Does Your Group Have an ESSAY Rep?

Many AA groups have a “Grapevine Rep” (GvR). The AA Service Manual describes that servant’s role as follows: “The GvR’s job is to make sure that members are aware of the Fellowship’s international journal and the enhancements to sobriety it offers… It is anticipated that each AA group would have a GvR and at least one subscription to the magazine” (AA Service Manual, Rev. 1991, S85).

Our White Book recommends that the Literature chairperson of each SA group make sure that the group is supplied with copies of ESSAY (SA 176). Some SA groups have “ESSAY Reps” who report to the group on each issue, and encourage other members to subscribe—and perhaps to contribute as well! Or the group itself might have a subscription, which may be passed around to its members. Travelers find it helpful to pack our “meeting in print” when they go on trips.

If your group doesn’t have a subscription to ESSAY, suggest it at your next business meeting. If your group doesn’t have an ESSAY Rep, step forward and volunteer! Making ESSAY available to your group—and to newcomers—is another way we carry the message of SA sobriety.