MBAIAA Newsletter – May 2019

Published on May 21, 2019

Step 5 – “Admitted to God, to ourselves, And to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs“

Alcoholics Anonymous. Page 85

A Resting Place – All of A.A’s Twelve Steps ask us to go contrary to our natural desires…they all deflate our egos. When it comes to ego deflation, few Steps are harder to take than FIVE. But scarcely any Step is more necessary to longtime sobriety and peace of mind than this one.

Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions. Page 55

After writing down my character defects, I was unwilling to talk about them and decided it was time to stop carrying this burden alone. I needed to confess those defects to someone else. I had read – and been told – I could not stay sober unless I did. Step Five provided me with a feeling of belonging, with humility and serenity when I practiced it in my daily living. It was important to admit my defects of character in the order presented in Step Five: “to God, to ourselves and to another human being.” Admitting to God first paved the way for admission to myself and another person. As the taking of the Step is described, a feeling of being at one with God and my fellow man brought me to a resting place where I could prepare myself for the remaining Steps toward a full and meaningful sobriety”

Daily Reflections. Page 137

Alcoholics Anonymous Events To Plan For

There are lots of opportunities for fellowship and fun in the coming weeks.  Visit our events calendar for a complete list of upcoming events.

Monterey Intergroup Birthday / Speaker Meeting
Saturday, May 25th, 2019 @ 7:30 pm

Hosted this month by the Men’s Stag meeting that meets every Friday @ 8:00 PM @ at St Mary’s Church on Central Ave in Pacific Grove. The speaker is Bob C.

This is a monthly birthday meeting held on the last Saturday of each month (except for December when the meeting is held along with a holiday banquet ). The first part of the meeting includes a presentation of birthday medallions for those celebrating annual A.A. anniversaries and all are invited to participate. Birthdays are followed by an A.A. speaker who shares for 40 to 45 minutes and the meeting ends about 9pm. Coffee is typically ready no later than 7pm. Arrive early for good parking, fellowship and a great seat!

Monterey High School Cafeteria
Herman Drive at Larkin, Monterey CA 93940

Unity Day
Sunday, June 9th 10:00am – 4:00pm

An annual celebration of the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous. Our Monterey Fellowship joins with the Salinas Fellowship for food, fun and fellowship at Toro Park… A barbeque lunch will be served for a fee of $10.

There is a speaker meeting at approximately 3:00 pm. Our Speaker will be Scott D from Pacific Grove. There is no charge for the meeting, so come and join in the fun and fellowship. There is a $2.00 per person (ages 6 – 61) charge for entrance to the park. This applies to walk in or drive in. Please leave your furry pals at home.

We also have a Bake Sale, so if you have skills in the kitchen, or can purchase an item to donate to the Bake Sale, those items will be gratefully accepted on the day of the event.

One more thing… there is also a raffle. If you or your group would like to donate an item or service to be raffled off, give us a call here at Central Office (373 3713). As always, there will also be a 50/50 raffle, so come out and support the Monterey and Salinas Intergroups.

Toro Park.  501 Highway 68 Salinas, CA, 93908

General Service Annual Delegates Report
Tuesday, June 18th 7:00pm

Come find out what is happening in our Northern California Coastal Area at the GSR level. All are welcome.

Bethlehem Lutheran Church.  800 Cass Street Monterey, CA, 93940

News From General Service

Does your group have a GSR? A. A. needs your voice!

Concept I

Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.  Alcoholics Anonymous has been called an upside-down organization because the “ultimate responsibility and final authority for . . . world services” resides with the groups — rather than with the trustees of the General Service Board or the General Service Office in New York.

In Concept I,  Bill traces how this came to be. The first step in 1938 was “the creation of a trusteeship,” first called the Alcoholic Foundation, renamed in 1954 the General Service Board. Why?  To perform the services the groups could not do for themselves: e.g., uniform literature, uniform public information about A.A., helping new groups get started, sharing with them the experience of established groups, handling pleas for help, publishing a national magazine, and carrying the message in other languages and in other countries. A service office was formed to carry on these functions under the board’s direction.  Both the board and the office looked to the co-founders, Bill and Dr. Bob, for policy leadership.

In the midst of the “exuberant success” of early A.A., Dr. Bob became fatally ill and Bill asked, “When Dr. Bob and I are gone, who would then advise the trustees and the office?” The answer, Bill felt, was to be found in the collective conscience of the A.A. groups. But how could the autonomous, widely scattered groups exercise such
a responsibility?

Over great resistance by trustees and members devoted to the status quo, Bill managed to “sell” the idea of calling an A.A. General Service Conference (see Concept II), and eleven years later Bill was able to declare, “The results of the Conference have exceeded our highest expectations.”  This Concept is rooted in Tradition Two, which states: “For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority — a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.”  The principles of Tradition Two are crystal-clear,
Bill asserts: “The A.A. groups are to be the final authority; their leaders are to be entrusted with delegated responsibilities only.”  The outside world cannot imagine an organization run this way, but Bill calls it “a spiritualized society characterized by enough enlightenment, enough responsibility, and enough love of man and of God to insure that our democracy of world service will work.”

To see current IGR minutes and financial reports CLICK HERE

A Note From Jana

Recently our Central Office has received an exciting donation. We now have a complete set of 42 years of A.A. Grapevine Magazines on display.  This collection of valuable “meetings in your pocket” are fun to peruse.  They are in binders categorized by year. Please come by the office and have a cup of coffee and take a look. The message never changes – one alcoholic talking (or writing) with another alcoholic – that is HOW IT WORKS.

I really hope that you will come out to Toro Park on Sunday June 9th to celebrate the founding of Alcoholics Anonymous.  An opportunity to join with the Salinas Fellowship and be grateful. There will be food, live music, sunshine, and laughter – plenty of time to share our experience, strength and hope.

We Are Always In Need Of People To Be Of Service

If you are interested in being a part of what we do here at Central Office, I am always looking for office volunteers . People to be on the other end of the phone when someone reaches out for help. It is generally a four hour commitment (either 9:30 – 1:30 or 1:30 – 5:30) 1 day per week. Currently, I need a few people to keep on a list of those that are willing to fill in for these positions once in a while. Call or come by and let’s talk!

In closing, please feel free to stop by Central Office. If you are one of the ‘Trusted Servants’ at a meeting (Secretary, Treasurer,etc,) and you have any questions about the responsibilities of that position, don’t hesitate to ask what those responsibilities might be.

I am in the office Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 9:30 -5:00.