General Service Office complaints procedure

In response to our contact with GSO York they kindly supplied the following information with regard to how to go about making a complaint. This should also clarify the scope of their authority with regard to the groups. Now you know where the buck well and truly stops...!!

"Dear .....

The procedure followed by GSO in response to a complaint either from a member of AA or a member of the public is as follows:

We would ask that the complaint be put in writing [and sent to: The General Service Office, PO Box 1, 10 Toft Green, York, YO1 7NJ] and explain that as neither the General Service Board nor GSO has authority over the Groups of AA, we would pass the complaint on to the local members involved. At the same time we would inform the GSB Trustee of the complaint, so that they are aware of the situation. As Alcoholics Anonymous is formed by self-regulating Groups, AA members would be encouraged to consult Guideline 17 to help resolve any difficulties.

In some cases the General Service Board will consider complaints with a view to offering guidance only on how to resolve the issue.

If the complaint is against a member of staff, GSO follows the guidelines provided by an employment consultant which are contained in a staff handbook which is available to all staff.

We hope this helps in your deliberations.

Regards,

.......[name omitted]

General Secretary"


Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Northdown Intergroup vs. Mid Surrey Intergroup conventions – spot the difference!

As you may recall it was Northdown Intergroup's convention last year which advertised speakers by name – including some North American imports. Perhaps that might account for the difference!!

Cheers

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS And you have to provide an SAE as well!



Our usual thanks to our contributors

A few more meetings perhaps to ask questions about....

BERKSHIRE

Newbury: Design for Living
Sunday 11.00 Greenham Community Centre, Nightingales, off Greenham Rd

This group is explicitly affiliated with the Wimbledon Design for Living group (this is indicated on the group's website together with other tradition-busting information – see the aacultwatch forum for some comments on the group)

OXFORDSHIRE

Oxford: Warneford Hospital
Thursday 19.30 McKinnes Room, Warneford Hospital, Old Rd, Headington

Our reporter tells us: “Fellas, Keep an eye on this meeting. I was informed that a lady with links to the Toddington Primary Purpose group has taken on secretary and has already after 4 weeks started the nonsense. "if any one wants a spiritual experience, see me and I can arrange one in a weekend!!!!" only her primary pals doing the chair etc. This old established meeting within a mental hospital sometimes has students attending as part of their studies (a long standing agreement). In the last 2 years lots of oldtimers have died or moved on, illness etc and it seems ripe for a cult takeover. Imagine if you will, the cult making merry in the city of spires having access to all those aspiring bright young medical students.”.

Yep we can imagine!!

SUFFOLK

Ipswich: Primary Purpose
Saturday 19.15 All Hallows Church Hall, Landseer Rd

This group boasts its very own website (with its very own logo) but does not carry the usual statement of non-affiliation, endorsement etc. It does however carry links to the official AA website as well as referring to itself as an Alcoholics Anonymous Primary Purpose Group. Perhaps some kind of hybrid! Who knows!

And then there was Hampton Wick.....

MIDDLESEX

Hampton Wick: How It Works Beginners
Friday 19.00 St Edward's Day Centre, Sons of Devine Providence, 13 Lower Teddington Rd

Hampton Wick: How It Works Big Book Step
Friday Meeting 20.30 (address - as above)

Bog standard cult group straight off the Joys of Recovery template!

Note: The above meetings should be carefully distinguished from the Monday and Thursday meetings held at the same venue. These latter are actually the real thing ie. AA meetings!

Our reporter comments: "Happened to be in the Kingston area and decided to nip over the river to check out the local "Beginners meeting". I carried an ample supply of anti-nausea medication about my person (as prescribed under the direction of my GP!) just in case. It turns out I was well advised and popped pills constantly during the course of the meeting but even then it was a close run thing! There were about 60 in attendance (numbers don't mean much in cult meetings by the way. They tend to have a larger than normal catchment area and of course it is "suggested" to any newcomer falling into their clutches that they should avoid those "sick" AA meetings - hence the large congregations). There was the usual slick presentation with the faithful arrayed in neat rows facing the table behind which the secretary and "chair" were positioned. Prompt sheets were duly read and as this was taking place I cast my eye around the room checking out the décor. There was an array of slogans on the wall behind the top table some of which I recognised eg. "Happy, Joyous and Free" and of course that classic piece of misinformation "Misery is Optional". Otherwise there was nothing of any great moment. The crew similarly were of a pretty standard mix though with a preponderance of younger age groups - but then they're easier meat when it comes to cult tactics! The chair got under way. After a bit of "my sponsor this" and "my sponsor that" I kind of zoned out and waited for the denouement. Finally I was awakened from my semi-comatose state as the secretary said their bit and thereafter followed a succession of what can only be described as performances. Now I'm not averse to good show myself but these simply lacked any kind of originality or even drama. It was a mixture of patronising condescension along the lines of "Haven't you done well" and "You've changed so much since I first met you" and so on "ad nauseam" with a good measure of compliance thrown in as well. Clearly the gang approved "the turn" and the "prospect's" position in the group seemed to be secured for another day. Didn't they do well! Ten out of ten! etc etc. My boredom threshold has always been notoriously low and again I found myself drifting off into some well tried and tested fantasies. Now here's a Vision For You! Before my mind's eye I saw David B and David C (two prominent figures in the cult movement) and I found myself asking the two of them if they wished a blindfold for they were positioned directly before a firing squad with ME IN CHARGE.... fortunately for my spiritual condition I roused myself from my dream state and returned to the meeting. It occurred to me then that I had hardly heard the words "God" or "Higher Power" mentioned in the meeting whereas the expression "sponsor" seemed to feature with monotonous regularity. I thought it might be fun (and even serve to keep me awake!) if I counted the instances of these thereafter. My count for the former two was four - God: 3 Higher Power: 1. When it came to "sponsor" however I'm afraid that yet again my attention deficit caught up with me but I must have been well into the forties or fifties before I drifted off again. At the end of this production the usual exit lines were said and of course "sponsorship" was mentioned again - just in case any one might have missed it! Apparently in this group there's something called a "sponsorship coordinator" - or two "somethings" for there is one for the boys and one for the girls. I far as I could gather anybody sufficiently well indoctrinated could approach one of these and get themselves signed up. Daringly the secretary even mentioned the fact that there was a booklet on the subject called Questions and Answers on Sponsorship (AA conference approved literature) but they as quickly dismissed this as an inferior option to the group's very own version - the aforementioned "coordinators". This was probably a good move on their part because it would never do to have newcomers getting all confused. They'd have a hell of a time trying to find that bit about "Do exactly what your sponsor tells you" in that or any other piece of AA literature. Finally we were told that there would be a half hour break before the next show started - the Big Book Step meeting. By this time the medication was really kicking in and I had become very disoriented. The word "sponsor" kept booming in my head and I knew I had to get out of there fast. As bad luck would have it it was one of those meetings where you had to hold hands and play at being "unified". I did and tried desperately to pretend that I was "happy, joyous and free" although I found it made my teeth hurt a lot. Finally ....finally I managed to drag my hands away from my respective gaolers and fled headlong from the meeting into the cool clear air of the night. I can tell you one thing for sure - in the whole land you would not have found a more grateful alcoholic than me at that precise moment - I WAS FREE!!

Post script. Some little time has passed when I attended that meeting and I have been getting treatment for PTSD (or post traumatic stress disorder) ever since. My team of clinicians have assured me that I will make a full RECOVERY though they did say it was touch and go for a while! But never say DIE and in the true kamikaze spirit I am quite resolved to see the job through and go back just to see if I can withstand an entire cult Big Book Step meeting in one go. I may go for the full sedation option though but I'm quite sure I can bluff it with the best of them. I've even come up with an improvement on Step Three which I'm sure they'll love (though I think someone else has already come up with the idea):

Cult step 3: "Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the direction of our SPONSOR"

What do you think? Will they go for it?

Regards Anon”

Note: We will shortly be introducing an equivalent Cult: Where to Find for the United States. This is in response to the increasing numbers of emails we have been receiving from our American cousins relating to cult activities in their neck of woods (most notably the above mentioned Primary Purpose franchise which derives principally from the Dallas PPG).

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

PS Our usual thanks to our AA contributors

The Bristol Reunion – Yes it's The Second Coming!! Or maybe the Third or Fourth...

Any discussion of the circuit speaker brigade cannot fail to include that most prestigious of venues - the Bristol Reunion. This was apparently set up to "... mark the first European Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1971 …...", and it has been running ever since (according to its very own website, and which incidentally does as fine a job of blowing its own trumpet as ever we've seen. In fact God knows how the rest of AA might have managed without the Bristol Reunion that's all we can say!!). Over the years it has hosted such notables as Joe and Charlie (we quote again from the site: "...the incomparable Joe and Charlie and their Big Book Study, the most original, if not the greatest, thing to have happened to AA since the publication of the Big Book in 1939. Such great men and such a grand forum for not only Big Book Study but also for their terrific weekends which accomplished for hundreds of thousands of members the living link we all have with AA history" – Wowsa!! Who could possibly follow that! Well not us for sure!). This particularly engaging double act drew in the punters from far and near for their much-acclaimed Big Book Study, and who can blame them?.... The punters that is....After all it's a helluva lot easier to let someone else do your thinking for you isn't it? Anyways Joe finally shuffled off to that Great Saloon in the Sky and no one knows what happened to Charlie. Now here's a problem - who's going to fill the spot? The venue's booked, the cabaret is all set to go, the dancing girls are warming up in the wings but still no main speaker. Sure we've got the Big Book Thumpers launching into yet another resounding rendition of "We're all right and you're all wrong" with backing vocals from the "Vision for You Choir Eternal" giving it "LARGE" to all and sundry (whether they want to listen or not). But no main man, no head honcho, no enchilada beyond all compare! So what's to be done. The show must go on! But suddenly a flash of inspiration strikes! Someone (who must remain anonymous) suggests that they consult the archives and perhaps therein they will find the answer to this most perplexing of problems. A minion (some hapless sponsee no doubt!) is despatched post haste to bring the Holy Book from its dank depository located far beneath the city walls. After the passing of many hours he returns from his solemn quest, sweat dripping from his pale and terrified face, his hands shaking violently as he hands over the dust-covered and mildew-sodden tome to his masters, the words of prophesy soon to be revealed, or so they most earnestly hope! (Oh come on! Use your imagination!). Nervously the REUNITED ONES pore over the sacred words, the smell of desperation hanging heavily in air as they seek the WAY forth from their dreadful dilemma. All would seem lost or so it might appear! But what is this that reveals itself before their astounded eyes? Yay...the truth finally is disclosed. Lo! The blessed name. He who must be obeyed. The SECOND COMING!.. Yes....Yes... It's... It's... Clancy! The chosen one has at last been revealed to those of the faithful who have truly sought! Spurred on by this blessed revelation the brethren study eagerly the sacred texts desirous yet of further confirmation of his true calling, and surely enough before their astonished eyes is demonstrated indisputable testimony of his predestined calling. One from amongst their number reads aloud the holy words:

“1988 Clancy comes to Bristol”........ a long pause.....
“1994 Clancy Comes Back to the Reunion”...... a deep intake of breath......
“1998 Clancy at Bristol ‘The Miracle of a Changed Life’”..... sighs of relief
“2001 Reunion with Clancy ‘The Path Continues’”... now the way indeed is clear....
“2002 Reunion with Clancy ‘A Disease of Perception’” .... and then clearer still....
“2004 Bristol Reunion with Clancy” ...... Bliss! Oh bliss! (but here a petulant voice is heard to demand in the background: "Why not just call it the Clancy Reunion?" The malefactor is sternly admonished and falls silent once more)
"2005 Reunion with Clancy ‘Where do we go from Here?’" (the recalcitrant one offers a suggestion to this rhetorical question – one which cannot be repeated here - the heretic is cast from the room never to be seen again)

Yes the WAY is clear. The Blessed One has manifested himself before them time and time again but until now they have not had eyes to truly see! It is to him and to him alone that they all must turn in this hour of need. And so it came to be:

We kid you not!!

(Whatever did happen to Tradition 12. Ah well! Never mind! It wasn't that important after all!! It only applies to mere mortals doesn't it!!)

The Players:

Joe and Charlie are also credited with being the inspiring force behind the Dallas Primary Purpose movement - you remember them don't you? They're the ones who are so fond of presenting false stats on AA recovery rates and blaming everyone (and their uncle) for the so-called parlous state of AA today. Oh Cassandra wherefore are thou!!)

Clancy (or the Venerable C): Pacific Group guru and one time sponsor of Mike Q (he of Midtown groups fame). When it comes to "Disease of Perception" Clancy must surely be speaking from experience. His apparent minimisation of what was going on in the Midtown groups (when asked to comment on the situation) must surely rank as a classic symptom of this particular affliction!

See: Washington Post

We'll be back!!!

Cheerio


The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

Big Book Study Guides: Reviewing a Position Paper

[Quoted from AA Service News – Summer 2006 – No. 127. This article originally appeared in Box 459, Vol. 51, No. 6, December 2005. Copyright Alcoholics Anonymous World Services 2005.]

“Sober alcoholics are notorious for refusing to be told what to do, say, or think. The Steps are “suggested,” and experienced sponsors are wise enough not to give newcomers hard and fast directives. Yet paradoxically, a surprising number of members seek out and rely on study guides when they begin delving into AA literature. A variety of such guides are available, published by non-AA entities. While the General Service Board neither endorses nor opposes these publications, we have historically declined to produce any kind of interpretive material ourselves, choosing instead to let our literature stand on its own.

In 1977, faced with a rising number of requests from non-AA sources and some AA members to reprint portions of the Big Book and other material in study guides, the directors of AA World Services, Inc. took a hard look at the subject and appointed a committee to explore the question. Members of the committee unanimously recommended that the board not grant permission to outside entities to use excerpts from our literature in study guides, and that AA itself should not publish study guides. [Note: 'Alcoholics Anonymous' 1st edn. is out of copyright and therefore no permission is required in this instance. Other editions remain in copyright]

The resulting paper, Big Book Study Guides and Other Interpretations of the AA Program: A Position Paper, begins with thoughts of several of the directors who made up the committee. For example, one director wrote: “Part of the beauty and magic of AA is that persons from all walks of life with varied backgrounds may benefit from the Big Book, the Steps, the Traditions, the Concepts, from their own points of view. Placing guidelines on paper seems to say, ‘This is the way—the only way.’
“The thrust of our literature, our program, the Steps, the groups, and the meetings are all designed, and effectively so, to facilitate self-diagnosis and self-action within the AA environment. I see our literature, particularly the books, as being study guides. It’s all there: I almost have the feeling that the words are living, changing, growing. I know this isn’t so as they are the same and only I change and grow. But this phenomenon takes place because the words are the words; they are unlayered, uninterpreted, standing on their own. One of our slogans is ‘Keep it Simple.’ I believe our books are just simple enough to stand as they are and just complex enough to live and grow. “I understand our program to be a spiritual program. I know it has been and is for me. However, I don’t believe any amount of study with or without interpretive guides could have given me this. The words were part of it, but the interaction with other AAs at meetings and in face to face discussion is what really got me into action. Knowing what I should do has been less of a problem than having the faith to undertake the first quivering right actions. Exposure to living testament, not written words, provides the spark of faith that results finally in determined action. I would be sorely troubled to think that we believed that this would be better packaged than it already is. I think it would be very unwise to tamper with a delicate balance that seems to be working as they say, ‘just fine,’ for alcoholics who want it.”

Another director felt this way: “My knowledge of recovery has been received in the Fellowship through the experience of one drunk sharing with another drunk and it was not received on an instructive basis or in a classroom atmosphere. I believe that we in AA communicate with each other in a language of the heart, and this type of communication would be extremely difficult with the use of study guides.…
“Finally, Tradition Two tells me we have but one ultimate authority—a loving God as he expresses himself in our group conscience. It seems to me if we allow interpretations of the Big Book through study guides, we will also undermine our ultimate authority.”

The final policy statement reads as follows: “The AA World Services Board of Directors feels strongly that permission should not be granted to outside publishers or other parties to reprint AA literature for the purpose of study guides or interpretive or explanatory texts, etc. If such interpretive or study guides are to be prepared, they should be published by AA World Services, Inc.
“The Board recognizes, however, that AA is a program of self-diagnosis, self-motivation and self-action—and that the use of study guides, courses, classes or interpretations is therefore not generally appropriate. The program is spiritual rather than academic. There are no authorities in AA and even a self-appointed ‘teacher’ has feet of clay. Hence, it is preferable that the individual member or prospect interpret the literature according to his/her own point of view. For these reasons, the Board does not plan to publish study guides or interpretations of AA literature at this time.”

Of course, while Alcoholics Anonymous has declined to participate in the production of interpretive material, it does not oppose their publication or their use by AA members. Many members get in touch with the General Service Office, asking whether they can use study guides. A letter written in 1985 by Bob P., then general manager of GSO, is typical of the replies to such inquiries: “I don’t see that the use of this material by your group would be contrary to either the letter or the spirit of the Twelve Traditions.… And if [your group] wish to use mimeographed guides or forms to help the study of the book, neither the Board nor this office either endorse or oppose such materials.” Bob went on to explain the position of the AAWS Board, and enclosed the 1977 position paper as background.”

(our emphases)

Comment: It should be clear from the above that the use of such guides is to be considered inappropriate within the context of Alcoholics Anonymous and so we would argue (despite the personal (and incorrect) opinion (qualified) to the contrary expressed by the then General Manager of GSO New York). In our view their employment is - or can potentially be - in breach of Traditions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 12 variously (and dependent on their composition). Outside the context of AA it is of course entirely permissible for individuals to utilise whatever information they wish - and in whatever form it may be presented - in order to support their own recovery. However such activities should not be conducted under the auspices of the Fellowship and study guides should certainly not be utilised within AA meetings. Additionally this same principle may be applied to the present outbreak of circuit speakers, each one “marketing” their own “brand” to all and sundry whilst playing upon the latter's susceptibility to their “snake oil salesman” patter, and with the punter even paying a premium for the privilege! Remember: “There are no authorities in AA and even a self-appointed ‘teacher’ has feet of clay”. These individuals provide nothing that cannot be garnered by attending AA meetings (free of charge!) and reflecting on what is communicated there (both spoken and written ie. conference approved literature) and thereafter acting upon it – or not - as they see fit. Moreover it is well known that the cult have produced their own literature (a hybrid based loosely on conference approved literature but intermingled with their own dogma) and these documents are promoted extensively within their groups. The above caveats applied to study guides most certainly operate when it comes to this type of literature as well.

Finally: 'You pays your money and you gets.... ripped off ….usually!'

Cheerio

The Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)

(our thanks to the AA member who drew our attention to the above article)