A DECLARATION OF UNITY

THIS WE OWE TO A.A.’S FUTURE:

TO PLACE OUR COMMON WELFARE FIRST; TO KEEP OUR FELLOWSHIP UNITED.

FOR ON A.A. UNITY DEPENDS OUR LIVES,

AND THE LIVES OF THOSE TO COME.

Contents

● What is service in AA?

– The Three Legacies

● Recovery: the Steps● Unity: the Traditions● Service: the Concepts

– SENY Service Organization and People

● What do I do as a GSR?

– Individually

– In my group

– As part of AA's larger service structure

● What else do I need to know?

– Suffolk General Service Meeting

– SENY Assembly

– Resources

Bill W on Service

Our Twelfth Step, carrying the message, is the basic service that AA Fellowship gives: this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. Therefore, AA 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 AA service is anything whatever that helps us to reach a fellow suffer--ranging all the way from the Twelfth Step itself to a ten cent phone call and a cup of coffee, and to AA.' s General Service Office for national and international action. The sum total of all of these is our Third Legacy of Service.

AA's Three Legacies

Let's look at service in AA by looking at AA's Three Legacies

– Recovery -- The Twelve Steps

The individual– Unity -- The Twelve Traditions

The group– Service -- The Twelve Concepts

AA as a wholeThey are called "legacies" because they have been handed down to us.

By performing service now in AA, we guarantee that AA will be available to those who come after us.

The Twelve Steps are the First Legacy.

● The Steps are about individual recovery.

● Step 12 calls for service from one alcoholic to another: "we tried to carry this message to alcoholics"

● Our individual recovery depends on "giving it away".

● Commitments to our home groups are service.

● Our home group is where service begins.

We admitted we were powerless over alcohol, that our lives had become unmanageable.

The Traditions are theSecond Legacy

● The Traditions call for a unity of purpose and behavior for AA groups.

● They define an AA group's single purpose: "to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers."

● They protect the group from outside influences.

● They protect the group from its own members who are "but trusted servants; they do not govern."

● As a GSR you are a guardian of the Traditions; you work to make sure that they are observed by your group.

● Your work as a GSR allows you to serve AA below the group.

Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends on AA unity.

Service 'Below' the Group?

Everything is below the Group in AA as this picture from the AA Service Manual shows.

As a GSR you are the voice of your group; you carry its informed group conscience down to the District, County and Area so that it can be heard at the AA General Service Conference.

The Twelve Concepts are the Third Legacy.

● They establish the primacy of the AA group unified through the Twelve Traditions as having "final responsibility and ultimate authority" for world services.

● They define the spiritual foundation for how the greater AA and Grapevine organizations serve the AA groups.

● As a GSR, you become a student of the Concepts; they prepare you for service below the District level.

Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

In Bernard Smith's Words

We may not need a General Service Conference to insure our own recovery. We do need it to insure the recovery of the alcoholic who still stumbles in the darkness one short block from this room. We need it to insure the recovery of a child being born tonight, destined to alcoholism. We need it to provide, in keeping with our Twelfth Step, permanent haven for all alcoholics who, in the ages ahead, can find in AA that rebirth which brought us back to life.

* (At the 1955 General Service Conference. Mr Smith, a civilian, was Chairman of AA World Services, AA's face to the civilian world.)

As a GSR you represent a group. Your group is part of a District made up of a number of groups that are in the same geographical area within

Suffolk County. Suffolk County is part of the Southeast New York Area.

Entity Example AKA

You Jane D. GSR

Your Home Group

Smithtown Serenity Group 56881

Your District Smithtown, St James, Hauppauge, Kings Park, Ft Salonga, Commack

District 110

District Commitee Member

Paul C. DCM

DCM Chair Rob M. DCMC

County Suffolk County General Service SCGS

Area Southeast NY Area: City of New York (Queens, Brooklyn, Staten Island, Manhattan and the Bronx), Long Island (Suffolk and Nassau counties) and the lower upstate New York counties (Westchester, Putnam, Rockland, Orange and Sullivan).

SENYArea 49

Area Delegate

Susan F. AD

AA General Service Office (NY) GSO

Global AA World Services Inc. (NY) AAWS

SENY Service: Structure and People

What do I do as a GSR individually?

● Continue to work on your personal sobriety.Practicing AA principles in all of your AA service work is just as important as it is in the rest of your life.

● Make a two year commitment.The quality of our service depends on the dedication and endurance of our GSRs.

● Get a Service Sponsor.Just as your recovery sponsor guides you through the Twelve Steps, a Service Sponsor will advise you on the Twelve Traditions and explain how General Service works.

What do I do as a GSR individually?

● Get an Alternate GSR.Coming up to speed as a GSR takes a while. Preparing another group member to assume the GSR responsibility when you rotate out is in the best interests of your group and AA in general. Besides, you'll need someone to carry your bags and fetch your coffee.

● Learn about the Traditions and Concepts.Include them as tools as you do the Steps.

What do I do as a GSR in my group?

● Promote group awareness and observance of the Twelve Traditions.

Hold Traditions meetings for your home group with a speaker who has service experience and knowledge of the Traditions. Make sure that breaks with the Traditions are taken with an informed group conscience (e.g. display and sale of Hazeldon literature).

● Bring group questions and issues to County meetings.

If your group has reached an informed group conscience on an issue (say, with a Tradition or with a Suffolk GS event), bring it up at the county meeting for discussion and resolution.

●

What do I do as a GSR in my group?

● Encourage periodic group inventories. A check on the fitness of recovery, unity and service in a group is suggested every two years. Remember, a group inventory is not just about issues: it is about what is going good too.

● Secure funding for your own GSR activities (if needed).

Supporting your service activities is part of your group's Seventh Tradition responsibility.

What do I do as a GSR in my group?

● Report on Suffolk County GS and SENY happenings at your group's business meeting.

Keep it brief so as not to interfere with group business that needs to be conducted. Make copies of the Link, BOX 459 and GS Conference reports available.

● Encourage group members to get involved with General Service.

Any member of your group can volunteer to help with AA service programs or events. If someone has an interest, hook them up with the appropriate person in the service organization.

● Collect group feedback for the SENY delegate's Annual Questionnaire

This is your group's voice at the General Service Conference.

What do I do as a GSR in broader AA?

● Attend District meetingsYour DCM arranges these meetings. Time is set aside at the Suffolk meeting for District meetings as well.

● Attend monthy meetings of Suffolk County General Service.

You connect your group with the county by attending. You have a vote. Meetings are held on the third Friday of every month at the Fish Church in Rocky Point.

● Support County initiatives.Join a committee. Volunteer to help with an event. Attend County events.

What do I do as a GSR in broader AA?

● Attend SENY Area Assemblies.You connect your group with the area by attending. You have a vote. The meetings are held 5 times a year at various locations in the Area. The County provides transportation for a nominal fee.

● Attend SENY Committee meetings (if so inclined).

The Suffolk County DCMC and your DCM represent your group at these meetings. You do not have a vote. The meetings are monthly and are held in the Bronx.

● Collect information and materials to bring back to your group from all of the Service meetings and events you attend.

Communication to your group promotes an informed group conscience.

Suffolk General Service Meeting

● GSRs meet in Suffolk County to formulate an informed group conscience on service activities and initiatives in the county.

● It is a Business Meeting like your monthly Group Business Meeting.

● These meetings are chaired by the DCMC who sets the agenda.

● SGS monthly meetings consist of:

– Officer's reports

– Committee Chair reports

– District Meetings

● Proposing, discussing and voting on specific actions.

● Prior to taking any action, the group needs to arrive at an informed group conscience.

SENY Area Assembly

● Below the county/borough meetings sits the SENY Assembly.

● The Assembly conducts the service business of New York City, Long Island and the downstate New York counties.

● prepares the SENY Delegate to represent the Area at the General Service Conference.

● The Assembly takes place at least five times a year at sites throughout the Area.

Suffolk Intergroup Association (SIA)

● The SIA supports the First Legacy: individual recovery. Its responsibilites include:

– Suffolk AA Hotline

– Publishing Meeting Lists (hardcopy and online)

– Speaker Exchange

– Making Literature available to groups

● Suffolk General Service (you) supports the Second and Third Legacies: unity of purpose in our groups and alignment of service activities down through the SENY area to the General Service Conference.

SENY Website