Category Archives: 2021 Business Meeting – October

1021 – Final Summary of the October 21 Business Meeting

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Final Summary for the October 2021 Business Meeting

The October business meeting opened with the presentation of reports from our Treasurer, Listkeepers, Secretary, GSR, OIAA Representative, and Business Meeting Chair. You can find these reports and meeting details on GROW’s website at g-r-o-w.com/member-welcome/business-meetings/. (You will need a password for the Members’ section (sobertodayhow2484).

When the October business meeting began, many Trusted Servant positions remained vacant. Therefore, the first few days of the meeting were dominated by efforts to fill those positions. There were no proposals for consideration as the meeting began. The Chair called for a discussion of GROW’s recruitment process, and the first two 3-day sessions were devoted to identifying areas where improvements could be made. Participants raised problem areas and made a wide range of suggestions.

Based on the discussions, the Chair submitted three proposals for consideration:

  • Adding to the Common Duties section of position descriptions three actions Trusted Servants would take to support recruitment (Proposal 1)
  • Devoting a GROW meeting topic to Service before our business meetings (Proposal 2)
  • Replacing the current links to position descriptions in the Secretary’s call for volunteers with brief descriptions of each Trusted Servant position (Proposal 3)

After three days of discussion on each proposal, participants voted whether to adopt the proposal as a Group Conscience decision. Two of the proposals received unanimous approval and are now

Group Conscience Decisions:

  • GROW will devote the last week in February and August to the topic of service.
  • Future recruitment messages will contain a brief description of the job rather than a link to the position description.

During our discussion of recruitment practices, many suggestions were made that were not directly related to the recruitment process but could improve GROW’s email meeting. The Chair made a list of these suggestions, and participants gave feedback ranging from “discuss in next business meeting” to “no follow-up needed” on each of eight “Good Ideas.” Based on these rankings, participants identified four areas for action and consideration during the April 2022 meeting:

  • Develop a side-by-side comparison of Trusted Servant positions
  • Review and suggest changes to the Secretary position description
  • Identify Trusted Servant positions that would benefit from job-sharing
  • Introduce a monthly meeting that covers AA’s 12 Concepts of World Service

The October 2021 GROW Business Meeting was adjourned on October 20th.

1021 – Summary of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th 3-day sessions

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Summary of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th 3-day sessions

During our fourth 3-day session, we voted on the three proposals. There was no more activity during the session. During the fifth 3-day session of our business meeting, voting results were announced for the three proposals under consideration.

Proposal 1.1 was not approved, receiving a 67% “I disagree” vote. During the fifth 3-day session, those who voted “I agree” for the proposal were invited to submit a Minority Opinion to explain their viewpoints, and two Minority Opinions were submitted. No one changed their vote in response (which would have triggered a re-vote). Therefore, this proposal is not approved, and it cannot be considered again until April 2023.

The group approved two proposals as Group Conscience decisions:

  • GROW will devote the last week in February and August to the topic of service.
  • Future recruitment messages will contain a brief description of the job rather than a link to the position description.

You will be able to find summaries of our discussions and the result of voting on our website at g-r-o-w.com/member-welcome/business-meetings/ after the meeting is adjourned.

The Chair also presented a “List of Good Ideas” that were discussed but not acted on during this meeting. As of this writing, 10 participants had provided their priority (scale of 1 to 3, with 1 being to discuss in April 2022 and 3 being to drop the idea from future agendas. The “Good Ideas” included:

    • Job-sharing
    • Simplify position descriptions
    • Decision-making history/explanation for how/why GROW TS positions were created
    • Side-by-side comparison chart of TS positions
    • Secretary as a mentor, rather than back-up to Temporary Mentor and birthday, sponsor, Weekly Meeting Lead, and 12th Step Volunteer Listkeeper
    • How to ask GROW sponsors to suggest their sponsees take a service position
    • Review requirements for length of sobriety and time of membership in GROW
    • Have a meeting similar to our monthly Traditions topic for AA’s 12 Concepts for World Service

    At this time, 16 participants have provided feedback, although everyone did not rank every idea on the list. In order to compare the results, I added the rank value (1, 2, or 3) for each idea to get a “score” where the lower the value, the greater the priority. The following list orders the ideas by score.

    Side-by-Side Comparison………….. 11
    Sec/Mentor Job Description……….. 13
    Job-sharing……………………………… 15
    Concepts Meeting…………………….. 17
    Time In Sobriety/GROW……………. 18
    How/Why of TS Duties………………. 22
    PD Reviews……………………………… 24
    Sponsors and GROW Service…….. 26

    Respectfully,
    danna M
    GROW Business Meeting Chair
    dmcd.grow@gmail.com

1021 – Summary of 2nd 3-day Session

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Summary of 2nd 3-day Session of Business Meeting

The second 3-day session of the GROW business meeting ended yesterday. During this session, participants continued to comment on the “Recruiting Trusted Servants” issue paper. The Chair submitted a summary of comments, the comments themselves, and a response to comments.

On the first day of the third, three proposals were presented that reflected actions that commenters supported broadly. These proposals include:

  • Proposal 1: Adding a “Common Duties” bullet that gives all Trusted Servants to engage in and support the Secretary in attracting GROW members to volunteer for service positions.
  • Proposal 2: Devoting a GROW meeting topic to Service prior to each business meeting.
  • Proposal 3: Replacing links to position descriptions with more simple, plain language describing each GROW Trusted Servant position.

Meeting participants will now discuss these specific proposals through the end of the day on Tuesday, October 12.

If you would like to participate in our business meeting, please send your request to our listkeepers at grow-owner@oso-aa.org.

Respectfully submitted,
danna M
GROW Business Meeting Chair
dmcd.grow@gmail.com

1021 – Summary of First 3-day Session

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The October 2021 Business Meeting started on Monday, October 4th.
We received reports on their activities since the April meeting from our Treasurer, Secretary, Listkeepers, GSR, OIAA Representative, and mini Steering Committee. They are available on GROW’s website at g-r-o-w.com/member-welcome/business-meetings/. You will need a password to enter the private area of our website: sobertodayhow2484.

Because we had a lot of vacancies, the Secretary’s Report (Trusted Servants) was not complete at the beginning of the meeting. But it has been posted now and will be on the website soon. Although there were no proposals at the beginning of the meeting and because there were so many
vacancies, our first three-day session was devoted to a discussion of how GROW could encourage members to volunteer for Trusted Servant positions.

Like in face-to-face meetings, your Trusted Servants make sure the meeting runs smoothly by performing tasks that range from providing temporary mentorship to new members to announcing birthdays to making sure weekly meeting topics get out on time to administrative duties like
managing our Treasury and our website.

Many GROW members who had never held a Trusted Servant position before volunteered this time, bringing new ideas and a fresh perspective to our team.

During the first three-day session, participants discussed ways to more effectively encourage GROW members to volunteer to make GROW a part of their service program. Many great ideas about presenting more useful information to our members about what your Trusted Servants
actually do were raised and will likely result in some major improvements.

Because the discussion has been so productive, we are extending the comment period through the second three-day session.

Respectfully submitted,
danna M
GROW Business Meeting Chair
danna.growmail@gmail.com

1021 – Proposal 3: Brief Job Descriptions

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Proposal 3: Brief Job Descriptions

Group Conscience Decision:

In the Secretary’s recruitment messages, rather than referring members to the position descriptions for Trusted Servants, provide a brief description of their job that includes its basic function and how it benefits GROW, the time required to do the job, workload intensity, and the busiest times. The descriptions will also include the name and email address of the person currently holding the position.

The Business Meeting Chair and Secretary will work with Trusted Servants to develop the job descriptions before the March 2022 recruitment effort begins.

Rationale: The proposal reflects broad agreement in business meeting participants’ comments addressing the lack of volunteers for Trusted Servant (TS) positions. Discussions revealed that GROW’s position descriptions are too long and to detailed to attract volunteers. There was near-unanimous agreement that hearing from the current TS about the position was much more effective.

Because TSs change over time, and their experiences will be different, the Chair is proposing that a simple job description that can be used during every recruitment process would be more practical. This would not replace the individual TS shares about their experience in the position that TSs post during the Service topic GROW meeting.

Summary of Comments

Ten women commented on Proposal 3 calling for the Secretary’s announcements of Trusted Servant vacancies to present brief plain-language job descriptions instead of links to position descriptions. There was unanimous support for this proposal.

Results of Voting

Sixteen (16) participants voted “I agree” and no one voted “I disagree” on the proposal to replace the link to position descriptions in the Secretary’s announcement of Trusted Servant vacancies with more simple job descriptions.  Therefore, Proposal 3 is approved and adopted as a Group Conscience decision.

1021 – Proposal 2: Service Topic Meeting

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Group Conscience Decision:

GROW will devote one meeting to service in the last week of the month before recruitment begins (February and August).

While the topic will not be limited to service within GROW, all current TSs are encouraged to share on their experience in the job to encourage GROW members to volunteer when recruitment begins. The Weekly Leader Listkeeper will reserve the last Sunday of February and September for the topic of Service.

Recommended Language: Add to the Weekly Leader Listkeeper’s position description an eleventh bullet:

  • Allocate the last meeting in February and August by identifying Service as the topic next to the date on the volunteer lead request message.

Rationale: The proposal reflects broad agreement in business meeting participants’ comments addressing the lack of volunteers for Trusted Servant (TS) positions. Comments broadly, but not unanimously, supported having a GROW meeting topic devoted to service before the recruitment process begins.

Summary of Comments

Ten women commented on Proposal 2 that calls for two GROW meetings be devoted to the topic of service in late February and August. All comments agreed with the proposal. One commenter expressed regret that this would eliminate two more opportunities for weekly meeting leaders to select their own topic. Another commenter thought that releasing the service topic midweek would avoid this. Finally, a third commenter suggested that the mid-week suggestion should be carried forward to the April 2022 business meeting.

Results of Voting

Sixteen (16) people voted “I agree” on the proposal to devote a GROW weekly meeting topic to Service in the last week of February and August (before recruitment for Trusted Servants begins). No one voted “I disagree.”

1021 – Proposal 1: Trusted Servants and Recruitment

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Proposal 1: Trusted Servants & Recruitment Process

Add a bullet to the Common Duties that calls for every Trusted Servant to participate in the semi-annual recruitment process by recommending potential replacements, sending a personal share to GROW describing their experience as a Trusted Servant, and working with the Secretary during recruitment by personally encouraging potential volunteers.

Recommended Language: Add the following as the second bullet in the “Common Duties” on the GROW website and in

  • Every Trusted Servant shall participate in recruiting Trusted Servants in the following ways:
    • Participate in the recruitment process by identifying and recommending to the Secretary women who seem well-suited to the position the Trusted Servant currently holds;
    • In the week before recruitment begins (late February, late August), write a message to the GROW mail list that describes her job, estimates the workload, actual time spent, and what doing the job as done for their sobriety;
    • Help the Secretary during the recruitment month (March and September) by encouraging potential volunteers to volunteer for her position when recruitment begins.

Rationale: The proposal reflects broad agreement in business meeting participants’ comments addressing the lack of volunteers for Trusted Servant (TS) positions. The comments overwhelmingly agreed that TSs should be more involved in the recruitment process and supported the suggested proposal.

Summary of Comments

Eight women commented on Proposal 1 which would add a bullet to the Common Duties section of GROW position descriptions. Most of the comments were a simple expressions of agreement with the proposal. Two commenters felt that asking Trusted Servants to “identify” potential volunteers would create pressure for those identified. One commenter recommended wording changes. The Chair has edited the bullets to better reflect those concerns. We will vote on the resulting Proposal 1.1 during the fourth 3-day session.

Results of Voting on Proposal 1

Eighteen (18) participants voted on the Proposal that would add a bullet to the Common Duties that calls for every Trusted Servant to participate in the semi-annual recruitment process. Twelve voted “I disagree,” and six voted “I agree,” representing a 67% majority rejecting the proposal. Therefore, the proposal did not meet our requirement for a 2/3 majority. The Chair invited participants who voted “I agree” to submit a Minority Opinion. By our guidelines, if anyone changes their vote as a result of the Minority Opinion, there will be a re-vote.

Two people submitted Minority Opinions further supporting the proposal. One argued that requiring Trusted Servants to share on the topic of Service was not a burden and would help GROW. The other felt that we already identify potential candidates for TS positions and that including this in the proposal was appropriate.

No one changed their vote as a result of the Minority Opinions; therefore, the 67% vote rejecting the proposal stands, and the proposal is not accepted as a Group Conscience Decision, the subject cannot be raised again for at least a year.

1021 – GSR Report

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GSR Report

October 2021

Greetings! I served as the Group Service Representative for the past six months. Thank you for allowing me to be of service to the group. Click on the link to learn more about the service position, as it is amazing!! https://www.aa.org/assets/en_US/p-19_gsr.pdf

New updates:

  1. Updated service manual available in November 2021
  2. International Convention scheduled in Vancouver �
  3. November 19, 20, 21st East Central Regional Forum (virtual) – Learn more about it here Alcoholics Anonymous : Regional and Local Forums (aa.org)
  4. Review the following word document written by a member of AA about upcoming changes in the AA Preamble at the 71st General Service Conference that was passed to members in Area 22.

Thank you for the opportunity to be of service!

Your friendly outgoing GSR,
Nicole W

Kent County Apponaug Group

The Principles Problem

Do our A.A. Principles and Traditions Really Matter? A vote was taken at the 71st General Service Conference to remove and replace the pronouns “men and women” with “people” in our beloved Preamble. We believe this change is in direct conflict with our Principles, Concepts and the Preamble itself. We also believe this action was emotionally driven and is not in A.A.’s best interest. The problem is much bigger than the changing of these 2 words. This change and other’s that will follow** represent both symbolic and direct support for the gender neutrality cause, an outside cause that A.A. should have no opinion*

Paul L GSR Kent County Apponaug
7/12/2021

The Kent County Apponaug Group is preparing to submit a request for change to the next General Service Conference. The request is to reverse the recent revision to the Preamble and replace the new word “people” with the original words “men and women” as it always has been. We would like to gain the support of other groups, service representatives, past service representatives or individuals that would like to sign on to this change request. Our Conference submittal deadline is 9/15/2021.

The following is a detailed description of the conflicts this change to the Preamble has caused as well as providing awareness to additional changes to A.A. that are ongoing**. We sincerely hope that each of you, as service representatives will take this concern back to your individual areas/groups for discussion and support this request for change.

A.A. Principles speak for themselves
“Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of men and women”. For those concerned with gender neutrality; isn’t ALCOHOLISM the only true identification we should be concerned about? If I can identify as an alcoholic I can survive and prosper here. Our differences combined with a primary purpose are the glue that binds us.

Tradition 1: “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on A.A. unity.”

Unity, our very survival depends on it. With regard to the recent change to the Preamble, we are hearing emotional pleas such as; “If it will save just one alcoholic”, but these are long-used political ploys that appeal to emotions, not facts. This emotional plea is a direct contradiction to Tradition 1 in that it places personal recovery ahead of our common welfare. We cannot disregard 60 years of Tradition to “save one alcoholic”. The attempt to satisfy all variations of human identity in is an unrealistic and unattainable goal that distracts from our Primary Purpose. Our common welfare MUST come first.

Tradition 2: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

By changing “men and women” in the Preamble, etc., A.A. has put itself in a position to decide which gender pronouns are appropriate and which are not for A.A., which is an Act of Governance. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern?

“That they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism” doesn’t read; “solve all things for all people” does it? To quote an old timer from years ago; “If you want to win friends and influence people, Dale Carnegie is right down the street… but if you’re looking for an answer for alcoholism we have the answer.” ~ Dottie G.

Tradition 4: Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.

It is apparent that some groups supporting and/or have requested the pronoun change are attempting to impose “their” group conscience on other groups and A.A. as a whole which is a direct contradiction of Tradition 4. Many of these groups had already made these changes through their individual group conscience and that’s fine, but where they step over the line is the attempt force their will on others.

Tradition 5: Each group has but one primary purpose – to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

Today’s gender debates are ongoing with strong opinions being expressed both pro and con. There is certainly no consensus here in this great divide. For A.A. to take sides in this debate waters down our Primary Purpose and can threaten our unity.

The words, “AA is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes…” speak volumes. A very powerful statement, yet we find ourselves in the middle of controversy, allied with outside organizations** and endorsing outside causes and movements**. We have become so concerned with the endless variations of humanity that we have lost sight of our primary purpose. Where does it end?

*Tradition 10: Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.

Can there be any doubt that A.A. has expressed an opinion and is supporting a well-organized, well-funded, worldwide movement with many political ties?* The change to our Preamble, and other degenderizing efforts currently in progress**, show both symbolic and direct support for an outside issue and should be reversed.

**The following excerpts from the background email titled “Degenderizing language”, dated 9/3/20 by Ames, Executive Editor, GSO should have us all concerned:

“Thanks for reaching out regarding our AAWS process related to the degenderizing of A.A. materials. It’s a process that is ongoing and ever-evolving with the times and current societal and Fellowship norms…”

“…We will be looking to “keep it simple” and focus initially on fixes such as changing “men and women” to “people” and reformulating constructs that are specifically gender-based, such as “he” or “she” to “that/this individual/person”.

“…On a broader scale, we have been reaching out to industry resources and organizations/entities that are engaged in this process of degenderizing to see what information they might be able to provide. Additionally, in all our print materials we try to utilize the style standards established by preeminent news organizations such as the New York Times…”

The “Aims” email above seems to contradict the very essence of our beloved Principles in that;

1. We have “ongoing and ever evolving” processes to “Degenderize A.A. materials.

2. In an act of governance we have become the arbiter of speech for this movement.

3. We have allied with outside organizations.

Concept 12 also speaks for itself in the statement; “No Conference action should be …an incitement to public controversy”

Heated debate with regard to gender related issues is in politics, schools, sports, language, etc. and is in our faces almost daily. Even the entertainment industry is having a field day with gender identity issues. Late night TV, sports, even the comics are on board with the debate (Ref: “Dilbert, 6/1/2021”).

This is a world-wide debate with great divide and our country is split over these very issues. AA has no business taking sides in this debate, or any other, no matter how worthy the cause may or may not be. The Washingtonians went down this path and that didn’t end well…

Paul L. GSR, Kent County Apponaug (Area 61)

1021 – OIAA Representative Report

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OIAA Representative Report

October 2021

Hello ladies of GROW,

The most significant event that happened was that OIAA had the privilege of hosting a workshop for NAATW (National AA Technology Workshop) on the weekend of 17-19 September 2021.

Some groups have moved to Hybrid meetings, for those unaware of what hybrid meeting is (combination of face to face and zoom). This was implemented over a year ago when Covid hit. At my face to face meeting, we have it.

For those who are interested I have saved some links to look at, obviously the specs are according to that zoom meeting (size etc), so each meeting will be different as to what all equipment needed. However for those interested it will be nice to know what needed as a start up.

Rene G
OIAA Rep

1021 – Mini Steering Committee Report

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Activities of the Mini Steering Committee from May to September 2021

October 2021

No issues were brought to the Mini Steering Committee during this period, so there’s nothing to report.

The “mini” committee includes the Business Meeting Chair, Secretary, and Listkeepers. It was formed to resolve less complicated issues raised by GROW members without having to involve the full Steering Committee.

danna M
GROW Business Meeting Chair

1021 – Listkeeper’s Report

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Listkeepers’ Report

October 2021

I’m Sophie, alcoholic and one of your two Listkeepers. Karen H is our other Listkeeper. Listkeepers work closely with the team of two Greeters, currently Amy N and Karrie C. As a team of four we manage requests from new ladies interested in joining GROW.

Listkeepers also help with email issues (such as when ladies accidentally include additional recipients when emailing the group to grow@oso-aa.org) and changes to email addresses. We also can unsubscribe members when asked. Our roles don’t take much time but do need us to check our GROW emails several times a day so that requests to join are responded to quickly. We work in pairs – one week on, one week off.

The GROW list is administered on a very simple to use and simple to learn website. I can do it all from my phone!

At our last Business Meeting in April, we had 275 members.
Today, we currently have 284 member’s emails listed.
In the past 6 months, we have welcomed on average around 8 new ladies per month and had on average 7 per month leave GROW.

Listkeepers also administer the Business List to ensure everyone who wants to be included is signed up. So far we have 29 ladies signed up to join the Business Meeting starting Monday October 4th.

In love and service
Sophie F
Co-Listkeeper

1021 – Treasurer’s Report

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Treasurer’s Report

October 2021

PayPal deposits (Apr – Sept 2021)

April……………………….. 0.10
May………………………. 55.04
June……………………… 50.01
July……………………… 141.83
August…………………… 15.01
September……………… 30.00

Total…………………………….. 292.00

 

Ally deposits (Apr – Sept 2021)

Prudent Reserve………. 122.00
Interest……………………….. 0.18
Check……………………….. 50.00

Total………………………………… 172.18

 

Balance

Paypal…………………….. 292.00
Ally………………………. 172.18

Total……………………… 464.18

 

Deductions

Dean Collins………….. 144.00
Prudent Reserve…….. 122.00

Balance…………………………. 198.18

 

Distributions

GSO (80%)…………….. 158.54
OIAA (20%)…………….. 39.64

This leaves us with the Prudent Reserve of $122.00

Respectfully submitted,
Cheryl Baughman

1021 – Secretary’s Report – Trusted Servants

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Secretary’s Report – GROW Trusted Servants

October 2021

(clicking on name opens an email message)

Outgoing Trusted Servants

Incoming Trusted Servants

Trusted Servants – October 2021

(as of 12/14/21)

  • 12 Step Volunteer Listkeeper (10/21 – 4/22): Nicole W
  • Birthday Listkeeper (10/21 – 4/22): Mary O
  • Sponsor Listkeeper (10/21 – 4/22): Lynn H

Trusted Servants who make up the Steering Committee:

  • Business Meeting Chair (10/20-10/22): Danna M
  • GSR (10/21-10/22): VACANT
  • GVR (10/21-10/22): Julie Kr
  • Greeter (4/21-4/22): Amy N
  • Greeter (10/21-10/22): Karrie C
  • Listkeeper (4/21-4/22): Karen H
  • Listkeeper Alternate (4/21- 4/22): Sophie R
  • OIAA Rep (4/21-4/22):  Rene G
  • Secretary (10/21-10/22): Michele R
  • Temporary Mentor (4/21-4/22): Becky L
  • Treasurer (10/21-10/22): Cheryl B
  • Website Administrator (10/21-10/22): Cheryl D
  • Webkeeper (10/21-10/22): VACANT
  • Webkeeper Backup (10/21-10/22): Pat S
  • Weekly Leader Listkeeper (4/21-4/22): Emily M

Immediate Past Business Meeting Chair: Joan B
Immediate Past GSR: Nicole W
Immediate Past OIAA Rep: Lynn H & Kirsten V
Immediate Past Secretary: Nancy C

1021 – Business Meeting Welcome

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Greetings, and welcome to the October 2021 Business Meeting of Grateful Recovering Online Women (GROW).

I am danna, a recovering alcoholic, and your Business Chair for this meeting. Thank you for participating!

This is a closed meeting, open only to members of GROW, for the discussion of business as it relates to our group. Our business meetings run in three-day segments and last no more than 29 days, although we will not entertain new business after the 17th day of the meeting .

I will post each Agenda item, one by one, in separate emails and **ask that you respond to each accordingly.** This makes it easier to “tally” the responses and suggestions to each item. We will have a three (3) day period of open discussion on each Agenda item. This, hopefully, will allow all members regardless of work schedules, time zones, etc. to participate and comment.

Before we begin, let’s have a moment of silence to reflect on why we are here, followed by the Serenity Prayer.

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.

In this Business Meeting, let us be guided by The Twelve Traditions:

  1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
  2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
  3. The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
  4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
  5. Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
  6. An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
  7. Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
  8. Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
  9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
    Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues; hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
  10. Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
  11. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Let us all keep in mind our Unity of Service statement from the Grapevine of September 1998:

“Unity seldom means that we all agree on everything. Nor is unity served by setting aside our concerns and conforming to the majority opinion (or the vocal minority) . . . Unity is best achieved by a full hearing of all points of view . . . time for all of those involved to step back from emotional responses . . . as well as careful consideration and prayer for that which will best serve the group or AA as a whole.”

Thank you for being here and for your dedication to GROW.

Respectfully submitted,
danna M.
GROW Business Chair