Fort Wayne
Alcoholics
Intergroup
Anonymous
Dear Reader,
Finally, winter is starting to break, and we have made it to March. Spring is just around the corner. This latest edition of Rocking Sobriety reminds everyone that tickets are still available at the 2023 AA Convention held at the Grand Wayne Center from May 12 through 14. To purchase tickets or learn more about the event, please scroll down; from there, you will find additional information.
Also, in this issue, we have a local AA Speaker led by Amy M. to hear her journey on YouTube. Please click the link below. This edition continues our series, The 7th Tradition Myths, and we are returning with our “Heard in a Meeting,” a compilation of sayings and conversations from local to national AA members.
Rocking Sobriety is a quarterly newsletter that is dedicated to the alcoholic. If you would like to write an article for our upcoming editions, please scroll down to the “Writers Wanted” section and contact our Fort Wayne Intergroup and let them know you would be interested in submitting an article.
Until next time, stay safe and sober, and we hope to see all of you at the 2023 AA Convention.
Best wishes,
Ryan M.
The 41st Annual Northeast Indiana Convention and 78th Annual Banquet AA & Al-Anon are coming in May. This year’s theme is “Be Still and Know.” This annual event is held from May 12th through the 14th at the Grand Wayne Center in downtown Fort Wayne. On Friday morning, our festivities begin with a golf outing at River Bend Golf Course, followed by registration at 5 PM at the Grand Wayne Center. Throughout the weekend, keynote AA speakers will be presenting at our event.
On Saturday evening will be a dance social. Below is our ticket information:
$13.00 | All Sessions (includes all sessions for 3 days and dance) — Early registration by April 28th
$18.00 | All Sessions (consists of all sessions for 3 days and dance) — at door
$43.00 | Saturday Night Only (Includes 78th Annual Banquet Dinner, Speaker, and Dance)
$50.00 | All Sessions and Banquet (Includes all sessions for 3 days, Banquet Dinner, Speaker, and Dance)
To purchase tickets or to learn more, please select the button below.
We hope to see everyone there!
AA Convention
Fort Wayne area A.A. member shares what it was like, what happened, and what it is like now.
Video
Over the next few months, Rocking Sobriety will highlight a few 7th Tradition myths. These articles are a five-part series called “The Thirteen 7th Tradition Myths.”
Myth: Treasurer’s reports aren’t necessary
Lack of financial transparency is known to foment disunity within A.A. Such disunity creates internal conflicts among members and groups and risks watering down the message to the detriment of the newcomer’s chances of attaining Sobriety.
Experience shows if a treasurer at any level of A.A. fails to provide regular treasurer’s reports, there is cause for concern; Once in a while dominant personality in A.A. attempt to conceal how group contributions are handled and how they use group contributions for personal gain.
As an A.A. member you have an absolute right to know how your home group, local A.A. District, intergroup / central office (if there is one in your geographical area), Area and the General Service Board in your country are using contributions to carry the message.
Myth: The Group, District, Intergroup / Central Office, Area, or the General Service Board unilaterally decide what to do with contributed funds.
If your home group contributes money to your local A.A. District, Intergroup / Central Office (if one exists in your area), Area, or the General Service Board, you have an absolute right to know how your contributions are being spent and how it is being used to carry out 12th step work.
Your home group also has a right to make suggestions to your General Service Representative how the local District, Area, and the General Service Board could best make use of those funds to carry the message.
Your home group also has a right to make suggestions to your Intergroup Representative as to how your local Intergroup could best make use of those funds to carry the message.
Myth: My home group contributes to the General Service Office…right?
Not quite. Contributions are made to the General Service Board and the Trustees of the G.S.B. are entrusted with allocating contributions from the General Fund to the General Service Office which includes Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. Per part of the long form of Tradition 9 “The trustees of the General Service Board […] are the custodians of our A.A. Tradition and the receivers of voluntary A.A. contributions by which we maintain our A.A. General Service Office at New York.”
In addition, A.A.W.S. publishing income and excess income from the A.A. Grapevine, which is supported through Grapevine subscriptions, serve as a source of revenue to G.S.O. (The A.A. Service Manual Combined With Twelve Concepts For World Service p. 69)
Myth: The local clubhouse contributes funds to our local A.A. district, intergroup, Area, and the General Service Board
In 1967 the A.A. General Service Conference voted there is no such thing as an “A.A. club.” By 1972 the A.A. General Service Conference voted to no longer accept contributions from clubhouses. (See “A.A. Guidelines – Relationship Between A.A. and Clubs” Rev. 3/22)
A.A. service entities today continue to decline funds from clubhouses. However, an A.A. group meeting in a clubhouse can make contributions to various A.A. service entities.
The myth clubhouses are part of A.A. leads many to believe they should give all funds in the basket to the clubhouse. Sadly, a number of clubhouses abuse this belief and causes some groups to move. Of the groups that stay in the clubhouse, this reduces their ability to use those funds to carry the message and make disbursements to various A.A. service entities.
Myth: Literature profits are necessary to make up the difference between contributions and expenses.
While literature profits were needed to cover the gap between contributions and expenses before 2020, by 2021 numerous A.A. service entities received major windfalls from contributions.
Today a majority of A.A. literature and pamphlets are available at no charge from www.aa.org in digital form. For this reason it’s more important than ever for service entities to educate groups how 7th Tradition contributions are used to carry the message.
A word of warning: If a service entity’s business plan depends on A.A. literature profits to cover more than 15% to 20% of its expenses, it is not sustainable. At least 80% should come from contributions.
It’s true that life is unfair. I have noticed, however, that it somehow does not bother me as much when life is unfair in MY favor!
My level of pain is often defined by the difference between how I want things to be and how they really are.
I’ve learned that I can’t always controls my thoughts… but today I don’t have to let my thoughts control me.
Today I am grateful that I don’t need to laugh at others… I have my own entertainment center sitting on my neck!
My life is like one of those Jenga puzzles… I don’t talk to my sponsor for a while, so it’s like taking out a piece of the puzzle and putting it to the side, then I cut back on meetings so I’ve taken out another piece of the puzzle and put it to the side… then I get to a place where my foundation is shaky and I don’t know what else I can take out and then the whole thing falls down!
Submissions: The Rocking Sobriety newsletter welcomes feature articles, supporting articles, group histories, anniversaries, jokes, cartoons, and upcoming events as long as they relate to the A.A. experience and reflect an awareness of A.A.’s singleness of purpose. Submissions are reviewed by the newsletter committee and recommended to the editor for publication.
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