The other day I learned a crucial lesson. I was feeling in a confrontative mood and was inappropriately (for meeting time anyway) challenging one after another for their lack of sobriety and recovery. A good friend of mine went last and had a slip and sounded confused in his sharing. Being disappointed, I also let him have it.

I’m so grateful for SA for putting me on a spiritual path!

SA in Ft. Worth continues to grow in numbers as well as in sobriety. We have averaged around ten people per meeting all summer. Last Thursday, we had fifteen in attendance. This is an all-time high for us and hopefully an indication of things to come.

The Gooding SA Group is growing in numbers and sobriety. We have two meetings a week, and have also started one in Twin Falls, which will no doubt soon become independent of us, as there are increasing numbers in recovery in Twin Falls. It is exciting to see the changes in our lives as we surrender our lust and share together.

The SA Convention in July in Rochester, New York, was a beautiful experience for those of us able to attend. Feedback still being received indicates that nearly everyone who was there felt that we had achieved a spirit of unity and recovery that many of us had never seen before.

One of the workshops at the recent SA convention in Rochester was on the topic of meeting quality. Those workshop comments are listed below, without evaluation. It was not always possible to neatly separate the comments into those things that detract from good meeting quality and things that help, but this was the general scheme followed in the workshop.

In the May Essay “Food For Thought” column, an elaboration of SA’s sobriety statement was presented for member reaction. So far, only some eight groups and individuals have responded. This small sampling, inconclusive as it is, has created quite a furor. Apparently, people are either very much for it or very much against it.

The Riverside fellowship celebrated its first birthday as a group on March 7th. We also have had two individual sobriety birthdays and another coming up next week. God has blessed us with recovery and it’s catching! We have doubled our regular membership in the past few months and we have a new meeting in Redlands.…

…I’m only ten months in the program with half that many months of sobriety and I give thanks to God for steering me back towards life. The phone list, the literature, the meetings, most importantly the Twelve Steps and those that have gone ahead of us, give us hope.

I think this program is really good for me. I think SA when I get up and when I go to bed. To me SA is like the…song, You Light Up My Life. Thank you all very much. May God bless you all.

…I am a high-bottom alcoholic and a low-bottom sex drunk…sexually sober for 14 months. I am eternally grateful…to SA, and to God for my new lease on life. I have received many blessings throughout my life, but my sexual sobriety is the most precious.…

I was totally enthralled with how Higher Power brought it all together. It happened in spite of us. It flowed in a way no one could have made happen. I really felt the Presence. It moved me greatly.

Included with this issue is the report of the Group Conscience Committee on their proposal for a procedure for taking an SA-wide group conscience. This report summarizes feedback coming into Central Office from responding SA groups since the proposal was issued last December.

Since it was announced at the Los Angeles convention last December, Roy and the Central Office have been using the International Group Conscience Committee in an ad hoc temporary advisory capacity in day-to-day matters involving Central Office or SA as a whole. This is the only active representative body SA has at present, and it has been working extremely well. Following are some recent decisions made:

A decision has been made to go ahead with typesetting the SA manual and publishing it in 6-by-9 quality paperback format. This new edition of the SA manual would still have a plain white cover, as it does now. In the process, it is anticipated that a few changes may be made to the text where appropriate.

What do you think of the following statement, which might be used in conjunction with our sobriety statement? Please pass along any comments you might have to the Central Office.

We’re very grateful for Ruth P.’s work in translating the German newsletters into English. The following are excerpts from their sixth newsletter, dated February:

We’re very grateful for Ruth P.’s work in translating the German newsletters into English. The following is an excerpt from their sixth newsletter, dated February:

[Regarding the subject of what to do about sex offenders and the whole business of sexual dependency counseling] I have made a decision not to mix up the program with counseling. Looking back, I see how crazy I was to even consider getting involved in a “professional” way! My main area of interest—profession-wise—is in spiritual direction.… Spiritual direction and the 12-Step program are real compatible.

I want to make an amends to you. When I was at the L.A. conference, I took the chip for nine months of sobriety, when I had only eight. So I’m sending it back to you. I found my error when I wanted to tell the length of my sobriety for December 28th, and so I computed again.