Question
2:
Would
Conference consider what response can be given to Groups who refuse
to accept the group conscience of Intergroup/Region?
[See
also: The Traditions, Preamble and Concepts]
“ In
reply to the comment “Nothing - intergroup is a group of servants -
they serve, they don't rule.” I think these excerpts from AA
literature might provide some useful background to trusted servants
at all levels of the service structure as to how trusted servants
serve and how the question in this topic might be answered.
“For fear of controversy, our leadership should not go timid when lively debate and forthright action is a necessity. And for fear of accumulating prestige and power, we should never fail to endow our trusted leaders with proper authority to act for us. Let us never fear needed change. Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for worse and changes for better. But once a need becomes clearly apparent in an individual, a group, or in AA as a whole, it has long since been found out that we cannot stand still and look the other way. The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever the responsibility.” - Bill W. (Responsibility Is Our Theme, AA Grapevine, July 1965,The Language of the Heart p 334)
The Australian General Service Conference 2010-2011
Topics for the 2011 General Service Conference 2011 (AA Around Australia September 2011, page 7)
"Topic 002/2011
The National Office of AA Australia should not supply AA literature to the Central Service Office (CSO) located in Richmond, Victoria which names itself as ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Victoria’ and ‘AA Victoria’ until that CSO changes its registered business and trading name to one which more appropriately describes its function and role in our fellowship.
Topic 003/2011
The Central Service Office (CSO) located in Richmond, Victoria which names itself as ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Victoria’ and ‘AA Victoria’ should not be reinstated on the National AA website, nor be part of the 1300 AA AA telephone system, until it changes its registered business and trading name to one which more appropriately describes its function and role in our fellowship."
Area D. Delegates Report 2011 (Extract)
"3. On the matter of the Richmond office, Conference rescinded its 2010 directive to the General Service Board to have a legal injunction issued and, instead, authorised the GSB to take whatever actions it deemed necessary to fulfil its legal responsibilities to protect the registered trademarks and the literature licensing agreement. This means that it will be the Board rather than Conference who decides if, and what, legal action needs to be taken. Apart from this change in regard to the authorising of legal action the Conference position in respect of the Richmond office remains unchanged. The relevant decisions are as follows:
The 2010 Conference decision rescinded by the 2011 Conference was:
Advisory Action #058/2010:
"Conference resolved, after considering all information provided, that the General Service Board should instruct Matthew Rouse, Lawyer, to proceed to take out an injunction in the Federal Court against the Central Service Committee of AA Victoria to oblige them to comply with earlier requests by the General Service Board’s solicitor, i.e. to cease using trademarks owned by the General Service Board, to cease selling exclusively licensed copyrighted literature and to cease publishing defamatory material about the General Service Board."
The 2011 Floor Action Conference decision adopted by Conference is:
Advisory Action xx/2011:
"The General Service Conference supports the General Service Board in taking whatever action is deemed necessary to fulfill its legal responsibilities to protect the registered trademarks and literature licensing agreement. The Conference also supports the General Service Board in taking whatever action is deemed necessary in the interests of the Fellowship to attend to matters relating to circulated misinformation affecting the General Service Structure and public liability insurance concerns."
Conference Topics 002/2011 and 003/2011 relating to the Richmond Service Office: These topics were not heard as Conference felt them unnecessary consequent to the adoption of the above Advisory Action."
Area H Delegate’s report 2011 (Extract)
“The A.A. Victoria situation was given the highest of priorities with the entire afternoon set aside to discuss this issue.
The Chairman of the General Service Board gave a detailed outline of the latest developments to bring the Conference up to speed and went to great lengths to assure the Conference that the GSB did not have a clear position and was seeking clarification from the Conference on how to best proceed.
There were a number of questions asked in relation to various details that the Chairman of the Board provided in his report as well as a series of comments by individual Delegates and Trustees who have had personal “on the ground” experiences of this difficult issue. A number of ideas were discussed as to how to best proceed, with the following actions being taken.
1. Advisory Action 058/2010 which involved the Legal Injunction against A.A. Victoria was unanimously rescinded to be replaced with a new Advisory Action which was to be drafted and voted on in another session later in the Conference.
2. A statement expressing the overall view of the 53rd Conference was also to be drafted and voted on at the same time as the above new Advisory Action. The statement to include a raft of points in an attempt to convey the views of Conference and send a clear message regarding the Conference position to the Fellowship.
3. It was further decided that the two Topics 002/2011 and 003/2011, both involving A.A. Victoria and originally set down for discussion in this session, would be held over and discussed, if necessary, at the same time as the above two proposals.
I expressed the view that I did not see a connection between these two Topics and the discussion that took place during the session, that I believed they should be discussed and voted on regardless of the outcome of the other A.A. Victoria proposals.
I also expressed the view that I believed we could both bring A.A. Victoria back into the tent, and be crystal clear, as to the repercussions of any actions undertaken by them, that would put in jeopardy the things for which the GSB is legally responsible to protect; things such as Copyright etc.
I also asked a question regarding the Deed of Release mentioned in both the Victorian Resolutions and Chairman of the Board’s most recent report, which was adequately answered.”
The General Service Conference (Great Britain) 2002, Committee 5, Question 3, Topic: Trusted Servants
Question: “How well is the transfer of delegated authority understood at group, intergroup and regional level within our structure? Is the trusted servant provision fully understood? Make recommendations.”
Answer: “The transfer of delegated authority is, in general, poorly understood at all levels. In addition the trusted servant provision is not fully understood.” (This followed by the committee’s recommendation)
Trusted servants do not rule, however they are not expected to do nothing. Nor are the so called "elder Statesmen" at group level. Trusted servants are empowered with delegated responsibility and authority within the Twelve Concepts from World Service and Tradition Two. They are trusted and expected to use it. If these issues are sorted out by trusted servants and the “elder statesmen” in the intergroup as they have been in the past, then this topic might not needed to have come to conference. No society can function without authority and trusted servants in AA are expected to provide this authority in their delegated capacity. GSRs in particular ought to appreciate their role is that of a trusted servant in AA World Service. They have a duty to AA World Service as well as their group. “First let’s remember that the base of our service structure rests on the dedication and ability of several thousand GSRs…” (Concept IX)
For practical historical advice in answering this topic, I suggest trusted servants at all levels read the following the article “How Drug Abuse Turned Into Mistreatment.” This can be found online using those search terms. It describes how AA trusted servants used their delegated responsibility and authority against the founder of the Synanon cult. This type of action has been taken in the past to protect AA unity and is what AA members at intergroup level ought to be doing today. Trusted servants in AA groups are trusted to lead their groups according to AA principles. If dictators of groups lead their group in such a way as not to qualify for AA membership then they need to be informed that their group does not qualify for AA membership. I think AA members at group level need to respect and support the delegated authority of trusted servants at intergroup, region, board, and conference levels. Those serving at conference, board and region levels ought to also actively respect and support delegated authority of trusted servants at intergroup level.
Area D Delegates report can be found online in “D-Liberation” Vol 3, Jan 2012 on the Alcoholics Anonymous Area D, Southern Region website
Area H Delegates report can be found online at the Alcoholics Anonymous Area H website under “Area Assembly Minutes and Reports”
AA Around Australia September 2011 can be found online using those search terms. ”
“For fear of controversy, our leadership should not go timid when lively debate and forthright action is a necessity. And for fear of accumulating prestige and power, we should never fail to endow our trusted leaders with proper authority to act for us. Let us never fear needed change. Certainly we have to discriminate between changes for worse and changes for better. But once a need becomes clearly apparent in an individual, a group, or in AA as a whole, it has long since been found out that we cannot stand still and look the other way. The essence of all growth is a willingness to change for the better and then an unremitting willingness to shoulder whatever the responsibility.” - Bill W. (Responsibility Is Our Theme, AA Grapevine, July 1965,The Language of the Heart p 334)
The Australian General Service Conference 2010-2011
Topics for the 2011 General Service Conference 2011 (AA Around Australia September 2011, page 7)
"Topic 002/2011
The National Office of AA Australia should not supply AA literature to the Central Service Office (CSO) located in Richmond, Victoria which names itself as ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Victoria’ and ‘AA Victoria’ until that CSO changes its registered business and trading name to one which more appropriately describes its function and role in our fellowship.
Topic 003/2011
The Central Service Office (CSO) located in Richmond, Victoria which names itself as ‘Alcoholics Anonymous Victoria’ and ‘AA Victoria’ should not be reinstated on the National AA website, nor be part of the 1300 AA AA telephone system, until it changes its registered business and trading name to one which more appropriately describes its function and role in our fellowship."
Area D. Delegates Report 2011 (Extract)
"3. On the matter of the Richmond office, Conference rescinded its 2010 directive to the General Service Board to have a legal injunction issued and, instead, authorised the GSB to take whatever actions it deemed necessary to fulfil its legal responsibilities to protect the registered trademarks and the literature licensing agreement. This means that it will be the Board rather than Conference who decides if, and what, legal action needs to be taken. Apart from this change in regard to the authorising of legal action the Conference position in respect of the Richmond office remains unchanged. The relevant decisions are as follows:
The 2010 Conference decision rescinded by the 2011 Conference was:
Advisory Action #058/2010:
"Conference resolved, after considering all information provided, that the General Service Board should instruct Matthew Rouse, Lawyer, to proceed to take out an injunction in the Federal Court against the Central Service Committee of AA Victoria to oblige them to comply with earlier requests by the General Service Board’s solicitor, i.e. to cease using trademarks owned by the General Service Board, to cease selling exclusively licensed copyrighted literature and to cease publishing defamatory material about the General Service Board."
The 2011 Floor Action Conference decision adopted by Conference is:
Advisory Action xx/2011:
"The General Service Conference supports the General Service Board in taking whatever action is deemed necessary to fulfill its legal responsibilities to protect the registered trademarks and literature licensing agreement. The Conference also supports the General Service Board in taking whatever action is deemed necessary in the interests of the Fellowship to attend to matters relating to circulated misinformation affecting the General Service Structure and public liability insurance concerns."
Conference Topics 002/2011 and 003/2011 relating to the Richmond Service Office: These topics were not heard as Conference felt them unnecessary consequent to the adoption of the above Advisory Action."
Area H Delegate’s report 2011 (Extract)
“The A.A. Victoria situation was given the highest of priorities with the entire afternoon set aside to discuss this issue.
The Chairman of the General Service Board gave a detailed outline of the latest developments to bring the Conference up to speed and went to great lengths to assure the Conference that the GSB did not have a clear position and was seeking clarification from the Conference on how to best proceed.
There were a number of questions asked in relation to various details that the Chairman of the Board provided in his report as well as a series of comments by individual Delegates and Trustees who have had personal “on the ground” experiences of this difficult issue. A number of ideas were discussed as to how to best proceed, with the following actions being taken.
1. Advisory Action 058/2010 which involved the Legal Injunction against A.A. Victoria was unanimously rescinded to be replaced with a new Advisory Action which was to be drafted and voted on in another session later in the Conference.
2. A statement expressing the overall view of the 53rd Conference was also to be drafted and voted on at the same time as the above new Advisory Action. The statement to include a raft of points in an attempt to convey the views of Conference and send a clear message regarding the Conference position to the Fellowship.
3. It was further decided that the two Topics 002/2011 and 003/2011, both involving A.A. Victoria and originally set down for discussion in this session, would be held over and discussed, if necessary, at the same time as the above two proposals.
I expressed the view that I did not see a connection between these two Topics and the discussion that took place during the session, that I believed they should be discussed and voted on regardless of the outcome of the other A.A. Victoria proposals.
I also expressed the view that I believed we could both bring A.A. Victoria back into the tent, and be crystal clear, as to the repercussions of any actions undertaken by them, that would put in jeopardy the things for which the GSB is legally responsible to protect; things such as Copyright etc.
I also asked a question regarding the Deed of Release mentioned in both the Victorian Resolutions and Chairman of the Board’s most recent report, which was adequately answered.”
The General Service Conference (Great Britain) 2002, Committee 5, Question 3, Topic: Trusted Servants
Question: “How well is the transfer of delegated authority understood at group, intergroup and regional level within our structure? Is the trusted servant provision fully understood? Make recommendations.”
Answer: “The transfer of delegated authority is, in general, poorly understood at all levels. In addition the trusted servant provision is not fully understood.” (This followed by the committee’s recommendation)
Trusted servants do not rule, however they are not expected to do nothing. Nor are the so called "elder Statesmen" at group level. Trusted servants are empowered with delegated responsibility and authority within the Twelve Concepts from World Service and Tradition Two. They are trusted and expected to use it. If these issues are sorted out by trusted servants and the “elder statesmen” in the intergroup as they have been in the past, then this topic might not needed to have come to conference. No society can function without authority and trusted servants in AA are expected to provide this authority in their delegated capacity. GSRs in particular ought to appreciate their role is that of a trusted servant in AA World Service. They have a duty to AA World Service as well as their group. “First let’s remember that the base of our service structure rests on the dedication and ability of several thousand GSRs…” (Concept IX)
For practical historical advice in answering this topic, I suggest trusted servants at all levels read the following the article “How Drug Abuse Turned Into Mistreatment.” This can be found online using those search terms. It describes how AA trusted servants used their delegated responsibility and authority against the founder of the Synanon cult. This type of action has been taken in the past to protect AA unity and is what AA members at intergroup level ought to be doing today. Trusted servants in AA groups are trusted to lead their groups according to AA principles. If dictators of groups lead their group in such a way as not to qualify for AA membership then they need to be informed that their group does not qualify for AA membership. I think AA members at group level need to respect and support the delegated authority of trusted servants at intergroup, region, board, and conference levels. Those serving at conference, board and region levels ought to also actively respect and support delegated authority of trusted servants at intergroup level.
Area D Delegates report can be found online in “D-Liberation” Vol 3, Jan 2012 on the Alcoholics Anonymous Area D, Southern Region website
Area H Delegates report can be found online at the Alcoholics Anonymous Area H website under “Area Assembly Minutes and Reports”
AA Around Australia September 2011 can be found online using those search terms. ”
Cheerio
The
Fellas (Friends of Alcoholics Anonymous)
See
also AA Minority Report 2013
PS
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