Fifteen months ago I volunteered to serve as Chair of Denver’s Intergroup. I didn’t particularly want to do it. I’m not very good at schedules, and it meant showing up at a specific time and place once a month for two years. Nobody else was stepping up, however, so I decided to give it my best shot. So far I’ve missed two meetings.

Here in Denver we’re going through a period where it’s difficult to get volunteers at the Intergroup level, possibly because newer members aren’t familiar with what it is aside from the occasional announcement asking for volunteers. So I was asked to write an article about the Intergroup: what it is, what it does, and why it’s necessary.

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The Intergroup is made up of representatives from the meetings in a local area. It achieves goals that are usually too large for an individual group. For example, in Denver, we:

• Publish a monthly newsletter and meeting directory
• Maintain the denversa.org website and contact email
• Maintain a phone line for newcomers
• Organize a yearly retreat
• Sponsor a prison meeting in a nearby city
• Send informational mailings to local therapists, psychiatrists, and clergy
• Provide scholarships for SA international conventions
• Sponsor periodic regional and international conventions

We also facilitate communications among meetings, provide a forum for meetings to share ideas for strengthening recovery, and assist in starting new meetings (see SA Service Manual 15).

The Intergroup has a formal place in SA’s service structure. Local groups send representatives to their Intergroup, which in turn sends a representative to the region, which elects a representative to the General Delegate Assembly. The Delegates oversee the business of SA as a whole. They appoint the Board of Trustees, which manages SA’s day-to-day operations (including SAICO), such as printing and shipping the literature commonly used at meetings.

Some people, however, have misconceptions about the Intergroup. For example, an Intergroup does not govern—it does not have the ability to command its members. Each group is autonomous and can choose whether or not it wants to belong to the Intergroup. Also, the Intergroup receives its money from member groups. Thus each group has, as a last resort, the ability to cut off funds.

The Intergroup provides crucial services for members and newcomers, such as maintaining the phone line. Lack of these services would not stop groups from meeting, but it might detract from their effectiveness. Remember, the primary purpose of each group is to carry its message to the sexaholic who still suffers.

Ideally, every group should appoint an Intergroup representative. An Intergroup will be most effective when it represents all of its member groups. The Intergroup also relies on its members for financial support. Each group determines, by group conscience vote, the level of contribution the group will contribute to the Intergroup.

Most important, however, is the fact that the individual members are the ones who make Intergroup happen. Someone must answer calls to the phone line. Someone else has to update the website. Others drive to another city to meet with prisoners. Without these volunteers, the Intergroup could not perform all of its functions.

I hope this information is useful. I encourage you to attend a meeting of your local Intergroup and get involved. More information about SA’s service structure can be found in the SA Service Manual, which can be downloaded for free or ordered in hard copy format from the SA Online Store at sa.org.