Step2 Men’s Gazette

The GSR Says!

GENERAL SERVICE REPORT FOR April 2021

Greetings! It is Agenda Topic Time. Here is a partial list of topics that will
be considered at the upcoming AA General Service Conference scheduled
for April 18-24. Our Area 07 Delegate, Tom W., will be joining 80 other
delegates representing areas in the United States and Canada to discuss
and consider taking action on the literature items listed below as well as
others actions pertinent to Alcoholics Anonymous. I have included the
items for literature since these seem to generate the most interest and
discussions. Please look them over and share with me any thoughts you
might have so that I will be able to share them with our delegate at the
Pre-Conference Assembly which I along with other GSRs in area 07 will be
attending on the weekend of April 10-11. See the attached information for
this Pre-Conference Assembly which anyone can log into and participate in
on-line. This is how our AA groups influence decisions made at General
Service Conferences.

VI. Literature

A. +Review proposed “A.A.W.S. Policy on Conversion of Written Conference approved Literature and Service Material into Video Format.”
B. +Consider requests to revise the book Alcoholics Anonymous:

1. +Add pages 3 through 41 of the pamphlet “The A.A. Group” as an appendix in the next printing.
2. +Revise the first 164 pages.
3. +Agenda item forwarded from the 70th G.S.C.

C. +Consider proposals related to possible Fifth Edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous:

1. +Develop a Fifth Edition.
2. +Develop a Fifth Edition of the book Alcoholics Anonymous with updated stories and revisions to Appendices III and V.
3. +Add a proposed addendum to a Fifth Edition foreword of the book Alcoholics Anonymous at the time it is published.

D. +Consider development of a draft Fourth Edition of the book Alcohólicos Anónimos.
E. +Consider requests to revise the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions:

1. +To remove the phrase “opposite sex” from paragraph two on page 117 in the chapter “Step Twelve.”
2. +To reconsider use of the phrase “lustful enough to rape” in paragraph one on page 66 in the chapter “Step Six.”

F. +Consider request to add a subtitle to the booklet Living Sober.
G. +Consider requests to revise text related to open meetings in the pamphlet “The A.A. Group.”
H. +Consider request to revise text related to self-support in the pamphlet “Frequently Asked Questions About A.A.”

I. +Consider revising the pamphlet “Questions & Answers on Sponsorship”:

1. +Change the suggestion that sponsor, and newcomer be of the same sex.
2. +Expand the section on “Service Sponsorship” and retitle the pamphlet to include service sponsorship.

J. +Consider request to include a G.S.R. preamble in the pamphlet “G.S.R.: Your Group’s Link to A.A. as a Whole.”
K. +Review recovery literature matrix (2019).
L. +Consider updating the pamphlet “A.A. for the Black and African-American Alcoholic.”

M. “The Twelve Traditions Illustrated” pamphlet:

1. Discuss draft update of the pamphlet “The Twelve Traditions Illustrated.”
2. Consider not retiring the existing version of the pamphlet “The Twelve Traditions Illustrated.”

N. Review draft language regarding safety and A.A. to be included in Living Sober and “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship.”
O. Review the draft update of the pamphlet “Young People and A.A.”
P. Review the draft of the new pamphlet on A.A.’s Three Legacies.
Q. Review the draft of the new pamphlet for Spanish-speaking women in A.A.

R. Discuss progress report regarding the pamphlet “The Twelve Steps Illustrated.”
4 +Agenda item forwarded from the 70th G.S.C.

S. Discuss progress report regarding the pamphlet “The Twelve Concepts illustrated.”
T. Discuss progress report regarding the pamphlet “Too Young?”
U. Consider if proposed agenda items for plain language, simplified language, accessible translations and large print versions of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as workbooks to help study the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, can be addressed with a common solution.
V. Consider adding the Long Form of each Tradition at the beginning of each essay for that Tradition in the book, Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.
W. Consider the development of a draft Fifth Edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, noting past Advisory Actions.
X. Consider revising the pamphlet, “The A.A. Group,” to reflect the importance of the group as a “spiritual entity” as stated in the Long Form of Tradition Five.
Y. Consider revising text highlighting service roles at the group level in the pamphlet, “The A.A. Group.”
Z. Consider updating the pamphlet “A.A. for the Native North American.”

AA. Review G.S.O. Publishing updates per the A.A.W.S. print policy.

1. Review the draft update of the pamphlet, “Is A.A. for You?”
2. Review the draft update of the pamphlet, “Is there an Alcoholic in Your Life?”
3. Review the draft update of the pamphlet, “Frequently Asked Questions about A.A.”
4. Review the draft update of the pamphlet, “This is A.A.”

Thank you for allowing me to be of service.

George T.

I CANNOT PLEAD NOR DRINK THE FIFTH

I have opined from time to time that The Steps are never completed.

I hear some folks say in meetings when talking about the state of their sobriety that they have completed the Steps and are now trying to _________, (Fill in the Blank).

I, on the other hand, feel that my Steps are never completely completed. I have remarked that after 7 plus years sobriety, after knowing I had a problem for 30 plus years and three rehabs, I felt I had a chance with this stretch of sobriety that technology had finally caught up to help.

Why, I can find meetings, at any time and any place, on my phone. That I keep my Step 4 handy, in a Microsoft Notebook file that I can access “through the Cloud” on said phone oron my Desktop, or all the technophile items I possess or borrow. Handy, that.

It’s not the end all.

Of course not.

I’m told that the first three Steps are thoughtful, the last three Steps are spiritual, but the six in the middle are Steps of Action.

In this case, I do have to look at that file from time to time. I feel obligated to edit it, as creative writing was one of my favorite subjects and unfortunately that drifts over into my reality. In some cases, after further review and going to look at the imaginary tape at the scorer’s table, some of my resentments and grudges were caused by some infraction on my part. No surprise there. Even if the counterpart was not innocent either.

The point of the exercise is to remind myself of how to handle things better.

Things in life can go wrong. Why just the other night.. I was with my family… and they felt compelled to offer unsolicited advice and opinions… and… need I say more!

I understand the “cooling off period” on exercising my Constitutional Right on the purchase of weaponry. If I can somehow influence my mouth to exercise the same discretion, the World, particularly mine, will be a happier place.

In times like that, if I wait and express my unsolicited thoughts and rejoinders to my Notebook file, then there is more harmony in the World, including mine. And if I read it back, maybe a day or two later, I may see some point to these trivial matters.

Keeping a running tab is not as easy as a bar tab. It does take some diligence. Both in writing and and reading it. It is however, another helpful tool

Contributed by John M.