Committees
Alcoholics Anonymous has grown from two men to a planet-wide fellowship, and it exists to support your home group. You practice the steps, your group follows the traditions, and the larger parts of the fellowship use the concepts. The first one states that individual groups are responsible to and “hold authority” over all of AA. That means that you and your home group speak for the whole fellowship as you recover and help others to get well. Your group cannot successfully stand alone, however, so it delegates its authority to “the conference.” (Concept II, detailed in the Service Manual.)
How do we get from the group to the conference? Your group is part of a district, which belongs to one of 93 areas that make up the US/Canada General Service Conference. If you attend business meetings (group consciences), you know that your home group sends volunteers to serve on the district committees listed below. Each District elects an Area Representative who ultimately represents your home group at the Conference. Your group takes its first step into the larger organization when it sends representatives–people like you–to participate in District committees and events.
District Committee
Each group elects a General Service Representative (GSR) to attend District meetings. The Birmingham area makes up Districts Six and Seven. These districts include over 80 active groups, and the GSR’s from all these groups elect one District Committee Member (DCM). This person takes the news and concerns of the district to the Area Assembly. As the A.A. Service Manual explains, the “district committee member is an essential link between the group G.S.R. and the area delegate to the General Service Conference. As leader of the district committee . . . the D.C.M. is exposed to the group conscience of that district.”
The District Committee meets at 9:15am on the 4th Saturday of each month at:
Southside Baptist Church, 1016 19th Street S. (Enter on 10 Street Court)
NOTE: Currently meeting in person AND on Zoom. Join via this link or meeting info below:
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob
Contact Denise M. for additional information.
Central Office/Intergroup
Just as A.A. groups are partnerships of individuals, the central (or intergroup) office involves partnership among groups in a community. A central/intergroup office carries out certain functions common to all the groups. The office may stock literature and chips, publish meeting directories, organize the answering service, and fill other functions best handled by a centralized office. Individual groups usually support the office while the Intergroup Committee maintains and supervises it.
The Central/Intergroup Office exists to aid the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. By providing an Alcoholics Anonymous listing in the local telephone directory, the office may receive inquiries from those seeking help. Staff may have a twelfth stepper contact the callers, or they may refer the callers to a nearby A.A. group where they may find sponsors.
The Intergroup Committee can maintain a conveniently located office in which paid workers and/or volunteers coordinate local A.A. services. At regular intervals, the central/intergroup office may prepare, publish, and distribute information about local AA services, provide up-to-date lists of meetings, and create other material for periodic distribution. Many intergroup/ central offices also sell A.A. Conference-approved literature for the convenience of local groups.
Intergroup meets at 5:00 on the first Sunday of each month – currently meeting via Zoom:
Click here or see Zoom details below:
Meeting ID: 819 904 4404
Passcode: 800969
Public Information & Cooperation with the Professional Community (PICPC)
The primary purpose of members involved with public information service is to carry the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Working together, members of local Public Information committees convey A.A. information to the public by using television, press, radio, film, and social networking platforms.
The other purpose of this committee is to better distribute A.A. information to those who contact alcoholics through their professions. These may include but are not limited to members of the clergy, court and parole officers, school officials, doctors, counselors, and nurses.
Members from individual home groups make up the P.I. & C.P.C. Committee, and the members have different responsibilities. A Public Information & C.P.C. visit might include distributing A.A. Literature, giving a brief presentation, and/or showing an A.A. video. Committee members are careful to keep their information “conference approved” because no one person has the authority to speak on behalf of the entire world-wide fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous.
The Public Information group meets at 10:45am on the 3rd Saturday of each month via Zoom: Join via this link or meeting info below:
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob
Treatment, Accessibilities & Corrections (TAC)
Treatment Committees coordinate the work of individual A.A. members and groups who want to carry our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment and outpatient settings. With the centers’ approval, TAC takes A.A. meetings into these settings. Committee members also arrange means of “bridging the gap” from the facility to an A.A. group in the individual’s community.
Like the Treatment Committee, the Corrections Committee coordinates the work of individual A.A. members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics, only these members work in jails and prisons. When allowed, they provide speakers and meetings within the facilities. They also coordinate pre-release contacts to help smooth the way from the facility to the larger A.A. community. The committee provides liaisons between meetings within the facilities and groups on the outside.
Accessibilities/Special Needs Committee explore, develop, and offer resources to alcoholics with significant barriers to receiving the Alcoholics Anonymous message including: Mobility impaired, Hearing/Vision impaired, Language difficulties, Remote communities, Remote access, Home bound, Internationalist, and other under-served communities. We want A.A. to be available to all alcoholics who reach out for it.
The TAC group meets at 1:15pm on the 1st Sunday of each month via Zoom: Join via this link or meeting info below:
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob
Contact Dave A. for additional information.
Web Committee
The Web Committee is responsible for the content, policies and procedures involved in the technical and spiritual impact of our District 6 & 7 website. The committee maintains the digital footprint of the District’s Committee information, calendar, and meeting information.
Dedicated to helping the alcoholic in the digital age, the Web Committee is comprised of several members from within the groups served. Their responsibilities vary, but the Webmaster is responsible for day to day maintenance of the site. Please send all suggestions to the Webmaster email for consideration.
The Web Committee meets at 3:45pm on the first Sunday of each month via Zoom. Join via this link or meeting info below:
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob
Grapevine & Literature
Since the first edition of the Big Book was published in 1939, literature has been vital to spreading the A.A. message and imparting information about the A.A. Twelve Step program of recovery. A.A. co-founder Bill W. often called the influence of A.A. literature “incalculable.” The Literature Committee informs groups and district members of all available Conference-approved literature, audiovisual resources, and other special items. They create displays and use other suitable methods to share this information.
Committee members also provide literature for groups, area, and district functions as they encourage A.A. members to read and purchase A.A. literature. Finally, the Literature Committee holds book studies to help better understand the meaning and practice of the material they promote.
The Literature Committee meets at 10:30am or immediately following the District Committee meeting on the 4th Saturday of each month at:
Southside Baptist Church, 1016 19th Street S. (Enter on 10 Street Court)
NOTE: Currently meeting in person AND on Zoom. Join via this link or meeting info below:
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob
Contact Shay S. for additional information.
Archives Committee
Meeting ID: 875 9736 8135
Password: Bill&Bob110