Adopted by the 1994 International Conference in Rochester
January 15, 1994
(Revised Jan. 1997)
In order to be more effective in the task of the Twelfth Step and First Tradition of carrying the message to the suffering sexaholic, the fellowship appointed the General Service Board committee in July 1991, during the Chicago International Conference Business Meeting, to recommend a service structure appropriate for Sexaholics Anonymous. Over the next two-and-one-half years, the writing of this service structure evolved through prayerful consultation and the study of service structures used by other 12-Step fellowships. (Note: the General Service Board Committee was eventually renamed the Service Structure Study Committee.) The resulting recommendation of that Committee was adopted at the business meeting held at the International Conference of Sexaholics Anonymous in Rochester, N.Y. on January 15, 1994 and is here presented for the information of the whole fellowship.
This structure has been designed with SA’s unique purpose and requirements and is reflective of SA’s current development. We recognize that as the SA Fellowship grows, we hope that the service structure will be flexible and yield to further growth and the changes it will bring. Toward that end, it is the responsibility of the Board of Trustees to oversee and inventory the service structure every five years and recommend changes to the structure.
The individual SA Group is the basic unit of the Service Structure. Each SA Group sends an Intergroup Representative (IGR) to the local Intergroup meeting, which meets regularly (perhaps monthly).
An Intergroup is formed when there are several SA Groups in a geographic area. This Intergroup helps with the Intergroup service work, that is, establishes phone lines with answering service, develops 12-Step procedures, tabulates local meeting lists, provides communication and information on a local level, etc. Each Intergroup would select, among its Trusted Servants, one Regional Delegate (RD) to attend an Annual Regional Assembly.
Regions are established as follows:
Northeast Region:
AK, Yukon, NT, BC, ALTA, WA, MT, OR, ID
Southwest Region:
CA, HI, NV, UT, AZ
North-Midwest Region:
SASK, MAN, ND, SD, MN, WY, NE, IA, WI, MI, IL
South-Midwest Region:
CO, KS, MO, NM, OK, AR, TX, LA
Northeast Region:
QUE, ONT, NB, ME, VT, NH, NY, CT, RI, MA
Mid-Atlantic:
PA, DC, MD, NJ, OH, VA, WV, DE
Southeast Region:
IN, KY, TN, NC, SC, MS, AL, FL, PR, GA
International Region:
All countries other than USA and Canada
The Regional Delegate’s term of service would be established by the individual Intergroup, with a recommended term of two years minimum. The sobriety recommendation for a Regional Delegate is established at a minimum of two years SA sobriety. It was recommended that the Regional Delegate be elected by January 1995, and that an annual Regional Assembly meet at some time in 1995.
The Regional Delegates meet at least once a year in their Regions to discuss and deal with matters affecting the SA Groups and SA Fellowship in their Regions.
They select one of their number as the Assembly Delegate (AD) to the General Delegate Assembly.
The General Delegate Assembly would consist, therefore, of the Regional Delegates from each of the Regions above. The International SA Fellowship could also send a Representative, selected through a process to be self-determined, to the General Delegate Assembly.
The Assembly would concentrate on matters affecting the growth and functioning of the SA Fellowship as a whole. The first Assembly would also nominate and elect the first Board of Trustees (Board), consisting of nine Trustees: five sexaholics and four non-sexaholics. One of the SA Trustees must be elected from the Nashville area because of proximity to the Central Office.
Note: AA experience has shown the desirability of non-sexaholic representation. This lends a broader perspective to the workings of the Board of Trustees and also allows representation of SA to the media without anonymity problems.
The sobriety requirement of sexaholic members of the Board of Trustees is five years of SA sobriety.
The first group of Trustees would serve staggered terms of two to five years. Future General Delegate Assemblies would select replacements for the original group as their terms expire. Replacements would serve for four years.
The Trustees would meet as a group three times each year. One meeting would be at each of the semi-annual International Conferences and another five or six day meeting at Nashville in conjunction with the General Delegate Assembly to be held in the Spring or Fall each year. The first General Delegate Assembly was held in 1996.
The Trustees will be responsible for the day-to-day operation of SA International Central Office through the Nashville Trustee.
The Trustees will be charged with carrying out the agenda of the General Delegate Assembly.
The Trustees will elect their own officers, including a Chair, a Vice-Chair, Secretary(s) and a Treasurer. They will accomplish their work through a committee structure. Some of their committees might be the Central Office Management Committee, the Translations Committee, the Finance Committee, the Publications Committee, and the Tapes Committee, etc.
Each Committee appointed or formed will consist of two Trustees, two Assembly Delegates and one local Nashville area SA member.
As the SA Fellowship grows and expands, additional Assembly Delegates might be added to the General Delegate Assembly and the Board of Trustees might be increased.
As noted in the text of the SA Service Structure, there are specific time frames for development of the elements of the Service Structure. The first time reference in the text was January 1995, when a Regional Delegate was to be chosen by the local intergroups to attend the Annual Regional Assembly in 1995. Therefore, the first task was to form local intergroups, if not already formed. Each SA group and/or individual member (loner) should contact other SA groups in their area to arrange the formation of an Intergroup. For guidelines on forming Intergroups, please contact Central Office, P.О. 111910, Nashville, TN 37222. Then, it was to be the task of each Intergroup to contact the other Intergroups within their Region to plan the Annual Regional Assembly in 1995. For further information on existing Intergroups in your Region, contact Central Office in Nashville, TN.
With your involvement in forming this basic Service Structure, Sexaholics Anonymous can unify in carrying the message to the still suffering sexaholic.
