You may know that the three sides of the triangle in the AA logo represent the three legacies of the program; unity, recovery, and service. Unity and recovery have always been, for me, pretty clear in meaning. Service, however, is something which has taken more effort to understand.
The Second Tradition of AA includes the following.
Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
So what does being a servant in AA mean? The best and simplest resource that I’ve found in AA literature is the pamphlet “Circles of Love and Service“. It’s a flowery name for a simple document which folds out into two sides of a single sheet of paper. One side of the page is the image at the top of this article. It does a good job of explaining the relationships of groups, the district meeting, the area assembly, and the general service conference.
The AA website provides an overview of the committees which exist at the national (general service conference), regional (area assembly), and local (district meeting) levels. The committees exist at each level in order to provide the best-possible support to every current and future member of our groups.
You can read how these service positions are pursued locally in our district meeting in the District 36 Guidelines (this link will download a copy of the document as opposed to navigating to another page). The guidelines include a short description of each committee in our district.
For the definitive word on how everything fits together, clear your schedule and sit down with a copy of the A.A. Service Manual. The manual contains everything about how service is intended to make sure that AA will be here for those who come after us. It’s the material from the first general service conference and the updates which have been made in the annual conferences since.
If you have any questions about service opportunities at the group, district, or area levels, drop me a note at thirdlegacy@snovalleyaa.org. “Third legacy” stands for that third side of the triangle…service!
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