The AA Pigeons
October 30, 2017
Holy Smoke What Now!
November 1, 2017
As an AA Group Secretary, your responsibilities can be many and may vary from opening the doors and making coffee to paying rent, cleaning up and closing up after the meeting. Most importantly, you are instrumental in symbolizing A.A. to the newcomer. Please, make them feel welcome.
A Secretary needs to be a responsible individual who is going to be committed and accountable to the Group. Like chairpersons, secretaries need to be good all-around group servants. For groups that have no chairpersons, they may perform the tasks associated with that position. While each group has its own procedures, the secretary is generally expected, but are not limited to the following:
- Picking qualified chair people (in keeping with singleness of purpose) for their term of office if applicable.
- Announce information concerning A.A. activities and events which should include sharing with Group members the mail (Central Bulletin) from the Cleveland District Office and other Groups.
- Make sure business meeting & treas. reports are held regularly.
- Maintain minutes of Group conscious / business meetings.
- Maintain and update a strictly confidential file of names, addresses, and telephone numbers of group members (subject to each member’s approval); and know which members are available to visit still-suffering alcoholics (Twelfth Step calls).
- Keep a record of members’ sobriety dates, if the group so wishes.
- Maintain a bulletin board for posting A.A. announcements, events, bulletins and newsletters.
- Make certain that the Cleveland District Office and all other service entities are informed (in writing) of any changes of address, meeting place or Group Officers.
- Accept and assign call’s for 12-step help.
- Share all mail including the monthly Central Bulletin with the group.
- Train incoming Secretary & work with them during transition.
Source – Secretary Training
Staff
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the policy or position of the AA Cleveland District Office.
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4 Comments
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Sean says: Can a group secretary interrupt when someone is sharing allow there is a secretary taking the meeting
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AACle says: It completely depends on the circumstance. Secretaries at some meetings (especially discussion meetings) occasionally have to allow for others to share and in the interest of time, may cut off a share to allow others to speak. The same can happen with comments after leads. Each meeting is autonomous, group conscious decides policy of each meeting and the group entrusts group secretaries to enforce the policy. Some groups (especially larger ones) feel the need to enforce time limits as well as keeping the comments on-topic. Other groups allow more flexibility in time and topic. Each group has it’s own dynamic in such things.
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Camilo T says: Se puede elegir de Secretario a alguien que muy pero muy pocas veces va a reunión. (It is possible to elect someone as Secretary who attends meetings very, very rarely.)
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DAVID J. says: As secretary of our weekly step meeting, after the main share, on Step 5, then opening to the group, a member then proceeded to dismantle what he called, the God thing, talking at length about what he thinks about it quite differently from the Big Books guidance, I interrupted him by saying that we as AA members do not apologise for God. It seems some in my group now accuse me of NOT being a trusted servant.
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