Sense of Futility

   I have felt this feeling of futility before. It reminds me of Solomon's Ecclesiastes, "Meaningless! Meaningless! Utterly meaningless! Everything is meaningless." It is a devastating emotion. But as most character defects, what is offers is an opportunity to look into my soul and seek to find both the defect, and the answer.

   Most likely the defect is a combination of things. Emotional deformities that I developed over the years prior to, and during, my drinking carrier. They are the instincts that have gone overboard, that I have used to guide my life, and in the process diminished the quality of life, and are among other things the reason I also became dependent on oblivion to get through another day of frustration, unhappiness and resentment.

   The defects in my character are made apparent when I attempt to live my second chance at life using the practices and principals of this spiritual way of life we call Alcoholics Anonymous. The principals of humility and sacrifice conflict with my defects. My defective instincts of self-centeredness which I attempt to use when working this program fail utterly. This causes frustration, depression and hopelessness.

   I can't overcome self-centeredness on my own. I have to have help. I have to join this Fellowship, not stand apart. God gives his grace through fellowship with others in this program. This is why A.A. encourages sponsorship. The people in the fellowship who give to each other unselfishly, through God's Grace, the spiritual fulfillment that only he can give when we live one day at a time and, "love thy neighbor as thyself".

1of4 motion to create committee

Each AA group makes a decision to participate.

    Each AA home group, by the group conscience of its members, makes the decision to assume their right and responsibility under Concept 1, “Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should
always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship ”. We encourage all groups to make that choice. The District Committee, to help the groups fulfill that responsibility, invite all groups to participate in their district committee and area assembly by selecting and supporting a General Service Representative.

The groups establish a district committee.

   Tradition 9 says this, “AA, as such, ought never be organized”.  We recognize that no individual or group should take it upon them selves to organize the district committee and induce the groups to support and participate. Organizing the groups is not how things are done in the spiritual fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.

   Tradition 9 does explain how a district committee is established, “but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.” This informs us that it is the groups of our district who have the responsibility and authority to establish the committee. In this manner, when the groups establish the committee, the committee becomes responsible directly to the groups.

The groups assume responsibility.

   The participating groups of the district assume the responsibility to establish the committee’s principals, practices, and provide leadership to the committee. The district committee stands only to serve the groups. Participation in the district committee is also, in effect, a decision by your group to connect yourselves to the General Service Conference and become part of AA worldwide.

   Here are the fundamental principals and structure the committee is committed to follow.  

• Our groups, by creating the District committee, would delegate only limited responsibilities, with limited and appropriate authority - not unlimited authority - to provide a service structure for, and services to, our groups and AA as a whole.
• The District Committee will provide regular meetings for the General Service Representatives (GSR) of all district groups.
• The GSRs will keep their group informed and represent their group conscience in the District and Area Committees, by participating in those meetings.
• The GSRs will select a DCM from the district’s GSRs, past and present, in the District Committee Election meeting every other year.
• The DCM will be responsible to help the groups, through their GSRs, make their group conscience part of AA as a whole, through the District Committee meetings and Area Assembly meetings.
• The District Committee will establish and oversee sub-committees as needed to serve the groups.
• The District Committee will place “Principals before Personalities”. They will not act as government or a political body for the limited interests of any group or individual.
• The District Committee will follow, to the best of their ability, under the groups leadership, the principals expressed in the Twelve Traditions, Twelve Concepts, AA Service Manual, and the District Committee Participation Principals.

2of4 Motion to accept participation principals

District Committee Participation Principals 2008-2009

   The groups of District 1, Delegate Area 34, created the District Committee, by vote of group conscience, to provide a general service structure that will help connect our AA groups to AA as a whole. The guiding principal for its creation are found in Tradition 9, “AA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.”

   The AA groups instruct the District Committee, on their behalf, to ensure each AA member’s voting privileges, and subsequent representation in the District Committee, will follow these principals. The District Committee recognizes the autonomy of each AA Group. Therefore, these principals are only to guide the District Committee. The groups are at liberty to arrive at their group conscience in any manner they determine appropriate.

   The district committee recognizes the individual AA members voting privilege in their home group, as described by the AA Service Manual in Chapter Two, “The home group affords individual AAs the privilege of voting on issues that affect the Fellowship as a whole; [the home group] is the very basis of the service structure.

   The district committee recognizes the definition of a group in the Long Form of Tradition Three, “Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought AA membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholic gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.”

   The district committee recognizes the group representative, GSR, as defined by the AA Service Manual, “The general service representative has the job of linking his or her group with AA as a whole. The GSR represents the voice of the group conscience, reporting the group thoughts to the district committee member and to the delegate, who passes them on to the Conference.”

   The AA groups instruct the District Committee, on their behalf, to ensure voting privileges in the District Committee be guided by two important principals.

   The first principal comes from, Tradition 4, “Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or AA as a whole.” The District Committee is equally accountable to all groups. It must act equally - in the interest of all groups. We protect group autonomy by making each group equal in voting representation; one group – one vote.

   The second principal comes from Concept 4, “At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.”  This means, when voting on issues in district committee meetings, each group, DCM, and District Officer, is permitted one vote. Alternates not filling in for an absent group representative or district officers, and guests, shall abstain from voting. Alternates and guest are invited to participate when discussing business and in sharing sessions, but are not provided voting participation.

3of4 Motion to establish treasury

   With this motion, the groups instruct the District Committee to establish a treasury for district service events, supplies and expenses. They instruct the District Committee to establish a checking account requiring two signatures on the checks; a minimum of three and a maximum of four individuals authorized to sign checks. The groups instruct the district treasurer to give a formal report at each meeting itemizing group contributions and district expenditures for distribution to the groups. The groups instruct the District Committee to accept contributions to the treasury, limited to district groups, and contributions from individual AA members in the district, limited to $1.00 per year of sobriety annually. The groups instruct the District Committee only to keep the necessary funds on hand to serve the groups and committee needs, and that any surplus funds are divided between Western Michigan Area Assembly and the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous according to the committee’s discretion.

4of4 Q&A

Q: This is all very new to me. This sounds like politics?

A: It is politics if you put personalities before principals and try to fulfill your personal ambitions at the expense of AA, which by the way will never work. It’s also the reason we have prepared the Fundimental Principals and the District Participation Principals 2008-2009, and asked your group to become informed and participate in the committee. That way your group will know exactly what to expect from the committee, and you will ensure that the committee acts accordingly. The principals may also serve future committees, so they don’t have to re-invent the wheel. In AA, we put principals before personalities.

Q: Why do we need a district committee, we just go down to central office to buy books.

A: The short answer is you need both. Here one examply to help you understand. The central office sells the books, the general service conference structure, of which the district is a part, writes the books. Say your group was tired of the Hazelton 12 Steps guides. You develop your own and your so impressed with how well it works you want to have it conference approved so all groups can have it. Your group sends you to the district groups with a request for conference approved 12 Steps Guides, 26 groups support the idea and send the DCM to the area delegate. The delegate gets the areas support and now there are 544 groups on board. The delegate has it put on the General Service Conference schedule to consider, and they like the idea. Now there are 56,000 groups and 1.2 million AA members who support the idea. AAWS edits, publishes, and distributes the conference approved 12 Steps Guides, and you can now buy them at your central office.

Q: Why don’t you guys just handle this for us? We’ll go on about our business.

A: The groups create the committee with limited responsibility and authority to serve them. The groups cannot abdicate their ultimate responsibilitiy and final authority to the committee. That would cause the committee to make decisions on the group’s behalf, resulting in the appearance, or worse - default government.

Q: How often will this committee meet? I don’t think anyone in our group has the time or inclination to participate.

A: In a service orientated AA groups, the GSR serves for only 2 years. District meeting require ½ Sunday a month, and the area assembly one full Sunday a month. How many meetings do you go to a week? Two, ok that 8-9 meetings a month. Say you skip one regular AA meeting on District weeks, and 1 meeting on area meeting weeks. Would you get drunk? You would still be attending two AA events a week, sharing tons of AA fellowship, and not committing much more time away from your work and family. And don’t forget to consider the personal spiritual growth you would experience by serving your group. Remember, can’t keep it unless you give it away! Service, which is indirectly connected to actual twelfth step work but which serves to make the twelfth step work possible, would more than make up for missing two AA meetings. And you should urge your group to select an alternate, so if you couldn’t attend, the group’s commitment would still be met.

Q: What’s a DCM and why don’t they just represent us?

A: The DCM only helps groups and GSRs. The DCMs only responsibility is to represent the district in Area Committee. The Area Committee serves the Area Assembly, it is not a decision making body. All important decisions are made by the groups.

Q: What kind of sub-committees are we talking about?

A: The district provides assistance to groups so they can better carry the message. Usually districts have special committees knowledgeable in corrections, institutions, Grapevine, literature, public information, special events, and the like.

Q: Why are you asking us to support this “Participation Principals”? Anyone who attends meetings should have a vote.

A: This is a very important question for many reasons. If we attempt to operate with anyone who shows up, the committee will be chaotic and not able fulfill its responsibilities, act consistently, or respect group autonomy. One group could send a large contingent and force the committee vote on a pet project or pet peeve and have their will thrust on all groups.

   This is another important consideration for large groups with many meetings. It is the reason we used the long form of Tradition Three to define a group which uses the words, “any other affiliation”. It is intended to protect the autonomy of all groups, large and small.

   An autonomous group has definite characteristics. It is self-governing, manages its own finances, selects its own GSR, and most likely has a group service number from GSO. Take for example the ficticious Hopeless Variety group.They have twenty-three meetings a week. A regular set of members who attend morning meetings, a regular set of members who attend noon meetings, a regular set of memebers who attend evening meetings, a women’s meeting, and a young people meeting. All those meetings are affiliated with the Hopeless Variety Group. All the meetings send representitives to one steering committee, one treasury, one GSR, all under one general service number from GSO. If every one of those meetings sent a representative to the district, my group which has one meeting a week, would be smothered by the will of the Hopeless Variety Group. This is an actual concern for many groups in our district – large and small. So the district needs the instruction and authority from the groups to maintain proper participation and representation.

Q: If our group supports these motions are we required to contribute money? We don’t have much money.

A: Absolutely not! The district has no authority to compel a group to do anything. Making contributions are up to your group conscience. The district will continue to serve all groups, whether they contribute money or not. More important than money is that your group GSR attend meetings and speak for your group conscience, the money, while very important and useful, will come as our HP sees fit.

Q: What else does the committee do?

A: Let me tell you what it doesn’t do. It won’t make important decisions for groups, tell them how to run their group meetings, take a position in disputes or controversies, do face to face twelfth step work - that's your groups responsibility, operate answering services, or conduct social events without a service purpose.