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July 19st 2024
401-438-8860
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Unity
Tradition Eight, Long Form:
Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional. We define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to perform those services for which we may otherwise have to engage non-alcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed. But our usual A.A. “12th Step” work is never to be paid for.
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Group Anniversaries
Mon. Aug. 5th Warwick- EXPECT A MIRICLE-St Paul’s Lutheran Church, 389 Greenwich Ave. (15th Anniversary). Guest Speaker & Buffett
Wed. Aug. 14th Middletown- BIG BOOK AWAKENING– Y.A.NA. Club, 770 Aquidneck Island Ave. 6:30PM (3rd Anniversary)
NEW MEETING
Providence-SUNLIGHT OF THE SPIRIT– Closed Big Book Step Study. Bell St. Chapel, 5 Bell St., Fridays at 6PM. First Meeting Friday, June 14th.
Zoom- WOMEN STEP INTO HAPY HOUR-Open Step (Women), Fridays at 4PM. Zoom ID: 926 020 8895 Password: 401589. Beginning Friday July 5th
CHANGES
East Greenwich- FRIDAY WOMEN STUDY THE STEP– will return to a In Person Meeting Only. St Luke’s Church,99 Peirce St., Open Step, Fridays at 10AM Beginning Friday July 5th
Pawtucket- ACTIVE– Open Speaker, Epworth Methodist Church, 915 Newport Ave will be changing their meeting time. They will now meet on Fridays from 7PM to 8PM, beginning August 2nd. Effective Friday August 4th, 7:30PM . ALSO NEEDS SUPPORT
ONE NIGHT ONLY
Woonsocket-REDHEAD-Open Speaker. Holy Trinity Parish, 1409 Park Ave., will not meet on Sunday, July 28th and August 4th
NEEDS SUPPORT
Fall River, MA- SATURDAY MORNING DISCUSSION– Open Discussion, Catholic Social Services, 1600 Bay St. Saturdays at 9AM
Warren-THE REAL TOSSPOTS– Open Steps 1,2,3. Warren Town Hall (Youth Center), 514 Main St. Sundays at 5PM
DISBANNDED
Zoom-EASY DOES IT(WOMEN) – Saturdays at 10 AM
Providence -THE GIFT II- Closed Big Book. Butler Hospital, 345 Blackstone Blvd, Mondays at 7PM
LOST COMMITMENT BOOK
Lincoln- REMEMBER WHEN-Open Speaker. Christ Church In Lonsdale (Annex), 1643 Lonsdale Ave., Sundays at 7PM has lost their commitment book. Any group having a commitment with them please contact the bookie . Call Central Service if you need the phone number.
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Attention RICS Fellowship PINIC TICKET HOLDERS
Due to the RAINOUT on July 13th. If you had purchased a ticket for the RICS Fellowship Picnic and you would like a refund, please return any tickets purchased to the office and we will gladly refund you.
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ATTENTION ALL GROUPS and INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
RI CENTRAL SERVICE Treatment & ACCESSIBILITIES Committee will once again provide AA meetings for both the Detox Unit and the Dual Diagnosis Unit at Roger Willams Hospital. Any Groups or Individual member willing to provide AA Speakers for a monthly commitment please contact Hebert G. by email at hfgri99@aol.com
RI Central Service is always in the process of up-dating our 12-STEP LIST. Anyone willing to be added to the list should contact their Group Secretary or call Central Service. “When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there and for that I am responsible
We need volunteers to help with our monthly mailing – takes less than one hour. The next mailing will take place at Central Service, 1005 Waterman Ave, E. Providence on Wed., August 28th, at 9AM.
AREA 61’s next Area Assembly will be held Saturday June 29th St. Kevin’s Church, 333 Sandy Lane., Warwick at 9AM. The Area 61 Delegate will give her report back from the 74th Annual General Service Assembly at that time
District 2/4 will host a Joy Of Service on Sunday August 4th Colt State Park, Sites 31 & 32, Bristol. 11AM to 3PM Meeting, Food and Fellowship Followed by Cornhole Tournament. To register for cornhole tournament and other information email district24dcm@aainri.com.
So RI Intergroup is always looking for members willing to volunteer to do 12 Step Work. Manning the Office, Answering Phones, Rides, as well as people wanting to become involved in Committee Work. There are several Opportunities for Service Available Contact So RI Intergroup at 401-739-8777 for more information
Please note the deadline for submitting any information for the next today is Friday, Aug. 23rd
Please Note the RI Central Service Office Will Be Closed on Monday, August 12th to Celebrate Victory Day
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RECOVERY
RI Central Service will sponsor a monthly virtual “OPEN MIC NIGHT NITE” Saturday July 27th – Starting at 8PM. Zoom Meeting ID: 856 8703 0297 Passcode:891419 Anyone interested in performing or needing more information should contact Austin D Email: 1wholestep@gmail.com
District 7 will host a Summer Picnic. Burlingame State Park (Picnic Pavilion), 24 Sanctuary Rd., Charlestown Sunday, August 18th 12PM to 5PMHamburgers and Hot Dogs Provided. Please bring a Drink and a Dish to Share Food, Fellowship and Fun
District 1 will host a Sober Summer Sizzler Picnic. Lincoln Woods State Park , 2 Manchester Print Works Rd., Sites 1,1A,1B & 1C Sunday, August 18th, 1PM to 5PM. Hamburgers and Hot Dogs Provided. Please bring a Drink and a Dish to Share. Food, Fellowship and Fun
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TRADITION 8
The eighth tradition makes it clear that A.A. may employ professional secretaries and other professional staff members. Their job is not to DO Twelve Step work; but to make Twelve Step work possible. “Our Twelfth Step is never paid for, but those who labor in service for us are worthy of their hire.”
(12&12, Page 171)
Reprint with permission of A.A. World Services
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Tradition Eight
Tradition Eight
BY: BILL W.
Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers. (from the July 1948 Grapevine)
Throughout the world AAs are twelfth-stepping with thousands of new prospects a month. Between one and two thousand of these stick on our first presentation; past experience shows that most of the remainder will come back to us later on. Almost entirely unorganized, and completely nonprofessional, this mighty spiritual current is now flowing from alcoholics who are well to those who are sick. One alcoholic talking to another; that’s all.
Could this vast and vital face-to-face effort ever be professionalized or even organized? Most emphatically, it could not. The few efforts to professionalize straight Twelfth Step work have always failed quickly. Today, no AA will tolerate the idea of paid “AA therapists” or “organizers.” Nor does any AA like to be told just how he must handle that new prospect of his. No, this great life-giving stream can never be dammed up by paid do-gooders or professionals. Alcoholics Anonymous is never going to cut its own lifelines. To a man, we are sure of that.
But what about those who serve us full time in other capacities–are cooks, caretakers, and paid intergroup secretaries “AA professionals”?
Because our thinking about these people is still unclear, we often feel and act as though they were such. The impression of professionalism subtly attaches to them, so we frequently hear they are “making money out of AA” or that they are “professionalizing” AA. Seemingly, if they do take our AA dollars they don’t quite belong with us AAs anymore. We sometimes go further; we underpay them on the theory they ought to be glad to “cook” for AA cheap.
Now isn’t this carrying our fears of professionalism rather far? If these fears ever got too strong, none but a saint or an incompetent could work for Alcoholics Anonymous. Our supply of saints being quite small, we would certainly wind up with less competent workers than we need.
We are beginning to see that our few paid workers are performing only those service tasks that our volunteers cannot consistently handle. Primarily those folks are not doing Twelfth Step work. They are just making more and better Twelfth Step work possible. Secretaries at their desks are valuable points of contact, information, and public relations. That is what they are paid for, and nothing else. They help carry the good news of AA to the outside world and bring our prospects face to face with us. That’s not “AA therapy”; it’s just a lot of very necessary but often thankless work.
So, where needed, let’s revise our attitude toward those who labor at our special services. Let us treat them as AA associates, and not as hired help; let’s recompense them fairly and, above all, let’s absolve them from the label of professionalism.
Let us also distinguish clearly between “organizing the AA movement” and setting up, in a reasonably businesslike manner, its few essential services of contact and propagation. Once we do that, all will be well. The million or so fellow alcoholics who are still sick will then continue to get the break we sixty thousand AAs have already had.
Let’s give our “service desks” the hand they so well deserve.
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