By Diane Smith

Record-Courier religion editor

This week, thousands of recovering alcoholics will converge on Akron to celebrate "Founders Day." The day celebrates the birth of Alcoholics Anonymous in Akron, founded by two men seeking to help one another overcome alcoholism through the principals of Christianity.

But what about people who have different faith traditions, or none at all? Can they still be helped through the 12 steps?

That is the focus of a locally produced documentary, "God as We Understand Him: A Film About Faith and the 12 Step Movement."

The documentary is based on the third of the 12 steps, which states AA members "Made a decision to turn over our will and our lives to God as we understood him."

The documentary will premier at 11 a.m. 2 and 4 p.m. Saturday on the grounds of Stan Hywet Hall and Gardens, where AA co-founders Dr. Bob and Bill W. met.

The film also will have its broadcast premier at 10 p.m. Tuesday on WNEO-TV and WEAO-TV (PBS 45 and 49 in Kent) and repeat at 4 a.m. June 12. The broadcast premiere coincides with national Founders' Day activities in Akron.

The film also will be shown at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at Akron Summit County Library's main branch.

Several local people were interviewed for the film, said Joshua Gippin, who produced the film as a team effort with his wife, Shane Wynn. They include Surrinder Bhardwaj, a Hindu priest from Kent; Mohamed Ismail, executive director of the Islamic Center of Akron and Kent; and members of A.A. from Kent and Ravenna, who are anonymous. In keeping with AA tradition, names of all AA members interviewed are withheld, and they are filmed from the neck down.

Gippin, a life resident of Akron who lives near the home of Dr. Bob, grew up attending King School, the original site of the longest running AA group. His uncle and cousin are longtime AA members.

Gippin was raised Jewish, but left that faith as a teen and never went back, and came to consider himself "agnostic."

"The whole question of God was very questionable to me," he said. "It was something I was not able to get a sure foothold on."

However, he said, working on the film changed his spiritual views. Another catalyst for change is the fact that his wife is pregnant, and he is preparing himself emotionally for fatherhood.

"Working on this film gave me an appreciation for basic values that I think will make me a better father, like selflessness, gratitude and being forgiving."

While he still considers himself agnostic, meaning that he is "without knowledge," he said he considers concept of who God is to be beyond his grasp. He embraces many of the values he says are unique to Christianity, and agrees with a Native American he interviewed, who considers God to be "the great mystery."

His wife, meanwhile, considers herself an atheist, but Gippin pointed out that she embodies several traits which he considers to be spiritual. Her input, and that of his grandmother, who also considers herself to be an atheist, helped him make a film that is sensitive to those with no religion, he said.

"Many people who came to AA have lost their faith or have been burned by religion," he said. "The person who needs this film the most is the atheist and the agnostic."