Stick with the Winners
Clarence H. Snyder’s
Contributions in Cleveland Marked Him as a Winner
Dick B.
© 2014 Anonymous. All
rights reserved
Clarence H.
Snyder got sober in Alcoholics Anonymous in February, 1938. His sponsor was
A.A. Cofounder Dr. Bob. And in 1939, Clarence organized the first A.A. group in
Cleveland. As stated in another Dick B. Paper, its growth was huge. And as
stated, its recorded success rate was 93%.
That raises
the question as to what the Cleveland A.A. groups brought with them from Akron
Number One, and what they added when they began. The Big Book and its Twelve
Steps had just been published. And they were used in Cleveland. A First Century
Christian Fellowship, later called the Oxford Group, had developed the “Four
Absolutes”—honesty, purity, and unselfishness, and love. These were
incorporated in the Cleveland program. And, as DR. BOB and the Good Oldtimers made clear, Akron A.A. had called
itself a Christian Fellowship and stressed the Bible and prayer as essentials
of their original program.
As Mitchell
K., a sponsee of Clarence’s wrote in his book How It Worked: The Story of Clarence H. Snyder and the Early Days of
Alcoholics Anonymous in Cleveland, Ohio, the following ideas and events
were a part of Clarence’s A.A. life:
(1) When Clarence was hospitalized in
Akron City, Hospital, he confirmed to Dr. Bob that he believed in God. Just
before Clarence was discharged from the hospital, Mitchell K. says that Dr. Bob
and Clarence were on their knees by the side of the hospital bed in an attitude
of prayer. And Clarence remembered this much of the “surrender” prayer he
repeated after Dr. Bob: “Jesus! This is Clarence Snyder. He’s a drunk.
Clarence! This is Jesus. Ask him to come into your life. Ask him to remove your
drinking problem, and pray that he manage your life because you are unable to
manage it yourself,” page 58
(2) According to Mitchell K., when
Clarence was attending weekly Oxford Group meetings in Akron, he was taken
upstairs to make his “full” surrender. Doc told him, “Young feller, it’s about
time you make your full surrender.” T. Henry Williams, Dr. Bob, and two Oxford
Group members went into T. Henry’s bedroom. They all got down on their knees in
an attitude of prayer. They placed their hands on Clarence, and prayed.
Mitchell K. stated: “These people introduced Clarence to Jesus as his Lord and
Savior. They explained to Clarence that this was First Century Christianity.
Then they prayed for a healing and removal of Clarence’s sins, especially his
alcoholism,” page 70.
(3) In the survey, Clarence made of the
members in Cleveland, he concluded, said Mitchell K., that by keeping most of the
“old program,” including the Four Absolutes and the Bible, ninety-three percent
of those surveyed had maintained uninterrupted sobriety. See page 108.
dickb@dickb.com
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