Services
Opportunity abounds for Eastern Massachusetts AA members who are interested in participating in service activity beyond their home group. The General Service Committee of Eastern Massachusetts, Area 30, supports the work of several varied committees, some whose reports can be read below.
A complete list of Conference and Standing committees, with a brief description of the purpose of each, is located on the CONTACTS page of this website. Please consider making yourself available to help out where you can. All members of Alcoholics Anonymous are welcome.
Delegate
The Delegate works closely with the Alternate Delegate and Area Chairperson, oftentimes attending the same events (including the Committee meetings, Area Assemblies, Northeast Regional AA Service Assembly, Northeast Regional Delegates Meeting, Massachusetts State Convention, and Northeast Regional Forum). Within Eastern Massachusetts, the Delegate is a voting member on the Area 30 Finance Committee.
As a voting member of the General Service Conference (GSC), the Delegate brings to its deliberations the experiences and viewpoints of Eastern Massachusetts. Yet the Delegate is not a representative of Area 30 in the usual political sense; after hearing all points of view and becoming fully informed during GSC discussion, the Delegate votes in the best interests of AA as a whole.
Following the GSC, the respective Delegates report back to their Areas on actions taken and recommendations offered. Thus, the Delegate serves primarily as a conduit between Area 30 and AA as a whole. Notwithstanding, the Delegate keeps the Alternate Delegate fully informed and active, so that the Alternate can succeed the Delegate, if warranted.
For fun, the Delegate serves the Massachusetts State Convention Planning Committee (co-hosted with members from both Eastern and Western Massachusetts) as Treasurer.
Alternate Delegate
The Alternate Delegate works closely with the Area Delegate, oftentimes attending the same events as the Area Delegate (including the Northeast Regional AA Service Assembly, Northeast Regional Delegates Meeting, Massachusetts State Convention, and Northeast Regional Forum) with the exception of the General Service Conference, and is prepared to serve as Delegate, if necessary.
The Alternate Delegate also serves on the Massachusetts State Convention Planning Committee as the Program Co-Chair in their first year and as Program Chair in their second year. In addition, the Alternate Delegate may perform some special functions of the Area Committee.
In recent years, the Alternate Delegate has planned and organized a self-supporting bus trip to the General Service Office in New York.
Otherwise, the Alternate Delegate serves Area 30 as a voting member of the Finance Committee, and as liaison to other AA entities upon request.
Archives
Whenever a society or civilization perishes there is always one condition present; they forgot where they came from. – Carl Sandburg
The Archives Committee is charged with collecting, preserving and presenting materials of historical interest to Alcoholics Anonymous. We invite you to join us as we continue our efforts to discover and celebrate the history of AA in Eastern Massachusetts.
A preliminary list of our responsibilities ahead includes:
- sorting, filing and preserving documents already collected and held in storage;
- gathering and cataloging additions as they arrive;
- reaching out to Districts, and other groups in Area 30, with news and views of our service work and encouraging them to preserve their respective Archives;
- recording Group – and Individual – histories, before it’s too late; and
- sharing our Archives with you – so that we can “trudge the road” together.
Additionally, and perhaps most importantly, we invite members who have lived our History to share it with us so that future AAs might benefit from your considerable Experience, Strength and Hope. We’ll be happy to make mutually agreeable arrangements to meet.The Area 30 Archives Committee meets at 7:30pm on the 3rd Thursday of every month at St. John’s Church, 80 Mt. Auburn St., Watertown. There are lots of old and new ideas for us to discuss. All AA members are welcome to attend.
Watch this page for reports on progress and plans for the future!
Area Secretary
The Secretary is responsible for taking the minutes at the monthly area committee meetings, the area assemblies, and the area finance committee meetings and for distributing those minutes to the area officers, committee chairs, DCMs and the assembly attendees who choose to receive a copy of them. The Area Registrar maintains a list of the recipients. Minutes are emailed to those who provide an email address, as per the Area group conscience. The Secretary also serves as a conduit for information to and from the area officers and committee chairs.
The Alternate Secretary is responsible for gathering reports from conference and standing committees, for sending a copy of the minutes to anyone without email access, and for assisting the Secretary in their duties. The Alternate stands ready to step in for the Secretary should the need arise. Contact secretary@aaemass.org for further information.
The Alternate Delegate also serves on the Massachusetts State Convention Planning Committee as the Program Co-Chair in their first year and as Program Chair in their second year. In addition, the Alternate Delegate may perform some special functions of the Area Committee.
In recent years, the Alternate Delegate has planned and organized a self-supporting bus trip to the General Service Office in New York.
Otherwise, the Alternate Delegate serves Area 30 as a voting member of the Finance Committee, and as liaison to other AA entities upon request.
Corrections
The Joint* Area 30/Boston Central Service Correctional Facilities Committee meets the 4th Thursday of the month at Central Service in Boston. Our responsibilities include working with the correctional facilities in Area 30 to assist in bringing the AA message behind the walls. We currently offer a service helping inmates who are being released from prison connect with AA members in their communities called the Prerelease Contact Program. AA’s who are interested in corresponding with an inmate by mail or being included on a 12-step call list to serve as contact points for those getting out of prison should contact Boston Central Service for particulars.
We have available LIPS (Literature in Prisons Service) posters for any group in Eastern MA that wishes to collect conference approved literature which can be brought to Boston Central Service for redistribution to AA’s in prisons, where allowable. The poster will cover one side of a cardboard carton. Big Books, 12×12, Grapevines, pamphlets, or any other conference approved literature is always in great demand.
We are available for outreaches for district or group events. We can be contacted at cf@aaemass.org. If you or your group is currently carrying the message into a correctional facility, we encourage you to attend the monthly meeting and share your experience with us.
Cooperation with the Professional Community
The Cooperation with the Professional Community (C.P.C.) committee can bring the A.A. message to professionals and to students at professional schools, helping them to understand how and why A.A. works.
A.A. has always valued friends in all professional fields. These associations have been mutually beneficial and completely in keeping with the A.A. Traditions.
Members of C.P.C. committees inform professionals and future professionals about A.A. — what we are, where we are, what we can do, and what we cannot do. They attempt to establish better communication between A.A.s and professionals, and to find simple, effective ways of cooperating without affiliating.
All A.A. members are welcome to attend the monthly C.P.C. committee meeting, which is held the second Thursday of the month, at 7:00 PM, at Central Service, 12 Channel Street, Suite 604, Boston, MA, 02210.
Grapevine
One of the Grapevine Committee’s primary goals is to let the people and their groups in Area 30 know all we can about our “meeting in print.” Like our meetings, the monthly Grapevine magazine is as diverse as each of us. Its 64 pages, written by friends and members of AA, have become the voice of AA today. Through the Grapevine, members share their Experience, Strength, and Hope, always striving to carry the message of Recovery -Unity -Service to all who read it. Since we consider the Grapevine magazine a spiritual tool for our Fellowship today, our Committee provides outreaches upon request to Districts and groups in Eastern Massachusetts, during which we strive to share some of the history brought forward though the Grapevine. For instance, the Preamble of Alcoholics Anonymous, which is read at the beginning of AA meetings, was first printed in the Grapevine to tell what AA is and does, as well as what it is not and does not. The Language of the Heart book is a Grapevine publication that makes a wonderful gift that grows with us. Reading stories for discussion topics in meetings is a great idea. In Area 30, our “Count On Us” Program provides subscriptions of the Grapevine and La Viña (Spanish version) magazines to treatment and correctional facilities in all Districts in our Area. Many who have benefited from this 12th step tool readily share their gratitude with us. By the way, humor rules in our plays and displays as we trudge the Road of Happy Destiny! Contact grapevine@aaemass.org for more information.
Joint Treatment Facilities
The Joint Treatment Facilities Committee meets on the third Friday of the month at St. Paul’s Church 59 Court St. Dedham, Ma. at 7p.m.. The purpose of the committee is to coordinate the work of individual AA members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment facilities, and to set up means of “Bridging the Gap” from the facility to the larger community. The JFTC provides information about AA as well as literature and guidelines for setting up AA meetings in treatment and outpatient facilities. Its objective to make sure all treatment facilities wanting AA meetings to participate is serviced.
All interested AA’s are welcome. Representatives from districts and groups are encouraged. Our name joint indicates membership from area intergroups.
We are always available for out reaches and can be contacted at: treatment@aaemass.org
Literature
In addition to our committee’s purpose and goals listed on the CONTACTS page of this website, we use the time at our meeting to review current conference-approved and locally developed literature in order to be able to let the membership know what is available and to assure that the message is consistent with the principles of our Steps and Traditions. We answer inquiries requesting information on various topics and provide possible sources of information.
Our goal is to inform the membership of the tools available for our own recovery as well as to carry the message to others.
Messenger
The Area 30 Messenger Committee publishes a newsletter, The Messenger, five times a year. It is available at all Area Assemblies and through the service structure at the many, varied committee meetings, schedules for which are posted elsewhere on this site. The Messenger contains news, stories, and special events going on in Eastern Massachusetts
Submissions are welcome and may be emailed to messenger@aaemass.org. Please include your confidential contact information.
Public Information Committee
What is Public Information work and Why Should A.A.s Do It?
Public Information (P.I.) in Alcoholics Anonymous means carrying the message of recovery to the still-suffering alcoholic by informing the general public about the A.A. program. We carry the message by getting in touch with the media, schools, industry, and other organizations which can report on the nature and purpose of A.A. and what it can do for alcoholics. The first Public Information committee in A.A. was formed by the General Service Board in 1956. At that time, the following statement of “A.A.’s movement wide public information policy” was written and approved by the General Service Conference:
In all public relations, A.A.’s sole objective is to help the still suffering alcoholic. Always mindful of the importance of personal anonymity we believe this can be done by making known to him, and to those who may be interested in his problems, our own experience as individuals and as a Fellowship in learning to live without alcohol. We believe that our experience should be made available freely to all who express sincere interest. We believe further that all efforts in this field should always reflect our gratitude for the gift of sobriety and our awareness that many outside A.A. are equally concerned with the serious problem of alcoholism.
As our co-founder Bill W. wrote: Public Information takes many forms – the simple sign outside a meeting place that says “A.A. meeting tonight;” listing in local phone directories; distribution of A.A. literature; and radio and television shows using sophisticated media techniques. Whatever the form, it comes down to “one drunk carrying the message to another drunk,” whether through personal contact or through the use of third parties and the media.
For those A.A. members who decide to speak about A.A. at a non-A.A. meeting….you assume a serious responsibility. Even though you are careful to explain that you are not speaking for A.A. as a whole, many members of the audience will base their good or bad opinion of the Fellowship on what is said and how it is said. The reaction of nonalcoholic listeners and their consequent referring or failure to refer alcoholics to A.A. may someday mean the difference between life and death to still-suffering alcoholics.
Registrar
Does your group have a service number from the General Service Office in New York? If you send a contribution to New York without this number, your group will not get credit for the donation. If you are not sure, email us at registrar@aaemass.org and we can help look up your group’s information.
We are here to assist with the Registration process.
Accessibilities
Some alcoholics experience barriers to participating in AA due to cultural, geographic, mental, physical, or social factors, or other reasons. This committee is working toward a future where all who want to participate in AA meetings (and other AA services) in Eastern Massachusetts are in fact able to fully participate. Please visit www.area30accessibilities.org
Why Service?
The following excerpt is from Dr. Bob’s final message delivered at the first International Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous at Cleveland, Ohio in 1950:
I get a big thrill out of looking over a vast sea of faces like this with a feeling that possibly some small thing I did a number of years ago played an infinitely small part in making this meeting possible…There are two or three things which flashed into my mind on which it would be fitting to lay a little emphasis. One is the simplicity of our program. Let’s not louse it up with…complexes and things that…have very little to do with our actual A.A. work.
Our Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words ‘love’ and ‘service’. We understand what love is and we understand what service is. So let’s bear those two things in mind.
Reprinted from Pass It On: The story of Bill Wilson and how the A.A. message reached the world, ©1984, pp. 339-342, with permission of AA World Services, Inc.