Tradition Five · Short Form
“Each group has but one primary purpose — to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
The exact purpose is the center of this page. The sections below identify its subject, action, recipient, meeting-use context, and official A.A. sources.
Three official contexts
“Primary purpose” appears at three connected levels
The official sources speak about the A.A. group, the member, and a statement used at meetings. These are connected, but they are not interchangeable.
The group · Tradition Five
Carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers
The short form names the group’s primary purpose. The long form places that work within the group’s identity as a spiritual entity.
- Subject
- Each A.A. group
- Action
- Carry its message
- Recipient
- The alcoholic who still suffers
The member · Official A.A. overview
Stay sober and help other alcoholics achieve sobriety
A.A.’s official “Hope” page describes the Fellowship’s primary purpose in member-facing language: sobriety is joined to helping another alcoholic.
- Personal
- Members seek to stay sober
- Shared
- Members help other alcoholics
- Method
- Members share A.A. experience
The meeting · F-17 statement card
Read the current official statement where a group uses it
A.A. publishes the F-17 Primary Purpose Statement Card for meeting use. Its publication page is the direct source for that statement and its current format.
- Item
- F-17 statement card
- Use
- A statement read at meetings
- Source
- Current A.A. publication page
Tradition Five, read closely
The sentence answers four practical questions
This is a close reading of the official sentence, not a replacement for it.
Who has the purpose?
The Tradition begins with “each group.” It addresses the A.A. group rather than a hospital, treatment program, church, employer, court, or social-service agency.
How many primary purposes?
The wording says “but one.” Other activities are evaluated by whether they help or divert the group from carrying the A.A. message.
What is the group to do?
The verb is “carry.” The group makes the A.A. message available through meetings, members’ shared experience, literature, and service.
Who is the message meant to reach?
The sentence identifies the alcoholic who still suffers. It does not turn economic status, education, belief, background, or prior treatment into an admission test.
Focus and cooperation
A defined purpose sets a role; it does not deny other help
A.A.’s own Traditions, FAQ, and professional-resource publication explain both the boundary and the possibility of cooperation.
Tradition Five
Keep the group centered on carrying the A.A. message
The group’s purpose is not an all-purpose service mission. Its specific work is carrying its A.A. message to alcoholics who still suffer.
Tradition Six
Avoid endorsement, affiliation, and diversion
The Sixth Tradition supplies an institutional boundary: outside enterprises, property, money, and prestige must not divert the group from its purpose.
Official A.A. FAQ
A.A. does not operate hospitals or rehabilitation centers
A.A. says it avoids duplicating services that other organizations provide. The Fellowship’s task remains helping alcoholics who seek a life without alcohol.
Health-care professional resource
Professionals may connect people with A.A.
A.A.’s professional resource describes referral approaches. Cooperation can help an alcoholic reach A.A. without making A.A. a clinical provider or affiliating it with another organization.
Purpose in A.A. life
The same purpose guides different kinds of work
The setting changes; the reason for the work stays connected to carrying the message.
Make recovery experience available
A meeting creates a place where alcoholics can encounter A.A.’s message through members’ experience and official literature.
Check: Can a newcomer hear and find the A.A. message here?Protect continuity and accessibility
Group decisions about format, roles, rent, literature, and service support the meeting’s ability to remain available.
Check: Does this decision help the group carry its message?Share experience without controlling the outcome
A member may tell what A.A. experience was like, what happened, and what life is like now. Another person’s response remains their own.
Check: Am I offering A.A. experience rather than authority over another person?Explain what A.A. is and how to reach it
Accurate information helps professionals and the public connect alcoholics with meetings while keeping A.A.’s nonprofessional role clear.
Check: Is the information accurate, useful, and free of endorsement?Support groups in carrying the message
The official “Our Primary Purpose” podcast describes GSO’s role in helping groups and members carry A.A.’s message.
Check: Does the service support groups and members in their primary purpose?Related local guides
Continue with the part of the subject you need
Each row leads to a distinct question about purpose, group principles, identity, group life, or the wider A.A. system.
Established site controls
Continue through meetings, principles, membership, and group life
Each destination uses its exact approved circular control.
Official A.A. sources
Read every part in its source context
These official pages and publications support the definition, boundary, cooperation, and service sections above.
Source record: Official A.A. Primary Purpose Statement Card, Twelve Traditions, Tradition Five chapter, scope FAQ, health-care professional resource, Hope page, and GSO podcast reviewed August 14, 2026.