I am writing to suggest that financial and moral support for SA International Central Office is a vital part of our Twelfth Step work. Our groups are spiritual entities carrying a spiritual message. We may for that reason have trouble supporting Central Office unless we see how the duties of our Central Office are also spiritually based and a necessary part of carrying the message.

In general, Central Office does on a national and international level what the groups do locally: it brings us addicts together so we can carry the message in direct Twelfth Step work. Central Office staff supports our activities in many ways. Examples include coordinating all requests for information about SA (including inquiries from professionals and inmates); providing references to local groups worldwide; publishing and distributing ESSAY; assisting in organizing groups; providing secretarial functions for the General Delegate Assembly, the Trustees, and the committees (such as the Corrections Facilities Committee, which sends Sexaholics Anonymous to inmates at no charge to them); preparing layouts and publications for the literature committee; assisting in annual budget preparation and providing financial statements; and maintaining the SA archives. Whew! When do they take a breath? The full list is available in the SA Service Manual.

By Twelve Step Tradition, Central Office does not and cannot accept outside contributions or grants, and it does no fundraising. It is supported solely by our groups through Seventh Tradition contributions and literature sales. Check out this statistic: 85% of all funds received comes from groups! It is fair to say that our contributions are the life-blood of Central Office.

When I make a Twelfth Step call and tell my story to another sex drunk, I have behind me not only the support of those who wrote Sexaholics Anonymous and other literature, but also those who pack books and brochures in boxes for shipment from Central Office and those who type invoices and receipts and do accounting in Central Office, as well as the treasurer of my group, the literature person in my group, and so on. We stand together like links in a chain, doing spiritual work. In my experience the people of the Central Office go about their work faithfully, consistently, and with an attitude of cooperation and helpfulness.

The Big Book teaches me that we addicts are saved from a common spiritual peril by a common spiritual solution. One drunk working with another is therefore doing spiritual work. By extension those who support our carrying the message are also doing spiritual work. Thus do we all—individuals, groups, the Central Office, and other parts of our SA service structure—work together in harmony and unity to bring the joy and good news of recovery to the sexaholic who still suffers.

So, send money to the Central Office and support their efforts just as you would your local intergroup or group literature person. Send them letters of thanks. Send articles to the ESSAY telling how the Central Office was instrumental in your or your groups’ Twelfth Step work. Thanks be to God for the incredible gift of recovery in this incredible and varied fellowship which includes our Central Office.