The Newcomer

 Why is AA flourishing while the Catholic Church and the Monastic life are dwindling in membership and attendance?  I think a key answer is the newcomer.  AA is nowhere near as sophisticated spiritual program or path as has the 2000 year old Catholic Church and the 1500 year old monastic life.  But AA is growing from its founding in mid-20th century.  The reason lies in the newcomer.  The church and the monastery do not pay much attention to the newcomer.  Everyone just wants to go on doing what they do and not be inconvenienced by having to change behavior or habits because of a new person.  In AA, the newcomer is key.  The focus is on that person as the most important person in the room.  A regular member will change their day to invite the newcomer to coffee or breakfast after the meeting.  That will never happen in a Catholic parish.  It is all private religion and seeing old faces, or getting out of the parking lot, to the next thing on the agenda.  In a monastery, the old timers just want to go on with the rut in which they live, their daily habits.  Someone is “assigned” to attend to the new person, and does it in scheduled meetings.  But no one is going out of their way for the new person.  A flourishing AA meeting is one that has newcomers and attends to them, immediately.  And they attend to the newcomer by sharing their story of spiritual growth.  You won’t get that at coffee and donuts after mass.