Box 459 is a quarterly news bulletin from the U.S./Canada General Service Office. This newsletter includes information about A.A. service, literature, events, sharing from groups, service committees and individual U.S./Canada A.A. members.
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Meet Four New Class B General Service Board Trustees
Following their election in April at the 73rd General
Service Conference, four new Class B (alcoholic) trustees joined the General Service Board (GSB) of A.A. These new trustees all bring extensive service experience, long-term sobriety, and invaluable regional and professional perspectives to the deliberations of the General Service Board.
Department Reorganization
at GSO Aimed at Improving Vital Services
A recent reorganization at the General Service
Office (GSO) to create two new departments
— Language Services and Legal, Licensing and
Intellectual Property — is bringing more focus to
their important service
.
Introducing the New ‘Jacketless’ Big Book:
First printed in 1939, Alcoholics Anonymous—known as
the Big Book—has carried the A.A. message of recovery
for 83 years. Translated into 72 languages, and counting, the Big Book continues to reach millions of people in
approximately 180 countries, helping suffering alcoholics around the world.
Saying “You Belong Here”:
Since its inception, Alcoholics Anonymous World
Services has understood the importance of language.
Witness the many translations of the life-saving literature of the Fellowship: the most significant example is the Big Book, which has been translated from
the original English into 72 languages.
I Heard It Through the….
Since its founding in 1944, AA Grapevine has expanded
from a pamphlet to a magazine; to publishing books,
calendars and the “Man on the Bed” poster; to establishing the Spanish-language magazine La Viña; to having a
website (including the new one, launched in 2020).
Read Full Issue On-Line Here
“I Am….”: The New aa.org Website
The General Service Office launched its first website
to serve A.A. groups and members in December 1995.
While a big step forward at the time, www.alcoholics-anonymous.org (currently aa.org) was essentially
a public information tool in three languages.
South Africa’s Diamond Jubilee Year of Celebration
In 1946, a court translator named Solomon M. found
himself wandering the outskirts of Johannesburg,
despondent and hungover: his drinking had brought
himself and his family to the brink of starvation. He
spied a copy of an article, originally published in
Grapevine.
Supporting the Fellowship:
If you called the General Service Office before June of
this year and had more than one task to accomplish
— say you wanted to order literature as well as update
records for your group — you would have been routed
to two different associates in two different departments
Separated Physically, Connecting Spiritually
On the morning (or afternoon, or evening, depending
on the time zone) of November 28, 2020, 69 delegates
from 44 countries, zones and service structures around
the world sat down at their computer screens to make
history.
The ICOAA Seminar: Communicating a Shared Purpose
The very first Intergroup/Central Office/A.A.W.S./AAGV Seminar was held in September 1986 — with 98 representatives from 82 intergroups attending, plus three trustees from the General Service Board and 13 employees of G.S.O. and Grapevine.
What’s New at G.S.O. Celebrating Over Half a Millennium of Service
On September 29, there was a party at the General Service Office unlike any that had been held there before. To begin with, the festivities took place via video conference, with dozens of G.S.O. and Grapevine employees as well as members of the General Service Board attending. Read Full Issue On-Line Here
“A.A. at Its Best”: New Approaches to the Seventh Tradition
In mid-March of this year, at the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the lights went dark at the General Service Office as G.S.O.’s workforce dispersed to their homes to continue helping members carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous. As the days went on, A.A.’s many central offices strove to remain open to fulfill their essential function, and A.A. groups turned to virtual platforms to ensure that alcoholics everywhere could meet and stay sober. Read Full Issue On-Line Here
Meeting Uncertainty with Resiliency: G.S.O. in the Pandemic
Given the toll that COVID-19 was already exacting on the New York metropolitan area, this announcement was not unexpected. Nonetheless, it was a first: never in the history of Alcoholics Anonymous had the General Service Office — whose antecedents stretch all the way back to the late 1930s and Bill W.’s small office at Honor Dealers in Newark, N.J. — been forced to shutter its doors. Read Full Issue On-Line Here
A Full Table: The Day of Sharing at G.S.O.
On December 3, 2019, the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous hosted a historic Day of Sharing with members of seven other Twelve Step fellowships.
A Full Table: The Day of Sharing at G.S.O
On December 3, 2019, the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous hosted a historic Day of Sharing with members of seven other Twelve Step fellowships. The gathering at A.A.’s upper Manhattan service office was not the first of its kind — the initial Day of Sharing took place in G.S.O.’s former location at 468 Park Avenue in 1991. There have been several subsequent ones attended by representatives of Al-Anon and the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD), as well as a “Fellowship Day of Sharing” in 2008 that included attendees from Debtors Anonymous (D.A.), Overeaters Anonymous (O.A.) and Narcotics Anonymous (N.A.).
ASL Big Book Arrives Vol. 65, No. 4 / Winter 2019
Since the last American Sign Language Big Book and Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions were produced over 15 years ago, members of the Fellowship who are Deaf have expressed to G.S.O. that it might be time to undertake a re-translation of both books to keep them up to date. The result is that the ASL Big Book DVD is now available.
The Meeting Guide App Vol. 65, No. 3 / Fall 2019
This is the first installment of a new Box 4-5-9 series on the technology that is changing the way Alcoholics Anonymous communicates to suffering alcoholics and interacts with its members.
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Come Celebrate A.A.’s 85th Birthday in Detroit, Michigan Vol. 65, No. 2 / Summer 2019
It’s the perfect match — a resurgent and revitalized city of historic importance to Alcoholics Anonymous and an estimated 50,000 celebrating A.A.s from around the world.
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Our Great Responsibility: Rediscovered Wisdom from A.A.’s Co-Founder Vol. 65, No. 1 / Spring 2019
During the course of 20 General Service Conferences, Bill W. gave more than 33 talks, 16 of which are now gathered in the new book Our Great Responsibility: A Selection of Bill W.’s General Service Conference Talks, 1951–1970, which is scheduled for publication in early May 2019.
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The Only Requirement… Vol. 64, No. 4 / Winter 2018
The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking. This is perhaps one of the most inclusive statements ever made by an organization — and one that is lifesaving for alcoholics caught in the deadly grip of their disease.
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