EAI 2026 Motion - Higher Power

2026 FA World Service Business Convention

SHORT NAME: Higher Power motion

MAIN MOTION

The Des Moines, Iowa, USA, Friday, 6:00am CST, videoconference meeting group moves to replace all mention of “God” and "He," "Him," "His," and "Himself," with “Higher Power” in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

CURRENT LANGUAGE

[STEP 3] Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him.

[STEP 5] Admitted to God, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our  wrongs.

[STEP 6] Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.

[STEP 7] Humbly asked God to remove our shortcomings.

[STEP 11] Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry that out. 

[TRADITION 2] For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

PROPOSED LANGUAGE

[STEP 3] Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood Him a Higher Power of our understanding. 

[STEP 5] Admitted to God a Higher Power, to ourselves, and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs.

[STEP 6] Were entirely ready to have God a Higher Power remove all these defects of character.

[STEP 7] Humbly asked God a Higher Power to remove our shortcomings.

[STEP 11] Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with a Higher Power God as we understood Him, praying only for knowledge of a Higher Power’s His will for us and the power to carry that out.

[TRADITION 2]  For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority—a loving Higher Power expressed God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

RATIONALE

This motion creates consistency between FA’s definition of Higher Power in Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous and the wording of the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in our meeting format. In Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, Appendix 1, “Some Frequently Used Terms,” the following definition is given: “Higher Power: As food addicts, FA members turn to a power greater than themselves for strength to remain  abstinent. Each person finds and develops his or her own relationship with this power. Some call it God.  Others do not. FA is a spiritual, not a religious program.”

Although the term God is helpful to many, it presents a significant barrier for others. According to the  Fifth Tradition, “Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the food addict who still  suffers.” Keeping language that hinders any member’s recovery is not consistent with this purpose. The First  Tradition reminds us that “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on FA unity,”  and the Twelfth Tradition guides us “to place principles before personalities.” Our slide format also reminds us  that abstinence—our “freedom from compulsion and obsession with food”—enables us to do service that both  reaches suffering food addicts and strengthens our own recovery. 

The question raised by this motion is not whether a majority of members feel comfortable with the word  God and therefore feel no need to change the wording. Rather, the question is whether those who are  comfortable with the word God are willing to do service by considering the needs of those who experience that  word as a barrier to sustaining the “strength to remain abstinent.”