Sponsorship in The Big Book
Where is the role of a sponsor described in the Big Book?
Neither the word "sponsor" or "sponsorship" appears in A.A.'s Basic Text, the First 164 pages of the Big Book.
Chapter 7 "Working With Others" describes what a sponsor does, but the word "sponsor" was not introduced to A.A. for several years after publication of the Big Book.
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Some say that everything in the Big Book from page 89 (the beginning of Chapter 7 - Working With Others) through Page 164 is the "sponsor's instruction manual".
The bottom of Page 18 describes the attributes many think are found in a good sponsor:
But the ex-problem drinker who has found this solution, who is properly armed with facts about himself, can generally win the entire confidence of another alcoholic in a few hours. Until such an understanding is reached, little or nothing can be accomplished.
??That the man who is making the approach has had the same difficulty, that he obviously knows what he is talking about, that his whole deportment shouts at the new prospect that he is a man with a real answer, that he has no attitude of Holier Than Thou, nothing whatever except the sincere desire to be helpful; that there are no fees to pay, no axes to grind, no people to please, no lectures to be endured - these are the conditions we have found most effective. After such an approach many take up their beds and walk again.
