Sponsorship

Sponsor:  A senior member of a twelve step or similar program assigned to guide a new initiate and form a partnership with him.  (Ed. Note:  This definition made me laugh.  I usually shake my head when I get a glimpse at how the outside world sees our organization.  I like the idea of a "senior member" which makes me sound like a managing partner of a law firm who is going to tell someone who won't do anything I suggest what to do; I love the use of the word "initiate" which sounds ominously religious; and the idea of a "partnership" which brings to mind some kind of commercial agreement made me roar."

The word "sponsor" or "sponsorship" appears nowhere in The Big Book.  The concept first appears in Step Two in the Twelve and Twelve and then it shows up frequently.

Step Two - finding some concept of a power greater than ourselves - has five categories of God Fighters and Deniers: belligerents; people who reject spirituality as the domain of the "holier than thou" crowd; those who had faith and lost it; the "I'm too smart for this god bullshit" faction; and the poor souls who still believe in God but are soaked and marinated in too much alcohol to understand anything.  It is - along with Five and Twelve - one of the longest chapters in the Twelve and Twelve.  If you're having trouble with the whole Higher Power concept you're in good company.

If you come to a good, solid, workable relationship with a Higher Power, one that's based on a real, deeply-held belief, and not an action you're taking because you have to, an action where you're "faking it until you make it" or "behaving as if," then you're right on schedule.