Proposal 9: Monthly Step Meeting
Grow will allocate the first weekly meeting each month as a Step meeting. The Weekly Lead Listkeeper will identify the date of the first Sunday each month when asking for volunteer leads, naming the corresponding Step (eg, January = Step 1) as the topic for that week. Grow will continue to have a Tradition as a monthly topic, sent out by the Weekly Lead Listkeeper as per current Grow conscience/guidelines.
Recommended Language: Add a bullet to the Weekly Lead Listkeeper’s job description as follows:
Allocate the first meeting of each month to the corresponding Step by identifying the Step as the topic next to the date on the volunteer lead request message.
Rationale: It appears the Step/Tradition monthly topics are shared on much less than any weekly topics despite us having longer to do so.
From time to time (about 10 times over the last 4 years) we have seen a Step as a weekly topic. The number of shares was similar to weeks where the topic was self-selected by the lead – showing that by having the focus of a Step in the weekly meeting does encourage more sharing than our current monthly practice.
As our primary purpose reminds us, our job is to carry the message. Creating an opportunity for more reflection and sharing on the corresponding step each month can only add to our effectiveness as a group in sharing the program. Not to mention be of potential benefit to our own programs!
By agreeing which week would be the Step topic week in advance gives us the chance to nominate ourselves as weekly leaders for whichever week we like, knowing we are free to offer to lead the Step week or any of the other weeks where the topic is open for our own selection.
As is current for our conscience/guidelines should there be a weekly leader drop out or vacancy the Weekly Lead Listkeeper can send a message out to the group requesting a new volunteer for a specified date.
Summary of Comments on Proposal 9.3
Thirteen (13) participants commented on Proposal 9.3, and there was general support for having a Step Meeting each month. Many felt that this proposal addresses an area of concern that came out in responses to the Group Inventory. Comments fell into three substantive areas: whether the Step Meeting should be the first meeting of each month, whether it should also include the Tradition of the month, and assignment of the Meeting leader.
Most of the comments expressed the feeling that few people share in response to the Step/Tradition message each month and that having a dedicated topic meeting would bring more attention to these basic parts of the AA program. It would also be more helpful to newcomers to highlight the steps and traditions in this way.
There was concern that sharing on the Traditions would be lost if they are not included in the Step meeting topic and many participants wanted to include the Tradition of the month in the Step meeting. Participants agreed that it would not be difficult to get volunteers to lead the Step (/Tradition) meeting as part of the current process, although a few were concerned about reducing the opportunity to lead on a topic of choice or dictating a topic to meeting leaders.
Based on the comments, the Chair created two versions of the proposal for voting, asking participants to vote on only one of them. Proposal 9.4a was for a Step [only] meeting, and Proposal 9.4b was for a Step/Tradition meeting. During the fourth 3-day session, we will vote on Proposal 9.
Results of Voting on Proposal 9.4
Voting: Reflecting our discussions, participants were asked to vote on one of two versions of Proposal 9.4: (a) being only a Step Meeting and (b) being a Step/Tradition Meeting. Eleven participants voted in favor (58%) of Proposal 9.4b (Step/Tradition Meeting only), and eight (8) participants voted in favor (42%) of Proposal 9.4a (Step Meeting only). Neither option met the requirement for a 2/3 majority, and neither version is approved. Because participants overwhelmingly approved the proposal to set aside the first week of each month for a Step Meeting, it’s not appropriate to say the proposal can’t be raised for a year. Because voting was so close, more discussion is needed. Therefore, the proposal has been set aside to be considered again during the April 2019 meeting.
Group Conscience Decision:
none