The first reference to “bleeding deacon” that I am aware of, is in the book “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions”, published by Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., copyright, 1952, first printing, April 1953.
In the chapter entitled “Tradition Two”, on page 135, there is a description of 2 types of AA oldtimers. “Elder Statesmen”, who are willing to “wait on the sidelines…” allowing group conscience to guide decisions, and, “Bleeding Deacons”, “convinced the group cannot get along without (them)...” The chapter goes on to say “nearly every oldtimer has gone through this process. Happily most survive and become elder statesmen.”
Hi Grant, Sorry for the delay in responding, but I’ve been out of town.
“Did you transcribe this from a printed version?”
The answer is yes, I did transcibe it from the book, but as you see by the “...“s, I have edited out some of the interior of these passages, in trying to be concise. I used the same “...” covention I used, when quoting critics, in ads I wrote for TV shows. Of course, in those cases, I was really “spin doctoring” to make the quote seem as positive as possible.
That all being said, I suggest either you get a copy of the book for yourself from AA World Services (it is most definitely still in print), and double check my editing. If you like, I could forward you a copy. Or, I could transcribe the whole passage and you could use what you wished.
Let me know what you’d like me to do.
Fred
PS: I don’t work for AA, but I am a fairly long term member.
I wish you had a search site on here so we could find words. Maybe you do, and I’ve missed it. What say you?
dogsrule1946@aol.com