Recently I asked the Illinois Department of Corrections for permission to start a Sexaholics Anonymous meeting. They denied my request, saying that they use a research-based model in the treatment of addictions. I was dismayed. While there are many components in an addiction, there definitely is a spiritual aspect. Can research be made on a process that takes place in the heart?
The SA Correctional Facilities Committee is seeking the experience, strength, & hope from any & all SA members who have served, or are currently serving, time in prison, who have benefited from the SA program through CFC services, whether by working with a sponsor, reading our literature, attending meetings, etc. Stories will be recorded anonymously for an outreach video project. Please send responses to - calsacfc@gmail.com
Dear SA Fellowship: I received word from Ray Stith’s wife that the trusted servant and friend to all of us, known as Tucson Ray passed away from cancer and declining health on June 21, 2018. When it came to prison work, Ray was the genuine, formative force. He started SA prison meetings, wrote the sponsor by mail approach that is currently in use, and created our protocol for how to approach prison officials.
It is an exciting time to be in correctional service. Brian from Sacramento recently gave a seminar to a local diocese on how to develop SA at the New Folsom State Prison. From California to Poland and elsewhere we are building bridges with religious communities aligned with the SA sobriety definition.
I’ve just shared a Fifth Step letter from my sponsee, and the room is very quiet. The one whose letter I just shared is ‘spiritually’ in the room. The realm of recovery is beyond concrete and iron bars.
SACFC had a good presence at the Israel convention. [Your chair] addressed the entire conference on the first night, encouraging members to participate in the CFC work either by volunteering or by requesting that a CFC chair position in their locale.
My name is Chuck, and I’m a recovering sexaholic. I’ve been sexually sober since June 3, 2013. When I was 12, I began looking at various magazines, seeking out pictures of women in them, and I would sneak them home to act out. At 13, while babysitting, I found pornographic magazines and began looking at women as sex objects.
Last July, I began serving as the CFC chair for the Los Angeles Intergroup. The mission of SA’s CFC is to carry our message to incarcerated sexaholics, and one way to do this is to participate in CFC’s Sponsor-by-Mail program. So early in my service, I introduced a Prisoner Correspondence Format in one of our groups (see format below).
I woke up this morning thanking God. Then I prayed this simple prayer: “God grant that I may love Thee always and follow Thy will. Do with me according to Thy will.” Then I did my daily readings. It wasn’t always that way. Today I’m enjoying over three years of sexual sobriety. But again, it wasn’t always that way….
SA’s Sponsor-by-Mail program, sponsored by SA’s Correctional Facilities Committee (CFC), is our primary means of carrying the SA message to prisoners. Unfortunately, at the CFC meeting this past May, we learned that the number of SA members available to sponsor prisoners by mail has been dwindling.
