International Service

The program teaches us that we cannot keep what we do not give away. Step Twelve tells us that service is an integral part of recovery. There are many opportunities for service within the SA Service Structure. These opportunities are all described in the SA Service Manual, available for free download off our website sa.org. There are opportunities within your local home group, the intergroup that services your home group, the regional assembly that serves your intergroup. Lastly, at the international fellowship-wide level, there are opportunities at the General Delegate Assembly, the Board of Trustees, and their committees. As current chair of the Board of Trustees, I’d like to focus on the Board of Trustees and our Committees and the opportunities for you, the SA Member, to serve.

Board of Trustees:

“A sexaholic Trustee candidate will be 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” (SA Service Manual).

What Does a Trustee Do?

“In accordance with the principle of the Inverted Pyramid, the groups are the ultimate authority of SA. In order to conduct SA business, the Fellowship delegates authority to the General Assembly Delegate. The General Delegate Assembly, in turn, delegates administrative tasks to the Trustees and their committees” (SA Service Manual).

Since the Trustees may only serve one 4-year term, the Nominating Committee is always looking for candidates to replace candidates who have resigned or whose term has expired. If you have 5 years of sobriety and are interested in serving the Fellowship at this level, please read the description of the Board of Trustees in the SA Service Manual and if still interested send an email to SAICO (saico@sa.org) and ask for an application.

Trustee Committees:

“Trustee Committees exist to serve the Fellowship by administering the policies and decisions of the General Delegate Assembly” (SA Service Manual). The SA Service Manual describes all the existing Trustee Committees and their roles and responsibilities. The Trustee Committees are always looking for new applicants. The SA Service Manual describes the application process. If you have interest in joining a committee, fill out an application or just email SAICO (saico@sa.org) and ask to be connected with the chair for that committee.

Highlights from the Trustee Committees

• Nominations Committee (NC) – Jack H., Trustee liaison; Gary L., Chair

Trustee Service Opportunities: The purpose of the Nominations Committee (NC) is to serve SA by identifying, recruiting, screening, interviewing, and recommending candidates for the Board of Trustees (BoT); and, when directed, seek qualified candidates for Committee Chairs. The NC is seeking two potential Trustee candidates, one for the currently vacant seat on the BoT, and one to replace the Trustee who will term out (four years) in July 2024. The NC encourages members of the GDA and the membership to bring potential candidates to the committee’s attention. 

• IT Committee (ITC) – Jerry E., Trustee Liaison; Jeff M., Chair

Event Registration: RegFox has been adopted as the new Event Registration Platform.  All future events should use that platform for registration. This is an important part of securing the SA infrastructure moving off of a customized system not maintainable.

Meeting Finder: Development of the new Meeting Finder based on the Meeting Repository is proceeding well. This new Meeting Finder will replace the Find a Meeting function on sa.org. A sandbox version should be available for the IT Committee to evaluate at the end of February. It is vitally important that all groups make sure they are registered in the Meeting Repository so their meetings will appear in the new SAICO Meeting Finder.

Webmaster Report – Store:  The Old Store operates on 2007 OS Commerce. New Store is WooCommerce built off WordPress. New Store is ready for user testing. Some layout/format changes were suggested. SAICO can now make direct e-book sales. The remaining task is Quick Books integration. Again, moving onto the new platform is an important step in securing SA’s IT infrastructure.

• Regional Alignment Committee (RAC): Kirt B., Trustee Liaison; Farley, Chair

There are 57 meetings that have registered but have not indicated that they belong to an intergroup or region. We are reaching out to those meetings to encourage them to connect to the SA Service Structure and receive the benefits that intergroups and regions provide.

Here is a summary of the registrations as of Jan 1, 2024.

Meetings Registered By Region
	Meetings Registered	Current Delegate Number	Census Derived Delegate Number
Region
Australia/New Zealand	16	1	1
Don’t Know (1)	10	0	0
Europe and Middle East (EMER)	403	5	8
German-Speaking	28	1	1
Israel	92	1	1
Latin America	77	1	1
Mid-Atlantic	194	4	3
None	49	0	0
Northeast	189	2	3
North-Midwest	146	3	2
Northwest (2)	115	3	2
Persian-Speaking	8	2	1
Southeast	207	4	4
South-Midwest	174	3	3
Southwest (3)	203	3	4
Meetings Registered	1911	33	34

 

• The Public Information Committee (PIC): Jack H., Trustee Liaison and Acting Chair

The Public Information Committee seeks ways, in concert with the other committees, to bring the SA program and stories of recovery to all who suffer from sex and lust addiction, by developing BoT- and GDA-approved media material for distribution to the public. The PIC works to further public information about SA and provides guidance on relevant subject matter for the Fellowship. The committee is currently moving forward with the creation of a SA Women’s Welcome Packet and has undertaken to produce Standardized Assessment Criteria for all PIC Media production proposals. The PIC recently put out a call for new members willing to serve in the ESSAY article Help the PI Committee Save Lives. The Committee has service opportunities for a chair and members with media-related production skills.

• The Service Structure Committee (SSC): Jack H., Trustee Liaison;  Jon H., Chair

The SA Service Manual is the responsibility of the Service Structure Committee and is tasked with providing the BoT with analysis and recommendations regarding SA organizational issues in accord with the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts of SA. Since the October 2023 GDA meeting, the SSC has been considering issues and seeking information pertinent to the structure and organization of SA with regards to the issues raised in surveys and workshops on how well our Service Structure is working.  

• Correctional Facilities Committee (CFC): Kirt B., Trustee Liaison and acting Chair.

Use of a Database of requests for sponsorship: due to the efficiency of using a database that various regional/intergroup CFC members can use, we are quickly filling requests from potential sponsees in prison. There was only one outstanding request from a Spanish-speaking person in prison. At our meeting on Sunday, January 14th, that request was filled.

A number of subcommittees are addressing ways to interest more SA members in the service work of Sponsor-By-Mail. We have produced an orienting video, a weekly Zoom workshop and orientation documents to better interest and in-service new volunteers.

SA members who are interested in sponsoring someone in prison who is seeking a sponsor, please communicate with our Correctional Facilities Committee via this address: cfcsasponsor@gmail.com.

• SA International Conventions Committee (ICC): Jim C., Trustee Liaison; Rich P., Chair

Upcoming International Conventions:

(January 2024 – Israel Convention – postponed and moved to January 2025)

July 2024 – Los Angeles, CA, USA

January 6-8, 2025 (Mon-Wed) – Jerusalem, Israel

July 2025 – Dallas, TX, USA

January 2026 – OPEN

New and Open Convention Opportunities:

There are currently open spots for hosting an International Convention starting in January 2026 onward. Please encourage your Intergroups to submit a bid. 

Held the 13th ESH quarterly call on Saturday, November 18, 2023 inviting previous International Convention chairs and Committees to share experience, strength, and hope across all those involved in conventions.

• Global Outreach Committee: Matthew M., Trustee Liaison; Duane D., Chair

The GO Committee primarily gives attention to areas of the world where SA has no region presence. The three areas currently attended are Sub Sahara Africa, India and surrounding countries, and Asia Pacific Rim. The first two mentioned area meetings are largely virtual with a sprinkling of face-to-face meetings. The Asia Pacific Rim apparently has a higher percentage of face-to-face meetings. However, the challenge for the GO Committee here is establishing reliable communication in this area. I applaud the efforts of two committee members who are persevering in the pursuit of establishing these contacts.

The last year has witnessed an increase in GOC participation in giving attention to these geographical areas. Currently the committee is exploring ways to further support the area coordinators in their outreach.

• Legal Committee: Jerry E., Trustee Liaison; Chair Open

Can you help? SA’s Board of Trustees is served by a number of committees who assist it in administering the policies and decisions of the General Delegate Assembly. One of these is the Legal Committee whose mission is “to advise the Trustees on legal matters affecting the Fellowship.” (SA Service Manual, ch. 13, p. 2). The Legal Committee is looking for both members and a chair. If you can help, please contact SAICO.