There are various ways to handle the Steps at meetings. There are groups that do a Step a month, and this works out well cuz there are 12 Steps and 12 months,,,  the first meeting will be actually on the Step, the second meeting on the Tradition, the third meeting can be on an AA topic discussion, the fourth on a slogan, etc.  There are 'beginners' meetings that only do the first 3 Steps over and over. And there are Step meetings like the one you mention that do a Step every week.  And we do them every two weeks. 

The thing is,,  if we did them like a school course,,  having people wait till we all begin together in September,,  there could be people who were in desperate need and ready for a long time, while some want to come in later and it would be closed.  People come to their first meetings when they are ready in their lives, and people do need to go at their own pace. If we started at Step 1 every time a newcomer came,,  and stayed on Step 1 till everybody was ready to advance,,  we would be always on Step 1 and never advance.

So,,,  we do them in progression and cycle them,,,   newbies can listen to the Steps they haven't done yet,, and learn how all the Steps work together in an overview of the AA program. Persons doing the particular Step will be particularly interested in the shares and in expressing concerns, comments and questions.  People who have done that Step already, one or more times,  can share their experience, strength and hope about that Step,,, and people who have not gotten there can listen and ask questions.

Usually there is time after a meeting, over coffee, to discuss personal issues, and we can call other members, even when we don't have a sponsor yet. My personal view about picking a sponsor is to watch people and listen to them for a few meetings, to see who is sharing in what seems to us to be the most wise ways, and consult with the chairperson and a couple of wiser people  about who might make a good temporary sponsor. Often the people most willing to be a sponsor are the people who get into codependencies and I avoid someone who appears to be tooooo eager to be a sponsor.  And the person who talks the best show is not the person who really walks the walk and can be the best journey companion in the long run. The share on Step 5 - AA gives some ideas on how to pick the person we want to talk to on that Step, and it is the same qualities, basically that we want in a sponsor, though they may not end up to be the same person.

I read the whole book before I started actually doing the Steps. Though then this would be tooo slow a rate for you. I got the whole book done in a week,,, you mentioned you have a book you're reading.  It's all good. We can read and talk about any Step while we are also focussed on actually doing one of them. But also remember that we don't have to stay on one particular Step until it is perfect either, that would not get us past Step 1 either.

I hope this is helpful to you,

amanda