[Businessmtg] ***** TOPIC CHANGE *****

[Steve Rankin]

Hi ASPers,
OK, the discussion of the changes to the Secretary and Web Master positions
on the Steering Committee have concluded, and as I mentioned in a separate
email, we have a consensus on that portion, and that portion only, of the
Steering Committee's recommendations to update Motion #4.
Please do not post any further discussion on the Secretary /Web Master
portion of the Motion #4 update topic.
We are now going to move on to the discussion of the new service position at
ASP - the Group Representative.
For those that are new to ASP and/or the discussions about updating Motion
#4, it is worth noting that prior to the 2021 World Service Conference, ASP
like all electronic meetings were officially designated as "meetings" and
were not accorded the rights of Al-Anon "Groups".  The result was that
electronic meetings have never had any voice or vote in the world wide
fellowship of Al-Anon.  
The Delegates at this year's World Service Conference (WSC) passed two major
motions that change all of that.  The first motion was to recognize the
registered Al-Anon electronics meetings as Groups, and the second motion was
to edit the Al-Anon Service Manual to remove all references to electronic
meetings as different from face-to-face Groups.
See: https://al-anon.org/pdf/HighlightsOfWSC2021.pdf
Administrative details are a works in progress, but the new reality is that
after over 25 years as a "meeting" without representation, ASP is now an
Al-Anon Family Group, just like any of our face-to-face home groups, and has
the right to elect a Group Representative who will represent us to the
greater fellowship.
The description of the update for the Group Representative position can be
found here: https://tinyurl.com/j3557b7s . 
In response to points made during discussions over the last few months on
the Group Representative issue, I've done some word smithing to that portion
of the comparison table.  For the record, the latest version of the
recommendation is:
==============================
Group Representative
* The general duties and responsibilities of the Group Representative are
described in the current version of the Al-Anon Service Manual.
     * Represents ASP in Virtual Area or other service arm as established by
the Al-Anon World Service Conference and/or World Service Office.
     * Attends meetings of the Virtual Area, World Service Office and/or
other service arms.
     * Reports to members of ASP regularly via the Business Meeting, and if
desirable or appropriate to the general membership of ASP via an
announcement in the recovery meeting.
     * Is eligible to serve in position(s) beyond Group Representative as
established by the Al-Anon World Service Conference and/or World Service
Office.
* Holds a seat on the ASP Steering Committee with voice and vote.
     * Reports regularly to the Steering Committee on issues of interest to
ASP.
     * Coordinates with Secretary to maintain ASP webpage with information.
     * May incur reasonable expenses similar to face-to-face Group
Representatives, which shall become the responsibility of ASP.  The Steering
Committee shall develop adequate policies regarding the budgeting, reporting
and reimbursement of Group Representative expenses.  
==============================

Discussion is now open on the changes to Motion #4 to accommodate the new
service position of Group Representative.
Hugs,
Steve