January 2014 - Alcoholics Anonymous

Central Office
1213 State Street, Suite H
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
(805) 962-3332
The Santa Barbara
MESSENGER
Step 1
We admitted that we were
powerless over alcohol ,
that our lives had become
unmanageable
Tradition 12
Our common welfare should
come first;
personal recovery depends
upon A.A. unity.
Principle 1
Surrender
(cease resistance to an enemy
or opponent and submit to
their authority .)
To give up, abandon, or relinquish
Concept 1
Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A.
world services should always
reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.
January
2014
This Month’s Challenge:
DO AN INVENTORY!!
Yours & Your Groups
SERENITY PRAYER
(long version)
God, grant me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change Courage to change the
things I can, and the
Wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this
sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it.
Trusting that He will make
all things right if I
surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life, and supremely
happy with Him forever in
the next.
Amen
Supporting Member, Birthday, In Loving Memory
(please circle one)
Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery
depends on A.A. unity
Our A.A. experience has taught us that:
I would like to contribute to Central Office of Santa Barbara, and help it continue to carry the message &
be there for the alcoholic who still suffers. Enclosed is my contribution of $_______. I will continue to donate this amount on a (circle one): Monthly, Quarterly, Annual OR ________basis.
Name_________________________________________________________________________
Street ________________________________________________________________________
1. Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is but a small part of a great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare comes first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.
AA Twelve Traditions Long Form SM F-187
Is my Group doing all it can to carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous?
City/State/Zip _________________________________________________________________
Phone _________________________ E-Mail _______________________________________
Subscribe to the Messenger??
___Yes!! Please, I would love to receive 12 uninterrupted issues of the Messenger delivered to the address
below! And what a fantastic deal!! $12.00 for 12 issues! Why, that’s only $1 per Step…
Complete the above information and mail with payment to:
Am I an active participating member of my Group? Do I participate in all my Groups affairs as out-
Please make check payable to:
AA Central Office, S.M.C.
1213 State Street, Suite H
Santa Barbara, CA 93101
Credit Cards accepted: call 805-962-3332
lined in the 12 Traditions or do I simply sit back and take what I can get? Ask your self...what would
happen to AA if the majority of the membership stopped participating in their Groups decisions?
The answer: AA Groups would be controlled by individuals, not by members and ultimately AA, as
we know it, would cease to exist.
Full Subscription payment must be enclosed!
The Twelve Traditions as They Apply to the Individual
1. Am I in my group a healing, mending, integrating person, or am I divisive? What about gossip
and taking other members’ inventories?
2. Am I a peacemaker? Or do I, with pious preludes such as “just for the sake of discussion,”
plunge into argument?
3. Am I gentle with those who rub me the wrong way, or am I abrasive?
4. Do I make competitive AA remarks, such as comparing one group with another or contrasting
AA in one place with AA in another?
5. Do I put down some AA activities as if I were superior for not participating in this or that aspect of AA?
6. Am I informed about AA as a whole? Do I support, in every way I can, AA as a whole, or just
the parts I understand and approve of?
7. Am I as considerate of AA members as I want them to be of me?
8. Do I spout platitudes about love while indulging in and secretly justifying behavior that bristles with hostility?
9. Do I go to enough AA meetings or read enough AA literature to really keep in touch?
10. Do I share with AA all of me, the bad and the good, accepting as well as giving the help of
fellowship?
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Special Thanks to Cat C, Pam I, Robbin R
The Messenger Editorial Policy
Messenger is ALWAYS ready for distribution on the 2nd Tuesday of eachmonth, sometimes sooner
The Messenger is a monthly newsletter of the Santa Barbara 23rd District Central Office of Alcoholics Anonymous.
Submission deadline: the 22th of each Month 1/4 to 1/2 page ONLY (8.5x11).
It is about, by and for members of the AA Fellowship.
Opinions expressed herein are not to be attributed to the AA organization as a whole, nor does publication of information imply any endorsement by either AA or the Santa Barbara 23rd District Central Office. Exception: Quotations and artwork from
the AA books or pamphlets are reprinted with permission from AA World Services. Inc. or the AA Grapevine, Inc.
Contributions from the AA members are encouraged and welcomed! These will be reprinted as space permits. Submissions
must be typed or neatly handwritten and signed (your name and last initial only will be published unless using “Anonymous”
when requested with signature.
The Messenger conforms, at all times, to the Guidelines set forth by A.A. World Services as outlined in pamphlet GSO Service
Material F-29 “Conference-Approved Literature”. (available at Central Office).
1213 State Street, Suite H Santa Barbara, CA, 93101
Phone: 805-962-3332 -Email: sbaa@santabarbaraAA.com
Website: www.santabarbaraAA.com
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Step ONE
WE ADMITTED WE WERE POWERLESS OVER ALCOHOL - THAT OUR LIVES HAD BECOME UNMANAGEABLE.
1.
Every “natural” instinct cries out against the idea of personal powerlessness (defects
of the thinking mind.)
2.
We perceive that only through utter defeat are we able to take our first step toward
liberation and strength (making the admission we are unmanageable by us.)
3.
Until we humble ourselves (accept the devastating weakness and all its consequences), our sobriety, if any, will be precarious.
4.
The Principle: We shall find no enduring strength until we first admit complete defeat (that probably no human power could have relieved our alcoholism.)
5.
We are victims of a mental obsession - thinking (drinking is only a symptom) so
subtly powerful that no amount of human will power could break it.
6.
By going back in our own drinking histories, we could show that years before we
realized it, we were out of control, that our drinking even then was no mere habit, that it
was indeed the beginning of a fatal progression.
7.
Few people will sincerely try to practice the AA program until they have hit their
bottom through utter defeat.
8.
In order to practice AA’s remaining eleven steps WE MUST ADOPT NEW
ATTITUDES AND TAKE NEW ACTIONS.
9.
We must become as open minded to conviction and as willing to listen as the dying
can be.
Have you ever wondered what types of calls we get at Central Office ….here are a few from this
month
“I was at a meeting the other night and someone spent the entire time texting and playing with their phone, I found it rude & distracting. Just thought I would let you know.”
“ I go to the same meetings on a regular basis, and I have noticed that some of our “long-time” group members never put
anything in the 7th Tradition basket, They must know that groups have expenses, nothing is free! Why don’t they think
enough of what they have been given to give something back?”
“ I have a friend that doesn’t think they have a drinking problem, can I just bring them to your office and you can tell them they
do?”
Obviously, we don’t have all the answer and we are not the “AA Police” but we do encourage callers to bring up the idea of a
“Group Inventory “ (page 4) at your meetings and as a member review the “Twelve Traditions as They Apply to the Individal” (page 2)
On a lighter note...saw this on the news New Years Day. “Man on the Street” question ”What’s your New Years Resolution?”…
“I am going to put more ice in glass, so I don’t drink as much?”
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Is Our Group Aligned With
The Twelve Traditions?
Comments, concerns, happenings: sbaa@santabarbaraAA.com Subject: “Messenger”
From the pamphlet "The AA Group.":
"Some groups take inventory by examining our Twelve Traditions, one at a time, to determine how
well they are living up to these principles."
The following questions were taken from the core of what is said in the Big Book page 562- 566 and
the Twelve and Twelve. We will read the corresponding Tradition out of the Big Book then the
consideration. If you can answer yes to any of these it may be in violation of that Tradition.
One: Does our group put the interests of any individual above the welfare of the group or of AA
as a whole?
Two: Does our group do anything that misrepresents the conscience of the majority of the group?
Three: Does our group exclude anyone with a drinking problem from attending the group?
Four: Does our group do anything that does not conform to AA principles and affect other
groups or AA as a whole?
Five: Does our group do anything that conflicts with our carrying the AA message to alcoholics
who want a way out from their drinking problem?
Six: Does anything we do affiliate, endorse or bind the group, actual or implied, to any related
facility or outside enterprise?
Seven: Does the group receive donations from anyone other than an AA member?
Eight: Are there any fees besides meeting expenses being charged for Twelve Step work
(ie: fellowship, sponsoring, step work, counseling?)
Nine: Is there a governing individual or exclusive group authority that dictates organization to
our group?
Ten: Does our group do anything that publicly states an opinion or takes sides on any issues or
controversy that are outside of AA?
Eleven: At the general public level, does the group publicize any individual AA member's name or
picture as a self-appointed representative of AA?
Twelve: Does our group give personal distinction to any AA member either among fellow alcoholics
or the general public that puts their opinions above the conscience of the group or AA?
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Concept I.
AA Group Inventory...What’s that…?
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?
Excerpted from the GSO approved pamphlet P-16, "
The AA Group"pg. 27
Many groups periodically hold a “group inventory meeting” to evaluate how well they are fulfilling
their primary purpose: to help alcoholics recover through AA's suggested Twelve Steps of recovery.
Some groups take inventory by examining our Twelve Traditions, one at a time, to determine how
well they are living up to these principles.
The following questions, compiled from A.A. shared experience, may be useful in arriving at an informed group conscience. Groups will probably wish to add questions of their own:
1. What is the basic purpose of the group?
2. What more can the group do to carry the message?
3. Is the group attracting alcoholics from different backgrounds? Are we seeing a good cross
section of our community?
4. Do new members stick with us, or does the turnover seem excessive? If so, why? What can
we as a group do?

5. Do we emphasize the importance of sponsorship? How effectively?
How can we do better?
u-
6. Are we careful to preserve the anonymity of our group members and other A.A.s outside the
meeting rooms? Do we also leave the confidences they share at meetings behind?
-
7. Do we take the time to explain to all members the value to the group of keeping up with the
kitchen/housekeeping chores and other essential services that are part-and-parcel of our
n
r

Twelfth-Step efforts?
8. Are all members given the opportunity to speak at meetings and to participate in other
group activities?
9. Mindful that holding office is a great responsibility not to be viewed as the outcome of a
popularity contest, are we choosing our officers with care?

10. Are we doing all we can to provide an attractive meeting place?
11. Does the group do its fair share toward participating in the purpose of AA — as it relates to
our Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity and Service?
12. What has the group done lately to bring the A.A. message to the attention of professionals
in the community—the physicians, clergy, court officials, educators and others who are often
the first to see alcoholics in need of help?
13. How is the group fulfilling its responsibility to the Seventh Tradition?
4


Does our group have a general service representative
(G.S.R.)? Do we feel that
our home group is part of
A.A. as a whole and do our
group’s decisions and actions reflect that?
Do we hold regular group
conscience meetings encouraging everyone to participate? Do we pass that
conscience on to the district, area, or the local intergroup meetings?
Is the “collective conscience” of Alcoholics
Anonymous at work in my
home group? In my area?
Where do we fit in the upside-down triangle of A.A.?
Are we willing to do what it
takes to insure that our democracy of world service
will work under all conditions?
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Service? When Where and
How
DECEMBER
BIRTHDAYS !
“The hand of A.A. should always be there. And for that I am responsible”
Intergroup Representative (IGR)
2nd Tuesday of each Month 6:00pm
7th Tradition
December
10th & 11th Step Prayer & Med
(KEEP COMING BACK!)
1st Presbyterian 21 E Constance Corner of Constance & State , Garden Room (lower level)
*Hospitals & Institutions*
Hospitals and Institutions is a committee whose sole purpose is to carry the message to those confined in
hospitals, jails, prisons, and other facilities. We share our experience, strength, and hope in harmony
with the 5th Tradition. For more information or if you would like to be of service, Please attend the monthly
meeting 6:00 pm—2nd Monday of each Month at 1st Presbyterian Church 21 E Constance (state & Constance)
Garden Room
FACILITES COMMITTEE MONTHLY MEETINGS
located at A.A. Central Office every 1st Wednesday 6:00pm
of the Month @ 6:00 p.m.
spal_2.0@hotmail.com or (805) 708-0746
General Service Reps (GSR)
1st Monday of each month-6:00pm Holy Cross Church 1740 Cliff Drive (Behind
church)
Where to send your 7th Tradition...
Central Office: Maintains 24/7 phone for 12th Step calls, manages local office, publishes meeting guides, AA literature sales, supports Hospitals & Institutions (H&I), and more: Make check payable to: AA Central Office•1213 State St
Suite
H
•Santa Barbara CA 93101• Include your meeting name, day/time and contact information
GSR - District 23: GSR's provide the link for the group with the whole of AA. Stocks literature, organizes PI/CPC
projects, Grapevine reps, Facilities meetings, and more: Make check payable to: General Service District 23•PO Box
23416
•Santa Barbara, CA 93121 Include your meeting name, day/time, and GSO group number.
Hospitals & Institutions: Takes literature & meetings into lock-down facilities. Make check payable to: “H&I” mail to
Central Office
Area 93: Coordinates General Service for the districts (including District 23) in the Central CA Area; sends delegate
to General Service Conference; holds Area Assemblies: Make check payable to: Central California Area 93• 606 Alamo Pintado #140• Solvang, CA 93463• Include your meeting name, day/time, and GSO group number.
General Service Office (GSO): In New York, is the central hub of all AA world services: Archives, PI/CPC, Corrections,
Facilities, Int'l Conventions, Group Services, Grapevine/La Vina; publishes AA’s literature, and more:
Make check payable to: General Service Office•P.O. Box 459•Grand Central Station•New York, NY 10163• Include your
meeting name, day/time, and GSO group number.
Note: If paying by check please make separate checks payable to each service entity, we ask that you mail the checks directly to
GSO, Area 93 and GSR. If paying with cash Central Office will handle the contributions and give you a receipt with your Group
Name on it.
*The typical Group Contribution splits for this area are:
1. 60% Central Office, 20% H&I, 10% GSR, 5% Area 93 & 5% GSO
2. 2. 70% Central Office, 10% H&I, 10% GSR, 5% Area 93 & 5% GSO
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Brittnie B
Chelsea B
Jaan L
Julie C
Justin
Matt B
Shea B
Sid W
Steve
Alexx B
Anna
Annette T
Chris P
Dennis
Kym R
Launa L
Terri W
Tom T
Brandi
Gina C
Stephen S
Charlie
Lisa A
Maggie C
Alicia R
Dave J
Martha M
Rory S
Vince K
Naomi C
Cheryl G
Kelly B
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ce tal ge ty
to era rie
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Vince B
Clay C
Tim T
David A
Manny B
Eva
John L.
Brian B
Mary Ellen
Brenda H
Natalie B
Dave O
Bob T
Dinah M
Jay F
Matt D
Max M
Shirley N
Gordon G
Kathy S
Bill M
Denise R
Hank V
Spencer W
John M
Joe R
Jim H
Luch H
Kathy N
Jack W
Marie
Tony C
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60.00
11th Step-Candlelights
120.00
83-87 Group (pages)
712.00
Carpinteria Canalino
263.00
Counter Sales
29.00
Courage to Change
32.85
Eye Opener
245.85
Gratitude Group
20.00
Happy Destiny #153
200.00
Harbor Group #079
952.65
How & Why BB Stdy #145
65.00
It's a Hell of a Deal #139
233.60
KCB-Keep Coming Back-All
20.00
Men Who Have Lost Their Legs
189.00
Monday at a Time
146.24
Montecito/Carpinteria Group
120.00
New Pair of Glasses #013
40.00
On Awakening #125
314.10
Onward & Upward #019
40.00
Sought Through Prayer & Med
10.00
Start Your Day Right #156
500.00
Staying Alive-Womens SS #055
108.60
Stepping Stones Women's Mtg
37.09
The Loft #071
50.00
There is A Solution #022
Supporting Members
219.60
1,586.44
78.00
Birthday Donations
Gratitude Mont h
Note: if your group or supporting
member contribution was made after
the last day of any month, the contribution will be included in the month it
was received, not necessarily the
month collected. Any group member is
always welcome to contact Central Office about your group’s
contributions.
Fun Facts & a New Challenge
(late arrivals)
83-87 Group (pages)
200.00
Action Participation
256.48
Big Book Comes Alive
65.25
Briefly Big Book-Goleta
10.80
Briefly Big Book-Goleta
4.00
Came to Believe Candlelight
89.00
Carpinteria Canalino
11.00
Eye Opener
Foundation Group
Grateful Group
Gratitude Group
225.25
26.00
25.00
26.00
In 2013 the Messenger listed a total of 615 Sober Birthdays, for a total number of 9,161 years or an average of
Gratitude Solutions
8.00
Harbor Group #079
450.00
14.90 years per person… Since the Messenger only
prints what you tell us, each month, we are pretty
sure there’s a lot more birthdays that we don’t know
about….so we are asking that you report in all birthdays for 2014 and up the average...
Here & Now #089
Key Group #177
14.06
225.11
Monday at a Time
194.11
Off-Center Group
Stepping Stones Women's
Success Group #070
34.00
75.04
22.00
5
Traditions Breakfast
It’s almost here…..We’re so excited!!
March 22, 2013 9:30am—Noon
Goleta Community Center
**In the Auditorium**
Bigger Room, more food and more prizes
(seating for 250)
H&I Currently;
takes meetings into Cottage Hospital 5 East, CRC, Salvation Army, Rescue
Mission. Lompoc Penitentiary, San Luis Obispo Men’s Colony, SB County
Jail (Men & Women) & Honor Farm, Sanctuary House.
And provides literature for Salvation Army, Rescue Mission, San Luis
Obispo Men’s Colony, SB County Jail & Honor Farm, Sanctuary House.
Hos
p
Fina itals &
nce
s & Institu
Con
trib tions
201
utio
3
ns
As of December 31, 2013 our bills are paid, we have literature on the
shelves and $4500 in the bank. Thank you Santa Barbara’s 23rd District
for helping us “ C AR RY TH E M ES SA GE ”
H&I Group Contributions
Traditions; Don’t really know what they are or how they work in your life? Come and
find out
$7.00 buys you a great breakfast….PLUS a totally awesome Speaker ,
Raffle, Bake Sale. Tickets on sale January 17th at Central Office or your
Groups IGR.
Volunteer Service
Rides to Meetings
(are you available to occasionally give someone a ride? )
This is not a commitment—this is an opportunity to Be Of Service
From time to time we get calls for rides to meetings, sometimes they
are out-of-towners, sometimes they are newcomers; but all of the time
we try to make that happen...and we need your help to do it.
Please complete the information below and give it to your meetings
IGR Representative or return it to Central Office, you may also email
this same information to sbaa@santabarbaraAA.com and please put
“RIDES” in the subject line.
We NEVER give out phone numbers and we always pair genders.
Name:_______________________________________________
*HomeGroup:_____________________________________________
Day of Week:___________ Time:___________________________
Other regular meetings:_____________________________________
__________________________________________
___________________________________________
Telephone #__(______ )_______________________________
E-Mail :_______________________________________________
Preferred method of contact:
Call
6
Text
E-mail
“Where & When”
(A.A. Meeting Directory Updates)
NEEDS SUPPORT
* Women By the Books—Trinity Church –Main entrance
1500 State St, Corner of State & Micheltorena.
Monday 6:30pm
New Meeting:
* The Gates of Insanity
The Graduate House—2021 Castillo Street—
Tuesday 8pm
* Conversations with a Drunk ( Q&A)
Newhouse II—227 W. Haley Street—Sunday 7pm
Meeting Change:
* Courage to Change-is now an OPEN meeting and a
10th Step “Step Study
1st Congregational Church Saturday—Noon
* On Awakeing-NOW 7 Days per week
Carpinteria State Beach—End of Linden Ave,
picnic tables 7am
Needs Support:
* Schooner Group
Good Shepard Lutheran Church Friday
8:oopm
* *Montecito Book Study – All Saints Friendship Center
Thank you!
83 Eucaluptys Rd – Thursday 5:30pm
11
…
Central Office
Group Contributions
Year 2013
January 13
IT DOESN'T HAPPEN OVERNIGHT
We are not cured of alcoholism. What we really have is a daily reprieve contingent on the maintenance of our
spiritual condition.
Big Book page 85
The most common alcoholic fantasy seems to be: "If I just don't drink, everything will be all right." Once the fog cleared for me, I
saw — for the first time — the mess my life had become. I had family, work, financial and legal problems; I was hung up on old
religious ideas; there were sides of my character to which I was inclined to stay blind because they easily could have convinced
me that I was hopeless and pushed me toward escape again. The Big Book guided me in resolving all of my problems. But it didn't happen overnight — and certainly not automatically — with no effort on my part. I need always to recognize God's mercy and
blessings that shine through any problem I have to face. The most common alcoholic fantasy seems to be: "If I just don't drink,
everything will be all right." Once the fog cleared for me, I saw — for the first time — the mess my life had become. I had family,
work, financial and legal problems; I was hung up on old religious ideas; there were sides of my character to which I was inclined
to stay blind because they easily could have convinced me that I was hopeless and pushed me toward escape again. The Big
Book guided me in resolving all of my problems. But it didn't happen overnight — and certainly not automatically — with no effort
on my part. I need always to recognize God's mercy and blessings that shine through any problem I have to face.
Answers—December
The Central Office and the
Twelve Traditions
At every turn, the Central Office works to unify and include every A.A. member and group in its activities, and
to encourage participation in all parts of A.A. recovery and
service.
8
Central Office is looking for volunteers to answer
phones, ring up sales and serve the community. Shifts
are 4 hours each 9:30 – 1:30 and 1:30 – 5:30 Monday
thru Friday, also in need of someone to work 2 Saturdays
per month 9-1pm. Volunteers must be able to make a
minimum 4 month commitment, work a regularly scheduled shift and have at least 1 year of continuous sobriety.
Interested? Come in Monday thru Friday 10-2 and see
what we can work out.
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