Dear SA Members:

Have you heard of the SA Board of Trustees? Do you have any idea what service the Trustees provide our fellowship? Have you ever thought that you might be a candidate to serve as a Trustee? Whatever your answers to these questions, we invite you to read on and learn more about this particular service opportunity.

We are the Nominations Committee. It is our mission to “serve the Fellowship by identifying, recruiting, screening, interviewing, and recommending candidates for the Board of Trustees,” and we want you to know about us—what we do, and what you and we can do together.

Our SA Service Manual (ch. 11) describes a Trustee candidate as “a member of SA who has a love of service, relevant real-life skills, and a willingness to take on a four-year commitment to an unpaid, part-time position for the benefit of the SA Fellowship.” A candidate “will have at least five years of continuous SA sobriety.” Our manual describes in a general way what a Trustee does and is available for download from the SA website free of charge.

We realize that words on paper come alive when we hear the actual experience of members who have served as Trustees. In response to members’ request, the committee will schedule special Zoom meetings during which current and former Trustees will be available to describe their experiences and answer your questions.

If you already have sufficient information and are interested in serving as a Trustee, you may request SAICO to send you the materials for making an application to the Nominations Committee.

As stated so beautifully in our program brochure, The Spirituality of Service, in Sexaholics Anonymous, as in all Twelve-Step fellowships, service and recovery go hand in hand. Indeed, service on behalf of the Fellowship is recovery in action.

We thank each of you for the service you do at every level of our program, and look forward to hearing from those of you who are interested in service on the Board of Trustees.

In Fellowship,

 

Trustees Share Experience

I was a Trustee from 2015-2019. My 4 years as a Trustee were the best 4 years of my 17-year recovery. I met a group of people who have become lifelong friends. Each in his own way has shaped and enhanced my recovery journey.
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I spent a few hours a month reading reports and getting up to speed with the monthly agenda…. We did have occasion to be readers and edit The Real Connection as it was published during my term as a trustee. We also finalized the complete version of Step Into Action. This took some time.
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Trusteeship enabled me to attend 10 International Conventions. I truly met and felt I was a part of an international fellowship…. Trustees are also asked to attend each General Delegate Assembly (GDA). This further helped me to know and understand SAs all over the world.

 

I’ve been a Trustee since October 2021. My four-year term expires October 2025.
I was Vice-Chair of the Board of Trustees (BoT) for one year and I am currently serving as the Board Chair.
Serving as a Trustee has taught me the true meaning of Service. While serving as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of SA may seem like a lofty position, it’s the exact opposite. It is the job of the Trustees to carry out the will of the SA fellowship as a whole. This will is expressed by the General Delegate Assembly (GDA). The GDA sets policy, which the Trustees implement through the Trustee Committees. It is a humbling experience to serve the entire fellowship.
This experience of service and all the great wonderful and sober friends I am making in the fellowship is a wonderful boost to my sobriety and recovery.

 

Out of gratitude to SA for giving me a chance at life and love, I felt it my duty and responsibility to serve the still-suffering sexaholic as an SA Trustee. Our principles, gleaned from the growing pains of AA and SA, made it clear to me that SA wouldn’t exist without rotating service and leadership, so I believe it is the responsibility of every qualified member to sincerely consider taking a turn as a Trustee.

In my term from 2016 to 2020, I was involved in completing the SA Service Manual, Step into Action and The Real Connection. I observed, and helped a little with the establishment of the new Israel Region. I helped to recognize the autonomy and authority of local SA websites around the world. I took on the task of reinvigorating the SA IT Committee. I helped craft the SA Statement of Principle and its addendum, and to infuse it into all of our literature with hope for greater unity.

Working with my fellow Trustees brought both joy and sorrow. It was evident that we all took the responsibility as legal custodians and spiritual servants seriously. There was great fellowship in the unity of this mission. Occasionally there were strong disagreements, and I’m not happy with every decision we made. This service helped me to grow in love, tolerance, patience, humility, and acceptance. I’m grateful and honored to have served. Your turn!

 

I was a Trustee from 2019-2023. After thirteen years on the General Delegate Assembly, I thought serving as a Trustee would be similar. It was not. I experienced much more of a connection with my Higher Power, as well as my fellow Trustees.
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The first two years were much busier than the second two years because I chose to attend a lot of committee meetings. My second two years averaged around seven hours a month. During my time as a Trustee, the Fellowship weathered a pandemic, as well as the retirement of Kay S. from over two decades of service as SAICO manager. We welcomed Laura B. as our new manager.
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Because of my service, my recovery deepened, especially in the practice of the Twelve Concepts of Service…. I have learned SA’s service structure, which I have been able to share with my groups, intergroup, and region.

 

In 2020, Due to Covid, I was the first Trustee elected via Zoom. This has had the advantage that GDA can now elect new Trustees in a staggered fashion, and not only during the face-to-face Delegate Assembly in July.

July 2024 will be my 4th and final term. I am truly grateful for the experience that I have been able to serve as a Trustee. This has given me a next level of recovery practicing not only the 12 Steps and Traditions, but also the 12 Concepts, and trusting a Higher Power in ALL our affairs! Today I have a new job, which, without my service as Trustee, I would never have considered or been able to do.

Service, even with the challenges of time management and time difference (while still a regular working life) has been an adventure. During Covid, we saw how our fellowship adapted to online meetings. In our current global economic situation, we are experiencing how our fellowship steps up financially when called on.

It is also an honor to serve in the Trustee Accessibility Committee with members who are visually impaired or deaf. There is a lot to learn from them about how we can help SA members with sight or hearing disabilities, because such members miss out on a lot of fellowship and recovery tools. Meeting their needs is a work in progress; we as a fellowship should not be complacent about learning to meet their needs.

 

From 2015 to 2019, I was a Trustee, and honestly, those years were a highlight of my recovery and service journey. I made amazing friends worldwide, and dove into service work like never before, averaging 15 hours a week on fascinating projects, including multimedia, committee work, and speaking engagements. Attending the international conventions was particularly memorable, getting a chance to meet new friends and work with new service teams. For anyone with 5+ years of sobriety, I can’t recommend this kind of service enough—it’s a game changer.

 

I was skeptical about becoming a Trustee, because I was worried “being in charge” would hurt the humility of my recovery. My experience was completely opposite to my fears. In these four years, I learned a much deeper level of humility through serving the fellowship without overt recognition, even without most people knowing I was a Trustee. I deepened friendships and gained new ones. Even as Trustee Chair, the work load was not too much, less than four hours a week. I look back on having implemented things that matter to the fellowship and particularly to newcomers who desperately need SA. I’d do it again in a trice, but the wisdom of SA is to let someone else have their turn.

 

Below is a part of my experience as an SA Trustee:

• I began service as a Trustee in July, 2022 following a few years as a member of the General Delegate Assembly.
• My journey in SA service has been a climb down the SA Inverted Pyramid of Service.
• Each descending level has increased my sense of burden and responsibility for the health and welfare of the SA fellowship worldwide
• With this growing sense of responsibility I have had a sense of joy in the awareness of being a member of SA involved in service
• Serving as a Trustee is resulting in a slow development of humility. I am reminded frequently how little I know, and I am learning that’s okay.