[Businessmtg] (no subject)

[Dawn Werezak]

Hello Everyone,

Good question Emee.  ASP has always followed the 12 Traditions of Al-Anon as
well as the 12 Concepts and the Service Manual to the best of our abilities
in this setting.  As of the time that I rotated out as LA we did not have a
formal policy in place at ASP regarding service by dual members - we
followed the service manual guidelines around that. 

The LA position is not equivalent to the Group Representative (GR) position.
ASP is registered as a meeting with WSO and we have a WSO ID number for the
meeting.  ASP does not belong to a district or an area (however would we
choose one with members all over the globe) and the LA does not attend any
of those meetings in the capacity of LA.  The LA does not have a vote in any
of Al-Anon's business as a whole - only here in our business meetings at
ASP.  

In the face to face world there is a very distinct possibility that a dual
member (one who belongs to Al-Anon or any other 12 step meeting, including
AA) being able to get into a position that they would be required to vote in
Al-Anon business and that can create difficulties, hence the guideline in
the Service Manual.  

Learning how to do service work is a challenge in both the face to face
world and in my opinion more so in the virtual world.  F2F you have people
right there to guide you and show you the way.  In the virtual world that is
more difficult and takes planning and being willing to pick up the phone and
call whoever you are replacing to get that almost instant help.  For myself,
I am very grateful for all of the service I have done in the F2F world of
Al-Anon, for my home groups, for my service sponsors and my regular sponsor,
to the district and area for their patience in my learning and growth in
service.  Without that background I would have been very hesitant to try
online service work at all.

Hope that helps to answer some of the questions/comments posed. 

Love and Serenity
Dawn


-----Original Message-----
From: businessmtg-bounces+princessdawn=telus.net at asp-afg.org
[mailto:businessmtg-bounces+princessdawn=telus.net at asp-afg.org] On Behalf Of
Emee Arthur
Sent: February-15-10 3:30 PM
To: princessdawn at telus.net
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: [Businessmtg] (no subject)


Hi everyone,

I hope our officers can give us some clairification on the statis of dual
membership in service to ASP, as soon as possible. 

 

I would think that there would NOT be any dual member restrictions for
holding office in ASP because we are not considered an Al-Anon Group with
voting representation with the WSO.  I still find that this could be a
problem in other ways though. I feel it is so important to pattern our ASP
meeting as closely as possible to a "real" (voting) Al-Anon meeting. When a
dual member of A.A. is leading an Al-Anon group where important Al-Anon
decisions have to be made for the ASP meeting, they may not have the
experience they need to make an informed decision.  Many of us in Al-Anon
learn about the workings of Al-Anon business through serving at the
District/Area/WSO levels in f2f Al-Anon.  This is something that dual
members have little to no experience with in our Al-Anon program.  I believe
this would limit the knowledge of a member who is trying to lead our on-line
group as well.  

 

Also, any member who is NOT active, or has never been active, in f2f Al-Anon
doesn't seem qualified to me to lead ASP as well as a member who has had f2f
group experience.  I do admire anyone who steps forward to take a service
position, and I would hope to think that when we take a position in ASP,  we
would not hesitate to reach out for help & clairity on issues we are not
sure of.

 

Just my thoughts.  Good luck and a big thanks to all who volunteer and keep
our meeting going.

 

Emee
 		 	   		  
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