Since the Vancouver International Conference in July 1992, the COOC has met on the telephone about every six weeks and at the conference in New York. COOC members are Betsy T. (Mid-Atlantic Region/Chair); Larry M. and James M. (New England/Special and Finance); David M. (Southeast/Secretary); Sylvia J. (South Central/General Service Board); Jim O. (North Central/Finance); Dave B. and Dan N. (Southwest/Special and Central Office); Harry B. (Northwest/Essay).
[The following ideas resulted from a group inventory done on the problem of continued slipping. These ideas are put forward simply to stimulate discussion and action. Please feed back from your experience.]
Since the Vancouver International Conference the COOC has met about every six weeks. Major issues have included the following: exploring areas of SA service such as translations of our literature and outreach to imprisoned or isolated SAs; organizing a special meeting at the next conference to encourage such service opportunities; utilizing our COOC replacement process following the resignation of Harry B. from the Northwest region; maintaining our literature stocks and considering handling audio tapes of talks and conferences; and assisting the Long Island SA Conference in publicizing the conference.
Facing the Slipper Syndrome 1. It is important to recognize that the real problem is lust, not sex, and thus acknowledge that the problem is spiritual in nature.
July 1993 Conference (July 9–11, 1993) will be held in Nashville, TN.
[The following suggested guidelines are used by SA members returning calls to inquirers in a large U.S. metropolitan area. These guidelines reflect over six years’ experience in dealing with SA calls in this area. Your comments and/or experience is invited. Does your intergroup support a hot-line? How do you deal with inquirers? Reprinting these guidelines here does not constitute endorsement by the Essay or the Central Office.]
In the past, the Essay newsletter has been sent free of charge to anyone who requests it, and the Oversight Committee recommends that we continue that policy. However, the committee asks that each member who receives the Essay and who can afford to do so, make a voluntary donation of $10 per year to cover the increased costs of printing and mailing.
The Politically Correct Policeman (PCP), loosely defined, is a fellowship junky who considers it his job to flag anything in the literature or at meetings that might embarrass newcomers, minorities, or women. The idea is that no one gets offended. Currently I’m in my 10th year of recovery from Politically Correct Policeman-ship in 12-Step fellowships.
At the San Diego International Conference business meeting, the Central Office Oversight Committee reported that the committee meets monthly by conference phone call. There have been nine such meetings. Each meeting has an agenda and is limited to one to one-and-a-half hours. The COOC has managed Central Office business since the departure of Roy K. as administrator.
The SA conference in San Diego gave me a strong sense of fellowship and a great hope for our future in recovery and growth. Something that struck me, however, was an experience which brought some questions to mind regarding our commitment to the Twelve Steps as an ongoing foundation for recovery.
