The AA Service Manual combined with Twelve Concepts for World Service

218 Pages·2013·2.89 MB·English

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THE A.A.
SERVICE MANUAL
combined with
TWELVE CONCEPTS
FOR WORLD SERVICE
by Bill W.
ALCOHOLICS ANONYMOUS® is a fellowship of men and women who share their experience,
strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to
recover from alcoholism.
• The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for
A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions.
• A.A. 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.
• Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
Copyright© by A.A. Grapevine Inc.; reprinted with permission
A Declaration of Unity I Am Responsible…
This we owe to A.A.’s future; to place When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for
our common welfare first; to keep our help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be
Fellowship united. For on A.A. unity there. And for that: I am responsible.
depend our lives, and the lives of those
to come.
Copyright© 1962, 1969, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990,
1991, 1993, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2013
First printing of Revised Edition, 1999
Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
475 Riverside Drive, New York, N.Y. 10115
Mail address: Box 459, Grand Central Station
New York, N.Y. 10163
www.aa.org
ISBN 978-1-893007-46-8
A.A. and Alcoholics Anonymous are registered trademarks® of Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc.
1.8M-9/13 (BP) Printed in U.S.A
THE
A.A. SERVICE MANUAL
Table of Contents
Note: Vertical lines in outer margins (like that at left) indicate changes made in the 2013-
2014 edition.
AA’s Legacy of Service (Foreword and historical background by co-founder Bill W.). . . . . . . . . . . . . S1
The Twelve Traditions (long form) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S13
Chapter One: Introduction to General Service
The Conference Structure: An Overview. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S15
An Upside-Down Organization. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S15
Communication Through the Structure
(group–district–area–Conference–trustees) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S17
Chart of the General Service Conference Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S18
The Conference Charter (see Appendices A, C). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S19
Glossary of General Service Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S19
Why Do We Need a Conference? by Bernard B. Smith . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S20
Third Legacy Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S21
Chart of Third Legacy Procedure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S22
Stimulating Interest in General Service . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S23
The Principle of Rotation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S23
Tools Available from G.S.O. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S24
Chapter Two: The Group and Its G.S.R.
The importance of a home group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S25
The General Service Representative
(qualifications, duties, financial support). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S26
Service Structure Inside the A.A. Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S27
Term and Method of Election . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S28
Inactive General Service Representative. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S28
Group Information . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S28
New group form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S29
Group information change form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S30
Chapter Three: The District and the D.C.M.
The District. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S31
The District Committee Member (D.C.M.)
(qualifications, duties, term, eligibility, election procedures) . . . . . . . . . . S31
Inactive District Committee Member. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S33
The Alternate D.C.M. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S33
Redistricting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S33
District Information. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S34
District Information Change Form. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S35
Chapter Four: The Area Assembly and Activities
Description of an area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S36
The Area Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S36
Composition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S37
Eligibility to vote (area procedures). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S37
Inactive Service Workers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S37
Timing and Location of Assemblies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S37
A Typical Election Assembly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S38
A Typical Non-Election Assembly. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S39
Area Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S39
Help on the Annual Conference Program . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S39
Sharing Sessions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S40
Area Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S40
Area Newsletters or Bulletins. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S41
Working with Local Intergroups and Central Offices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S41
Area, State, Provincial, and Regional Conventions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S42
Forming a New Delegate Area. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S42
Requesting a Change of Region. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S43
Guidelines for Changing Regional Boundaries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S43
Chapter Five: The Area Committee
Composition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S44
Chairperson (duties, qualifications). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S44
Suggestions on chairing assembly meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S45
Secretary and Registrar (duties, qualifications) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S45
Treasurer (duties, qualifications) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S46
Other Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S46
Alternate Committee Officers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S46
Past Delegates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S46
Financial Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S47
Chapter Six: The Delegate
Duties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S48
Term of Office. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S49
Expenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S49
Qualifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S49
Geographical Rotation within the Area . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S50
The Alternate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S50
Personal Experience (preparing for the Conference) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S50
“Leadership in A.A.: Ever a Vital Need” (excerpts), by Bill W.. . . . . . . . . . . . S51
Reporting on the Conference. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S52
Chapter Seven: The Annual Conference Meeting
General Warranties of the Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S54
What Goes On at the Conference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S55
Sources of Agenda Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S55
Conference Membership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S56
The Voting Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S56
Conference Advisory Actions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S57
Can the Conference Act for AA as a Whole?, by Bill W. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S57
Reporting to the Membership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S58
Chapter Eight: Conference Committees
Committee meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S59
Selection of committee members. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S59
The Conference Committees (names and general scope). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S60
Secondary Committees. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S61
Chapter Nine: The General Service Board
The trustees’ relationship to the Conference structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S62
Composition. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S63
Election of Trustees and Officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S63
Qualifications of an Effective Trustee. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S63
Chairperson of the A.A. General Service Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S65
Nonalcoholic (Class A) Trustees (role, qualifications, how chosen) . . . . . . . . S65
Regional Trustees (role, qualifications, how elected) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S65
Regional map, U.S. and Canada. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S66
Schedule of regional elections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S67
Trustees-at-Large (role, qualifications, how elected) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S67
General Service Trustees (role, qualifications, how elected). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S68
Trustees Emeriti . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S69
General Service Board Committees (names and functions). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S69
Appointed Committee Members (role, qualifications, how elected) . . . . . . . . S71
World Service Meeting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S71
Meeting of the Americas. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S71
Chapter Ten: The Board’s Operating Corporations
Relationship of the General Service Board
to its operating entities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S72
The General Service Board Reserve Fund . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S72
A.A. World Services, Inc. (corporate board,
board committees, financial support) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S73
The AA Grapevine, Inc. (corporate board, financial support) . . . . . . . . . . . . . S74
Choosing Nontrustee Directors for A.A. World Services
and A.A. Grapevine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S75
Trademarks, Logos and Copyrights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S75
Chapter Eleven: The General Service Office
General description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S77
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S77
Services . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S77
Structure Chart of G.S.O. and A.A.W.S.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S78
Archives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S80
Publishing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S80
Finance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S81
Literature Published by A.A. World Services. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S81
Chapter Twelve: The A.A. Grapevine
General description . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S85
Nature of the magazine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S86
Structure and Support. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S86
(Editorial Advisory Board). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S86
Structure Chart of Grapevine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S87
What Gets Done at the Grapevine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S87
La Viña . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S88
Grapevine and La Viña Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S88
A.A. Grapevine Web site (www.aagrapevine.org). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S89
The A.A. Grapevine Digital (story) Archive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S89
What Does a Grapevine/La Viña Representative Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S89
Literature Published by the Grapevine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S90
General Guidelines for Reprinting Art and Articles
from the A.A. Grapevine. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S91
Logo and Artwork . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S91
Area Maps U.S. and Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S92
Appendix A Original Conference Charter, 1955 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S94
Appendix B 1955 Resolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S99
Appendix C Current Conference Charter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S101
Appendix D Conference Panels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S107
Appendix E Bylaws of the General Service Board. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S110
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S122
Changes to this Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . S125

This is A.A.’s service manual—an outgrowth of the “Third Legacy Manual” which served
the movement so well beginning with Bill W.’s first draft in 1951. All of the basic service
principles and procedures outlined in that document have been retained. In the interests
of convenience and completeness, the material has been edited and rearranged. An overall
revision was approved by the 1999 General Service Conference.
The Conference Report and Charter Committee is responsible for reviewing and approving
annual updates and revisions of The A.A. Service Manual/Twelve Concepts for World Service.
A.A.’s Legacy of Service
by Bill W.1
Our Twelfth Step—carrying the message—is the basic service that the A.A. Fellowship
gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. Therefore, A.A.
is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the
message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven’t been given the truth may die.
Hence, an A.A. service is anything whatever that helps us to reach a fellow sufferer—
ranging all the way from the Twelfth Step itself to a ten-cent phone call and a cup of coffee,
and to A.A.’s General Service Office for national and international action. The sum total of
all these services is our Third Legacy of Service.
Services include meeting places, hospital cooperation, and intergroup offices; they
mean pamphlets, books, and good publicity of almost every description. They call for com-
mittees, delegates, trustees, and conferences. And, not to be forgotten, they need voluntary
money contributions from within the Fellowship.
Vital to A.A.’s Growth
These services, whether performed by individuals, groups, areas, or A.A. as a whole, are
utterly vital to our existence and growth. Nor can we make A.A. more simple by abolishing
such services. We would only be asking for complication and confusion.
Concerning any given service, we therefore pose but one question: “Is this service really
needed?” If it is, then maintain it we must, or fail in our mission to those who need and seek A.A.
1 Bill wrote these words in 1951, therefore, his words reflect that time period in their details.
S1