From William Schaberg's Writing The Big Book, Page 78-79:

   In his report to John D. Rockefeller Jr. on the Akron visit [February 1938], [Frank] Amos provides a detailed, seven step outline of exactly how he understood the "alcoholic set up" in Akron to be working:

        They told me varying stories, many of them almost miraculous, but all remarkably alike in the                technique used and the system followed. Briefly this system is:

        1.  An alcoholic must realize that he is an alcoholic, incurable from a medical viewpoint and                      that he must never again drink anything with alcohol in it;

        2.  He must surrender himself absolutely to God realizing that in himself there is no hope;

        3.  Not only must he want to stop drinking permanently, but he must remove from his life                          other sins such as hatred, adultery and others which frequently accompany alcoholism.                           Unless he will do this, absolutely, Smith and his associates refuse to work with him.

        4.  He must have devotions every morning - a "quiet time" of prayer, and some reading from the                 Bible or other religious literature. Unless this is faithfully followed, there is grave danger of                 backsliding;

        5.  He must be willing to help other alcoholics get straightened out. This throws up a protective                 barrier and strengthens  his own will-power and convictions;

        6.  It is important, but not vital, that he meet frequently with other reformed alcoholics and form                 both a social and religious comradeship;

        7.   Important, but not vital, that he attend some religious service at least weekly.

        All the above is being carried out faithfully by the Akron group and not a day passes when there is         not one or more  new "victim" to work on with Smith their leader by common consent.

   This description, which includes six "musts" - admission of incurability, total abstinence, absolute surrender to God, complete removal of sinful behaviors, morning prayer and meditation, and helping other alcoholics - along with two strong suggestions, may be startling to current A.A. members, but it is important to remember that this is still the "flying blind" period. There were, as yet, no Twelve Steps and no group called Alcoholics Anonymous. As Dr. Bob so eloquently attested eight years after this meeting: "Blindly groping for the truth, the early development of the activity in Akron was not easy. It was mostly by the trial and error method. We had no precedent whatsoever, gleaning a fact here and there as time went on. Eventually a generalized procedure was discovered with a reasonable hope of acceptance."