Steering Committee? Yes

Required Sobriety: 5 years minimum

Length Of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Our Conductor chairs our Steering Committee meetings and, usually, our Business Meetings (referred to, somewhat inaccurately, as our "Group Conscience" meetings). Per the Addison Group By-Laws, for someone to stand for the position of Conductor, they must have five years of continuous sobriety. It is also strongly suggested that they have a sound working knowledge of the Twelve Traditions and Concepts, Robert’s Rules of Order, and that they have been a member of the Addison Group long enough to know "how things work around here."

In chairing the Steering Committee or Group Conscience meetings, the Conductor has the somewhat difficult task of keeping group discussions on important issues on track, while making sure every member present gets their say. The phrase "herding cats" has been used more than once! At the same time, the By-Laws call for the Conductor to have a voice, but not a vote, except in the event of a tie, in which case they get the deciding vote.

The Conductor also presents items from the “Suggestion Box” to the Steering Committee to make sure they do not conflict with any Traditions.

The By-Laws also state that it is not required that the Conductor chair the Group Conscience meeting; any member of the Steering Committee could do it in the event that a Conductor is to attend a Group Conscience meeting.

Relevant Literature:

Book: “The AA Service Manual & Twelve Concepts For World Service” Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Pamphlet: “The 12 Concepts Of World Service Illustrated” 

Steering Committee? YES

Required Sobriety: 2 years minimum

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

1) Pay the bills. The Treasurer maintains the checkbook and files away any receipts that are brought in. They pay the recurring monthly bills (phone, electricity, rent, etc.) as well as our monthly contributions to other AA entities (District, Intergroup, Area, and GSO). All expenses are reconciled in the checkbook with our bank statements.

2) Report to the Steering Committee AND Group Conscience. The Treasurer maintains a spreadsheet in Excel format which details our income and expenses, and presents this report at the meetings mentioned above. Information on income is gathered with the help of the Assistant Treasurer via the “meeting slips.”

3) Keep documentation (receipts and insurance). The Treasurer is entrusted with a box of file folders containing all the receipts we’ve accumulated, as well as bank information and copies of our current and past insurance agreements.

At Steering Committee and Group Conscience meetings, the Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer may often have to be the “voice of reason” in terms of knowing exactly what the group can afford to do at any given time.

NOTE: The Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer also account for money from the “pig fund”, which is money collected for our Anniversary, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s parties. As this is not directly related to 12th Step work, it is a completely separate fund and should be accounted for accordingly.

Relevant Literature:

Book: “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” (Tradition 7)

Pamphlet: “Self-Support: Where Money And Spirituality Mix” Pamphlet: “The AA Group Treasurer”

Steering Committee? YES

Required Sobriety: 2 years minimum

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

“Perhaps the most spiritual of all Trusted Servant positions,” the Assistant Treasurer removes the money from the bank on a regular basis (once a week minimum; twice a week preferred) and deposits the money into our checking account.

Once they have done this, they provide the Treasurer with the deposit slips.

At the end of the month, the Assistant Treasurer goes through the “meeting slips” to assist the Treasurer in totaling the donations to the group, coffee, “pig fund”, “orange can”, and literature sales. These totals are reconciled with the totals from the deposit slips, and reported to the group by the Treasurer.

Relevant Literature:

Book: “Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions” (Tradition 7)

Pamphlet: “Self-Support: Where Money And Spirituality Mix” Pamphlet: “The AA Group Treasurer”

Steering Committee? YES

Required Sobriety: 2 years minimum

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

The Secretary provides copies of the minutes for all Steering Committee and Group Conscience meetings and takes notes for these.

Copies of previous meeting minutes are to be posted on the group wall. An electronic copy is to be sent to the Conductor. (Paper copies older than six months are put in our archives.)

The Secretary lists any motions (including those from the “Suggestion Box”) on the group whiteboard at least one week prior to the Group Conscience to keep members informed of upcoming voting items.

Reading the minutes from the previous meeting is to be done at the discretion of the Conductor.

The secretary acts as the Addison Group website manager. This includes overseeing the maintenance, keeping the website’s domain and hosting current, updating events, meeting times, announcements, etc. as necessary. The secretary can handle this directly or find a volunteer to help and monitor maintenance accordingly.

The description of the Secretary’s duties may be short, but it’s a big responsibility!

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Steering Committee? YES

Required Sobriety: 2 years minimum

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Keeps an inventory of the non-AA related supplies at the Addison Group, such as coffee, toiletries, paper products, etc. Buys these things as needed via Sam’s Club membership (which is transferred from purchaser to purchaser.)

Gives receipts to the Treasurer for expense reporting purposes.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Steering Committee? YES

Required Sobriety: 2 years minimum

Length of Commitment: 1 year

ADDISON GROUP HAS THREE AT-LARGE POSITIONS

Description of Duties:

Attend all Steering Committee and Group Conscience Meetings.

Be willing to rotate into any open Steering Committee positions should an emergency arise.

Lend their voice and vote to the group.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Book: “The AA Service Manual & Twelve Concepts For World Service”

Steering Committee? NO (attendance preferred)

Required Requirement: 6 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

The spirit of the Community Coordinator position is to create opportunities for continued fellowship in the group through unity, service and recovery.

Attends all Group Conscience meetings at the Addison group.

Coordinates through delegation or direct management major events for the group (i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas, 4th of July, etc).

Coordinates or delegates quarterly workshops pertinent to the needs of the group (i.e. sponsorship, 12 step, how to chair a meeting, etc).

Coordinates or delegates decorating, chairing, and purchasing cake for monthly Birthday Nights.

Brings ideas to Group Conscience to facilitate fellowship in the group.

Relevant Literature

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Steering Committee? NO

Required Sobriety: 3 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Assists Community Coordinator in all responsibilities.

Brings ideas to the Coordinator from the group for fellowship. Helps find chairpeople for Birthday Nights.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Steering Committee? NO (Attendance Preferred)

Suggested Sobriety: 3 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Attend to, or be the point of contact for, the maintenance of the physical space occupied by the Addison Group (currently 4839 Keller Springs Rd.)

Make sure that the air filters are replaced on a quarterly basis.

Make repairs to the physical space occupied by the Addison Group as needed, or delegate responsibility to getting them done in a timely fashion.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: None

Length of Commitment: 6 months

Description of Duties:

The Literature Rep goes to the Central Intergroup Office (4407 N Beltwood Pkwy, Ste 110, Farmers Branch 75244 – 214.887.6699) to purchase the books and/or pamphlets we need.

They also purchase the “birthday chips”.

If the Literature Rep is unable to make a timely visit down to Central Office, they can ask the Intergroup Rep to do it (or another Addison Group member of their choosing.)

Members of the group express, either directly to the Literature Rep or at Group Conscience (not as "suggestion box" items for Steering Committee), which pieces of Conference-approved Literature we wish to have available at the Addison Group.

"Conference-approved" means literature that the AA fellowship has voted to approve every word of, as opposed to literature produced outside our fellowship which is, therefore, edited by others. For example, the book "Pass It On" (a biography of Bill W.) was approved by the General Service Conference in 1984. On the other hand, the William James book "Varieties of Religious Experience", even though it is referenced in Appendix II of the Big Book, is not Conference-approved, as we have no control over its content and such endorsement would imply affiliation.

Relevant Literature:

Catalog: Conference-Approved Literature and other Service Material

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 6 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

This amended list comes from the Dallas Intergroup Association By-Laws:

• Attend monthly meetings which are held the second Thursday of every month.
• Make monthly reports based on Intergroup Meeting information to your home group.
• Inform the Intergroup office of any changes in your group’s meeting times, types, group location, phone number, any changes. If you see an error in your listing, please call and let us know. We can change information on the website daily, but the printed schedules only come out 3-4 times a year. We can only be as accurate as the information you give us. We depend on you to help us out. If you visit a group other than your home group and find that group does not appear to be active please inform us of that as well.
• Suggest home group participation in any Intergroup sponsored event or function such as the Chili Cook-off and Anniversary Celebration.
• Help the Intergroup maintain an accurate and up-to-date 12th Step List from your home group. The Intergroup gets speakers for groups and events as well as workshops so a good supply of speakers, step speakers, and other volunteers for group activities is very important. When someone calls for help it is great to have a list of volunteers from the many different areas we serve.
• Ask your home group to make financial contributions to the Intergroup using GSO guidelines.
• Suggest to other groups that they elect a willing, active member to serve as their Intergroup Rep and have a voice in monthly meetings.
• Keep Intergroup informed of any special event at your home group. We will post the event on our events page on the website and on the bulletin board in the office.
• Inform your group about Intergroup and the services we provide all groups, including the Speaker Bureau, Nightwatch, Workshop Assistance, Mediators for Group Inventory, 12th Step calls and much more. We are always looking for members with some extra time to volunteer at the office.

Relevant Literature:

Website: http://www.aadallas.org

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 2 years

Length of Commitment: 2 years (or until end of December in even years)

Description of Duties:

“The General Service Representative (GSR) has the job of linking his or her group with AA as a whole.” The following list of duties come directly from The AA Service Manual, p. S26:

• GSRs attend District meetings.
• They also attend Area Assemblies.
• GSRs serve as the mail contact with the General Service Office, and they are listed in the AA directories as contacts for their groups. They receive the GSO bulletin Box 4-5-9, and keep abreast of AA activities all over the world.
• They serve as mail contact with their District Committee Member (DCM) and the area committee.
• GSRs supply their DCMs with up-to-date group information, which is relayed to GSO for inclusion in the directories and GSO mailings.
• They are knowledgeable about information available from GSO – new literature, guidelines, bulletins, etc. – and they are responsible for passing such information on to the groups.
• They learn everything they can about (the relevant literature listed below.)
• They work with group Treasurers to develop practical plans for group support of GSO, such as the Regular Contribution Plan and the Birthday Plan. They encourage the group to support the District and the Area and are familiar with the leaflet “Self-Support: Where Money And Spirituality Mix.”
• In an emergency, if the GSR is unable to attend a District Meeting and the Alternate cannot attend, any previous Addison Group GSR can take their place, provided Addison is still their home group.

Relevant Literature:

Book: “12 Steps & 12 Traditions”

Book: “The AA Service Manual & 12 Concepts For World Service” Book: “AA Comes of Age”

Pamphlet: “GSR – Perhaps The Most Important Job In AA” Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Pamphlet: “The AA Tradition – How It Developed” Pamphlet: “The 12 Traditions Illustrated”

Pamphlet: “The 12 Concepts Illustrated”

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 1 year

Length of Commitment: 2 years (or until end of December in even years)

Description of Duties:

The Alternate General Service Representative (Alt-GSR) is not merely a stand-in for the GSR. Ideally, they accompany the GSR in their duties, ready to take their place (or engage in some other manner of general service.) The list of things they should be able to do is the same as the GSR:

• GSRs attend District meetings.
• They also attend Area Assemblies.
• GSRs serve as the mail contact with the General Service Office, and they are listed in the AA directories as contacts for their groups. They receive the GSO bulletin Box 4-5-9, and keep abreast of AA activities all over the world.
• They serve as mail contact with their District Committee Member (DCM) and the area committee.
• GSRs supply their DCMs with up-to-date group information, which is relayed to GSO for inclusion in the directories and GSO mailings.
• They are knowledgeable about information available from GSO – new literature, guidelines, bulletins, etc. – and they are responsible for passing such information on to the groups.
• They learn everything they can about (the relevant literature listed below.)
• They work with group Treasurers to develop practical plans for group support of GSO, such as the Regular Contribution Plan and the Birthday Plan. They encourage the group to support the District and the Area and are familiar with the leaflet “Self-Support: Where Money And Spirituality Mix.”

Relevant Literature:

Book: “12 Steps & 12 Traditions”

Book: “The AA Service Manual & 12 Concepts For World Service” Book: “AA Comes of Age”

Pamphlet: “GSR – Perhaps The Most Important Job In AA” Pamphlet: “The AA Group: Where It All Begins”

Pamphlet: “The AA Tradition – How It Developed” Pamphlet: “The 12 Traditions Illustrated”

Pamphlet: “The 12 Concepts Illustrated”

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 6 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Attend District Corrections Committee meetings to find out which facilities need people to show up so meetings can be held there, as well as keeping the District informed of which facilities the Addison Group currently has commitments with.

Keep the Addison Group informed of these opportunities.

Ideally, the Treatment Facilities Rep also attends a meeting at a facility, though this is not required.

Coordinate with the Intergroup Rep to maintain a “Bridging-The-Gap” list. These are Addison Group members willing to take an individual who has just been released from treatment to their first AA meeting.

Serve as a “point of contact” for the staff of the facilities the Addison Group takes meetings to, or ensures that there is a member of the Addison Group doing this on a regular basis.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “AA in Treatment Facilities”

Pamphlet: “AA Guidelines on Treatment Facilities Committees (MG-14)”

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 1 year including 1 year off probation

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Attend District Corrections Committee meetings to find out which facilities need people to show up so meetings can be held there, as well as keeping the District informed of which facilities the Addison Group currently has commitments with.

Keep the Addison Group informed of these opportunities.

Ideally, the Correctional Facilities Rep also attends an “inside” meeting, though this is

not required.

Coordinate with the Intergroup Rep to maintain a “Bridging-The-Gap” list. These are Addison Group members willing to take an offender who has just been released to their first AA meeting.

Note that, in the case of correctional facilities, we do NOT “take the meeting to the facility.” The groups already exist – they just aren’t allowed to have meetings unless someone from the outside attends as well. All we do is show up and lend our experience, strength, and hope, just as we would at any other meeting.

Relevant Literature:

Pamphlet: “It Sure Beats Sitting In A Cell”

Pamphlet: “Corrections Committee Guidelines (MG-06)”

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 6 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Attend District and/or Area PI Committee meetings to keep apprised of upcoming events where members of Alcoholics Anonymous are needed.

Keep the Addison Group informed of these opportunities.

Be able to tell their story to the general public, and explain what AA is and is not,

without relying on “AA slang.” Help others to do the same.

“AA is not in the business of education, research, medicine, counseling, treatment, prevention, or funding. We simply have a message to carry about a program of recovery for alcoholics - a program that works for hundreds of thousands who want it.”

Relevant Literature:

Workbook: Public Information (M-27I)

Pamphlet: Guidelines on Public Information (MG-07)

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 1 year

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) is loosely defined as “people who regularly work with possible alcoholics as part of their job”. Judges, probation officers, medical professionals (from doctors to psychologists), members of the clergy, and educators all fit into this classification and the message we carry to them is different from the message we carry to the general public.

Attend District and/or Area CPC Committee meetings to keep apprised of upcoming events where members of Alcoholics Anonymous are needed. Keep the Addison Group informed of these opportunities.

Be able to tell their story to professionals, and let them know what AA is and is not,

without relying on “AA slang.” Help others to do the same.

“AA is not in the business of education, research, medicine, counseling, treatment, prevention, or funding. We simply have a message to carry about a program of recovery for alcoholics - a program that works for hundreds of thousands who want it.”

Relevant Literature:

Workbook: Public Information (M-41I)

Pamphlet: Guidelines on Cooperation with the Professional Community (MG-11)

Steering Committee? NO

Suggested Sobriety: 3 months

Length of Commitment: 1 year

Description of Duties:

The AA Grapevine (and La Viña) are “the International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous”. It is a monthly publication and the AA Grapevine Inc. is a separate company from AA World Services, Inc.

According to their website, these are the duties of the Grapevine Rep:

Announce the latest issue at your meeting

Talk about the magazine's content - the stories make great topics for discussion

Encourage your group to participate by sending in stories, artwork or jokes

Spread the word about Grapevine's new services and products

Relevant Literature:

Workbook: AA Grapevine Website:www.aagrapevine.org