Our History
What a blessing; the AA meeting at Congregation Sherith Israel (CSI), has blossomed into a popular and meaningful event seven days per week. “Anything is Possible” (AiP) meets Mon-Fri 5-6PM and Saturday at 11am-12pm, and Sunday 1-2PM.
Our meeting’s roots began at Nu Outlook, a clubhouse similar to the Dry Dock that was open from noon till 10 pm and provided a home to many of us in recovery. When Nu Outlook closed in December 2016, our established AA group started to wander like nomads in the desert. We began to meet at noon at the Macedonia church near our old meeting club, but we had no meeting to attend together in the after work hours.
After a long stay in the hospital for me, it became apparent that we needed a new home. I approached Congregation Sherith Israel, my religious home, and asked them to provide space for our meeting. A glorious environment, the building opened in 1904 and is the oldest Reform Jewish synagogue West of the Mississippi. The beautiful stained glass windows and old time architecture provide a very spiritual setting. We negotiated and CSI was willing to give it a try. Soon we all became intertwined and our meeting started to provide a new vibrancy to the temple each evening during the week and on weekend afternoons.
The meeting began with a well attended Monday group: 20 people or so and my friend Fredie S. suggested the name “Anything is Possible.” Thereafter the meetings were attended sparsely; some with merely two members.
We have been fortunate that a popular old timer was a regular member at Nu Outlook and that he became instrumental in helping to establish our meetings at CSI. I will be forever grateful to Kurt for setting up and filling commitments, formatting notebooks, establishing a phone list, newsletter and literature - all the things that make meetings successful. At the time I didn’t realize how vital this was to the future of the meeting.
Once we were in existence for six months, we qualified for entry into on the aasf.org schedule and the schedule book. We appeared as the first 5 PM meeting (Anything is Possible begins with A, providing a primo web site location!) Many of the oldest of old timers began to appear regularly, but surprisingly to me, newcomers started coming, and they continued to come back! We now have 15- 20 members at most meetings and have as many as thirty from time to time.
Anything is Possible has become helpful to many AAs in the SF recovery community. I am extremely grateful to have the continuing opportunity to participate in the growth of this wonderful meeting along with Kurt, Nancy Sheftel-Gomes of Congregation Sherith Israel and everyone else who has been instrumental in the establishment of our successful meeting group.
- Eric S., Temple Liason