Being ‘of service’ is at the heart of ACA recovery. Service opens the ‘door’ of the Zoom room where we meet. Service created this website. ACA members provide service whenever they attend a meeting and offer their experiences. And you offer service when you lead a meeting, answer an email, chair a Group Conscience or take the minutes, keep track of the treasury or service schedule and, importantly, when you welcome a newcomer and offer guidance in response to their questions.
Help Write History The Service Network Committee of WSO is Creating an ACA Service Manual To learn more about this opportunity, click here https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E6avO3fbpMppQYcyA5-97lD6rqcDC-F-/view?usp=sharing
While these service opportunities revolve around personal recovery and the functioning of the meeting, other underlying levels of ACA service support the group.
The World Service Organization
As a foundation supporting Regions, Intergroups and meetings, and answering to the global fellowship of ACA, we have the World Service Organization (WSO). At the heart of the WSO is a Board of Trustees of up to 15 member volunteers. The work of the Board is achieved through committees, each with dozens of volunteers, offering a wide variety of service—from developing literature, to maintaining the IT infrastructure, to producing the Annual Business Conference, to updating handbooks and operating manuals, to producing literature translations… and more.
To learn more about how WSO supports the world of ACA, go to their websites, adultchildren.org and acawso.org. To find volunteering opportunities at World Service, go to acawso.org/service/, or start the adventure by speaking with your WSO Representative.
Ballot Proposals and the Annual Business Conference
The WSO oversees a process by which the membership may recommend changes to the organization or suggest literature development, among other things. This happens through the Ballot Proposal Process.
Basically, a group submits a Proposal supporting an idea or change that would be of benefit to ACA worldwide. The item, along with other proposals, is added to a ballot that is available for all registered groups to vote upon. The ballot asks whether the issue should be discussed at the Annual Business Conference (ABC). If 60% say ‘yes’, the proposal is placed on the conference agenda.
The ABC occurs at the end of April. What had been an in-person event has evolved to include a remote, online component. Indeed, with the Covid pandemic, the 2020 and 2021 ABCs were entirely virtual. All ACA members are invited to attend, virtually or otherwise. What’s more, each group, Intergroup and Region is invited to send a Delegate to participate in the business conference procedures.
The Service Network of ACA has many facets, providing a wide variety of opportunities to be of service and to participate. It is a safe way to learn how to work with other people, in an environment grounded in recovery, with healthy concepts and traditions. Volunteering in ACA provides us with valuable tools and experiences, which we can bring with us into our interactions at work and in our communities.