The Lord's Prayer is a part of A.A.

A Contradiction in Terms?
See Big Book Pages 270, 291, 381 of the 3rd Edition.
Volume 55 Issue 9February 1999
In most meetings, the Lord's Prayer is the official close of the meeting. I think that the recitation of a prayer from a specific religion is a violation of tradition, and diverts us from our singleness of purpose. I also believe it is disrespectful to persons of other faiths for us to assume that everybody sitting in the room is a Christian. I wonder how many newcomers of other religions (or those having none at all) are uncomfortable with the Christian ritual, and perhaps do not come back.
Page xiv of the Big Book states: "The only requirement for membership is an honest desire to stop drinking. We are not allied with any particular faith, sect or denomination,. . ." Page xx says: "Alcoholics Anonymous is not a religious organization." Page 12 says: "Why don't you choose your own conception of God?. . . It was only a matter of being willing to believe in a Power greater than myself. Nothing more was required of me to make my beginning." Page 46 says that "the Realm of Spirit is broad, roomy, all inclusive; never exclusive or forbidding to those who earnestly seek. It is open, we believe, to all men." Page 47 says: "When, therefore, we speak to you of God, we mean your own conception of God."
The long form of Tradition Ten declares: "No AA group or member should ever, in such a way as to implicate AA, express any opinion on outside controversial issues--particularly those of politics, alcohol reform, or sectarian religion." The long form of Tradition Three says: "Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation."
I have heard people talk about Jesus Christ during meetings, something other members get upset about. But I'm afraid we should expect that. After all, by incorporating the most well-known Christian prayer into our meetings, are we not endorsing that particular religion? If I walk into a room full of people who are reciting a Christian prayer, I am naturally going to assume that they are Christians; therefore, Jesus Christ may be a natural topic of discussion. Do we have a right to be angry with members who talk about Jesus, when we are using a Christian prayer to close the meeting?
The "Twelve and Twelve" discussion of Tradition Three says, "Why did we dare to say. . .that we would neither punish nor deprive any AA of membership, that we must never compel anyone to pay anything, believe anything, or conform to anything?" But we do. When discussing God, who is referred to as "He," it's pretty obvious that we are referring to the Judeo-Christian concept of God. Even though we encourage newcomers to "find a God of their own understanding," we have already decided what that concept of God should be.
I've discussed this with many other members. I've asked them why, if we claim not to be a religious organization, we say a Christian prayer during the meeting. Nobody has been able to answer the question. The only reply I got was, "It's always been done that way." That does not address the contradiction. We are saying one thing and doing something else. We are claiming to be nonreligious while incorporating a prayer from a particular religious denomination into our meeting. We can't have it both ways--we should either quit saying the prayer, or quit claiming to be nonreligious and nondenominational. If we're going to be Christian, okay, but let's quit denying it!
To claim that we aren't a religious organization while making a Christian prayer an official part of the meeting seems to me a very blatant hypocrisy. However, I certainly don't want to build up such a resentment over it that I stop attending meetings. That would only hurt me, because if I quit going to meetings I will drink, and if I drink I will die. I know that AA is the only way I can continue to enjoy life as I do now. As one of my friends said, "AA is not perfect, but it's all I've got."
I have neither the time, nor the youthful energy to embark on a crusade to ban the Lord's Prayer from meetings. But I myself do not have to be a hypocrite. When people ask me if AA is a religious organization, I say, "It wasn't supposed to be, but somehow it turned out to be Christian."
Donna F.
Georgia