformity with these Steps and Traditions, the more resistance against them we create.” 

Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism.

And yet, some people struggle to join A.A.

Not because they wonder “How will I possibly live a sober life?!” (although that does happen!), but because of spiritual or religious undertones within certain A.A. literature and meetings. For some, this is enough to keep them out of the rooms.

Some A.A. members took the slogan “Take what you need and leave the rest” to heart, and thus, Secular A.A. was born.

You see, there have always been minority groups within A.A. gathering to safely discuss issues specific to their community – whether that be the Queer community, POC (People Of Colour), or our secular brothers and sisters.

In fact, atheists and agnostics helped write the Big Book, softening the ‘God talk’ with ‘High power’ and ‘as you understand Him.’ 

As our society ages, more people are becoming less strongly religiously affiliated. Interestingly, Pew Research in 2022 found that over 40% of adults between 20 and 34 are religiously unaffiliated entirely. Having a secular home in A.A. is a safe haven for these young recovering alcoholics, as well as anyone wanting to explore sobriety and this program without being bathed in religious thought.

Our goal in secular A.A. is to widen the door of A.A. for more alcoholics to find sobriety – exactly the primary purpose of Alcoholics Anonymous.

One of the ways we do this is through Secular Ontario Alcoholics Anonymous Roundup (SOAAR), a biennial event catering to agnostics, atheists, freethinkers, believers, and anyone in search of fellowship and unity in their sobriety journey.

SOAAR 2025’s theme is Breaking Barriers, and the conference is taking place Saturday, September 27, 2025, from 9:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. at the Lord Elgin Hotel in Ottawa, ON, Canada.

The founding SOAAR event was held in Toronto in 2017 with roughly 100 AA members in attendance. The theme was Live and Let Live, one of AA’s flagship slogans. The second SOAAR was held in Hamilton in 2019, and Kingston in 2023. Ottawa is proud to host the fourth SOAAR.

This year’s program is incredibly exciting, as speakers from near and far share their experience, strength, and hope – and shed light on timely topics that impact us all.

Want to attend SOAAR 2025 in Ottawa? Get your ticket here.

We cannot wait to meet you at SOAAR 2025. If you have any questions, email soaar2025@gmail.com.

Happy 24!

For a PDF of today’s article, click here: Breaking Barriers at SOAAR 2025.