In the early days of S.L.A.A., the founders were met with resistance from their first prospective meeting locale over the name, “Sex and Love Addicts Anonymous”. The leader of the church felt that the name was too provocative and that the church board might reject the idea because of it. After realizing that this would likely be a problem everywhere, they began discussing solutions, and came to the alternative, The Augustine Fellowship, named after Augustine of Hippo.
As pages 130 and 131 of the Basic Text explain:
Augustine of Hippo-as those who have read his autobiography, Confessions, know-was probably one of us. The fact that a church body later canonized him as a saint was not a formal concern for us, because as a fellowship we have ” … no opinion on outside issues … ” (Tenth Tradition). However, the dynamics of Augustine’s story, the inner workings and struggles of the person himself, left us with little doubt that he would have understood, and felt welcome among us.
S.L.A.A. is not affiliated with any religion, sect, or denomination. The program is spiritual in nature, and all members are free to determine what that means for them. Many non-religious members choose the collective support of the group or a concept of the universe as their Higher Power. Your Higher Power is personal to you, and you are not required to believe in god(s) to attend meetings.
