Alcoholics Anonymous General Service Conference

Why do we need A Conference?

The late Bernard B. Smith, nonalcoholic, then chairperson of the board of trustees, and one of the architects of the Conference structure, answered that question superbly in his opening talk at the 1954 meeting:

“We may not need a General Service conference to ensure our own recovery. We do need it to ensure the recovery of the alcoholic who still stumbles in the darkness one short block from this room. We need it to ensure the recovery of a child being born tonight, destined for alcoholism. We need it to provide, in keeping with our Twelfth Step, a permanent haven for all alcoholics who, in the ages ahead, can find in A.A. that rebirth that brought us back to life.

“We need it because we, more than all others, are conscious of the devastating effect of the human urge for power and prestige which we must ensure can never invade A.A. We need it to ensure A.A. against government, while insulating it against anarchy; we need it to protect A.A. against disintegration while preventing overintegration. We need it so that Alcoholics Anonymous, and Alcoholics Anonymous alone, is the ultimate repository of its Twelve Steps, its Twelve Traditions, and all of its services.

“We need it to ensure that changes within A.A. come only as a response to the needs and the wants of all A.A., and not of any few. We need it to ensure that the doors of the halls of A.A. never have locks on them, so that all people for all time who have an alcoholic problem may enter these halls unasked and feel welcome. We need it to ensure that Alcoholics Anonymous never asks of anyone who needs us what his or her race is, what his or her creed is, what his or her social position is.”

A.A. World Services Reprinted with permission
A.A. Service Manual Combined with Twelve Concepts of World Service - Chapter 6 Page 40

The Annual
General Service Conference

A.A. Service Manual - Chap6 P39
AAWS copyright - reprinted with permission

Conference Structure
with Trustee Committees

A.A. Service Manual - Pg 104
AAWS copyright - reprinted with permission

Path for an idea to
become an agenda item

A.A. Service Manual combined with
Twelve Concepts for World Services - Pg 164
AAWS copyright - reprinted with permission

Proposed Agenda Item
Submission Form

Deadline for submission September 15th

When submitting an agenda item please be mindful to send a copy to your Delegate: delegate@area34aa.org