The CSTCC welcomes Questions from the Fellowship concerning the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts. Our responses are individual, and neither binding nor authoritative. We do not speak for the whole of S.L.A.A.
Question from the Fellowship (Committee Reference #2024-7):
There is an Intergroup with a secretary that has never been part of an election and never been rotated out since the Intergroup was created. Is this Intergroup serving the S.L.A.A. fellowship as a whole by passing on the three legacies (Steps, Traditions, and Concepts) of S.L.A.A.?
Response #1:
It is concerning that the secretary was never actually elected to the position. Even if someone starts a meeting and rightly assumes the secretary position out of necessity, at the soonest opportunity there should be a vote of the meeting members confirming them to the position.
Per Tradition Three, our leaders are trusted servants and do not govern. Per Concept Ten each service responsibility should be well defined. By not having the secretary voted into (or confirmed to) the position with clearly defined job scope, it increases the potential risk of the individual running the meeting as they see fit. This would be the very definition of “governing”.
For the second component of this Question, more information would be needed to see if there were concerns. We do not know how long the person has been in the secretary position, nor whether they have tried (and failed) to find a replacement. The principle of rotation is based on Tradition Two and Concept Nine. More detail on this principle can be found in reading the A.A. illustrated versions of both Legacy documents and the A.A. Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. But, there is no specificity in any of them on when the rotation should occur. If no one will take the position, then the secretary may have to keep it if they want the meeting to continue. From a very personal perspective, I held the secretary position of a meeting for two years during the pandemic, and then another year as we transitioned back to in person meetings. I was not able to find anyone to take over for that time, and needed the meeting for my sobriety. I was finally able to find a replacement, and gladly handed off the responsibility.
The risk of someone holding onto the position while others are interested in it, is that resentment can build for the other members. A long running secretary will appear to be the “boss” (and may even be acting like one), and since they are never up for election, other members may feel like they are not equals in the meeting. This is very damaging to the unity of the meeting, and out of alignment with Tradition One.
