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Groups
Why is each A.A. Group Important?
Most of us cannot recover unless there is a group. As Bill W. said, “Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a great whole. … He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.”
A.A. is shaped by the collective voice of its local groups and their representatives to the General Service Conference, which works toward unanimity on matters vital to the Fellowship. Each group functions independently, except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
Tradition Five States: “Each Alcoholics Anonymous group ought to be a spiritual entity having but one primary purpose—that of carrying its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.”
The Long Form of Tradition Three states: “Our membership ought to include all who suffer from alcoholism. Hence we may refuse none who wish to recover. Nor ought A.A. membership ever depend upon money or conformity. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an A.A. group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.”
- Visit your local Office to get your questions answered : 116 E. 6th Street, Medford, Oregon 97501
- Call your local Office to get your questions answered: (541) 732-1850
- Go here to read the approved pamphlet: “The A.A. Group .. Where It All Begins”
How do A.A. Members Find Out About Your Group?
Members and Prospective members look for A.A. meetings on our website, from the Meeting Guide App , and from printed in person A.A. meeting schedules that are distributed in A.A. meetings and in the community. Your Central Office manages all meeting listings.
A great way of getting someone who thinks that they might have a drinking problem is to encourage them to go to a meeting. In a meeting, they will hear others sharing their stories which cracks the door open to their finding a solution.
We want to help your group ensure that your meeting information is listed and accurate. In closing, if any meetings that you attend or your Home Group makes any changes to the meeting time, location, zoom, hybrid, please be sure to fill out the meeting change form. We rely on groups to stay in great communication with us so we can all better achieve our primary purpose: To help alcoholics recover through A.A. ‘s suggested Twelve Steps of Recovery.Please go here to Add / Change or Update your Group or Meeting Info on the Jackson County Online & Printed A.A. Meeting Schedule
Printed meeting schedules can be the most important piece of A.A. literature that a group can have in their literature rack. By handing someone a meeting schedule, this gives a recovered member an opening to connect with a newcomer, and it also creates an opportunity to give a phone number so he/she can talk more one to one if they desire. And, by handing someone a meeting schedule, also provides an opening for the two to arrange a meet up to see eachother at a future A.A. meeting. Go here to find out more about how to get your free meeting schedules to distribute at your meeting.
While we never charge groups for supplying them with printed meeting schedules and listing their meeting online, we sure do appreciate any contributions that your group might want to send to Central Office to help offset our expenses. Please go here to learn more about making a contribution to Central Office
What’s the relationship between Central Office & your Group?
Per the one-sheet from GSO on Central Office or Intergroup Offices. “Service centers usually have no authority on their own account; they derive it from the participating groups. Central/intergroup offices are essentially A.A. service entities, “directly responsible to those they serve,” as described in Tradition Nine. Local group representatives reflect the groups’ conscience in the service center operations. In most communities, a central/intergroup office committee or steering committee is set up to handle the administrative activities of the service office.”
Therefore, at your Local Central Office (JCCOAA), our goal is to secure a “Central Office Rep” from all A.A. Groups in Jackson County. Yes, that means your homegroup! Each member group is entitled to one vote in the Monthly Meeting of the Central Office with the Steering Committee and these meetings are held at 9:00am on the first Saturday of each month.
- If you are interested in becoming a “Central Office Rep” for your group, please go here to contact us.
What do A.A. Group Members Do?
“I am responsible …when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of A.A. always to be there. And for that I am responsible.” In short, when newcomers walk into our meeting rooms, we want A.A. to be there for them as it was for us — something we can do continuously only if we function as a group. But, for a group to keep going, all kinds of service must be done. It is through the combined efforts and ongoing commitment of group members that:
- A meeting place is provided and maintained.
- Programs are arranged for the meetings.
- Seventh Tradition contributions are collected, and properly allocated and spent.
- A.A. Conference-approved literature is on hand.
- A.A. Grapevine and La Viña literature and lists of local group meetings are available.
- Refreshments are available.
- Assistance in finding A.A. meetings is given to alcoholics in the area.
- Calls for help are answered.
- Group problems are aired and resolved.
- Continuing contact is sustained with the rest of A.A. — locally, through the intergroup (central office), district and area’s general service structure; and nationally and internationally, through the General Service Office in New York.
Why register your A.A. Group with New York G.S.O?
Per the Pamphlet, “Is Your Group Linked to A.A. as a Whole?” Its’s not mandatory to register a group with the General Service Office (G.S.O.) in New York, and nobody has to ask permission of the G.S.O. to start an A.A. group. However, a registered group has a vote in the decision making process of A.A. as a whole and registering with the G.S.O. is done so that your group is formally recognized as an A.A. group.
Each group linked to the local general service structure is automatically a part of the “group conscience” through their G.S.R.’s participation in district meetings and Area Assembly. Go here to learn more about General Service via our local Jackson County District, District 16.
The Twelve Traditions Of Alcoholics Anonymous
A.A.’s Twelve Traditions apply to the life of the Fellowship itself. They outline the means by which A.A. maintains its unity and relates itself to the world about it, the way it lives and grows.
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
- 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.
- The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose—to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
- 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.
- Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- 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.
- 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.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
Reprinted with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
Most of us cannot recover unless there is a group. As Bill said, “Realization dawns on each member that he is but a small part of a great whole… He learns that the clamor of desires and ambitions within him must be silenced whenever these could damage the group. It becomes plain that the group must survive or the individual will not.”
Reprinted from Pamphlet:
“The A.A. Group” pamphlet, page 12
with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.
