Concept I

on

GB Concept I. The final responsibility and the ultimate authority for British A.A. services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship in Great Britain.

World Service Long Form I. The final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

World Service Short Form I. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship.

Application in AA:
  • Why is a structure needed?
    • The 'Alcoholic Foundation' was created in 1938, as the trusteeship for AA as a whole
    • In 1954 it was renamed 'The General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous' (GSB of AA)
      • 'This trusteeship was designed to inaugurate and maintain all of those special services for AA as a whole that could not well be performed by single groups or areas. We envisioned the writing of a uniform AA literature, the development of a sound public relations policy, and a means of handling the large numbers of pleas for help that might follow in the wake of national and international publicity. We thought in terms of aiding new groups to form and of furnishing them with counsel based upon the experience of the older and already successful groups. We thought there would be a need for a monthly magazine and also for translations of our literature into other languages.'
    • AA's co-founders (Bill and Bob) were the link between the fellowship and the GSB of AA
    • As they were aging, it was necessary to provide a different link
    • In accordance with Tradition IX, we are organised as little as possible, but as much as necessary
    • 'Keep it simple' does not mean 'do not organise'
    • The structure of the fellowship was to match the structure of the group:
      • 'The AA groups are to be the final authority; their leaders are to be entrusted with delegated responsibilities only.'
      • Thus the AA fellowship as a whole has the final authority; its leaders, too, are to be entrusted with delegated responsibilities only
    • Penalties & rewards
      • The penalty for extensive non-compliance with the Twelve Steps is a return to active alcoholism
      • The penalty for extensive non-compliance with the Twelve Traditions is the collapse of the group
      • The penalty for extensive non-compliance with the Twelve Concepts of Service is the collapse of the fellowship
      • 'The Steps stop us from killing ourselves; the Traditions stop us from killing each other; the Concepts stop us from killing everyone.'
  • 'Whole fellowship'
    • That means there must be a fellowship
    • That means it must be whole
      • No sub-movements or branding
      • No exclusive meetings (if they're called AA)
    • No divisive talk
      • No criticising other approaches
      • Instead of: 'That's wrong ... I think ...'; 'Yes. And also ...'
    • I must be able to move freely & be able to be myself & be welcome everywhere
    • Single purpose everywhere
    • Single spirit everywhere
      • Consider people going to meetings in foreign countries where they do not speak the language but feel the same impact and 'understand' what people are saying
  • This fellowship has a 'collective conscience'
    • This is a reality, even if we can't see it
    • Any group conscience meeting concerning the affairs of AA as a whole should aim to tap into this collective conscience
    • Just as, in an individual group conscience meeting, the individual conscience feeds into the whole: it does not oppose it
    • This collective conscience clearly beyond the material realm
    • But we must access it through the material realm of group conscience meetings
    • There is an intrinsic link between Step Eleven, Tradition II, and Concept I
  • What is behind this collective conscience?
    • The answer is in Step Eleven and Tradition II: God
    • Bill and Bob were the co-founders of AA, not the founders
    • God was the founder
    • Tradition XII: we shall forever live in thankful contemplation of Him who presides over us all
    • When individual personalities step back, the Principle lying behind everything reveals itself
    • This is anonymity in practice
    • The opposite of anonymity is personality
    • Personality obscures principle
  • Final = ultimate
  • Responsibility and authority
    • Responsibility = knowledge of God's will for us
    • Authority = the power to carry that out
    • Responsibility without authority is powerlessness
    • Authority without responsibility is self-will run riot
    • Responsibility and authority are thus intrinsically linked (Concept X)
  • Any action taken in the world should be taken on behalf of God
  • Nothing we do should be on our own account
  • God expresses Himself through this collective conscience
  • God is therefore the ultimate authority:
    • Maimonides' First Principle of Faith reads: 'I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, creates and guides all creatures and that He alone made, makes, and will make everything.'
  • For the responsibility and authority in Concept I to be exercised, the rest of the Concepts are necessary
  • Concept I is the source: the other eleven Concepts govern how this responsibility and authority are delegated
  • This creates an upside-down pyramid
  • The top is where the power originates: the groups
  • The top is broader than the bottom because there are more entities and people at that level
  • Practical application:
    • When Conference meets, its Delegates are ultimately informed by the groups via GSRs
    • The Groups must therefore discuss all matters to be discussed at Conference, for God's will to be disclosed to and channelled through the structure
  • Checklist
    • Groups need GSRs
    • Groups should hold group conscience meetings
    • Every group member should participate (but only in the group conscience meetings of one group)
    • The GSR needs to attend Intergroup and other assemblies
    • The group needs to listen to the collective conscience of the fellowship expressed at Conference
    • That means all members reading the Conference Report and Annual Report (or equivalent)
    • This ensures that the group conscience is an informed group conscience

Application in life:
  • What is my relationship to that final responsibility and ultimate authority?
    • Fellowship level
      • At the level of the fellowship, I am a tiny part of a great whole
      • At the level of the universe, I am a tiny part of a great whole
      • I do not not exist
      • But my existence is a drop in the ocean
      • I am part of that ocean
      • I am not separate from it
    • Conference level
      • This is the level at which I participate in decision-making on large matters of general policy and finances (see Concept II and Concept VI)
    • Board level
      • This is the level at which I plan and administrate my life (see Concept VI and Concept VIII)
    • Staff / servant level
      • This is the level at which I do the actual work
  • Concept I stresses ultimate wholeness
    • When drinking, I was internally disintegrated
    • My relationships with others were fractured
    • My relationship with God was non-existent
    • Practice of the Twelve Steps, the Twelve Traditions, and the Twelve Concepts restores wholeness (= sanity = soundness of mind = singleness of mind)
      • Internally
      • With others
      • With God
  • Insanity vs sanity
    • Insanity is independence or co-dependence
    • Sanity is interdependence
      • 'Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, / the world offers itself to your imagination, / calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— / over and over announcing your place / in the family of things.' (Mary Oliver)
      • 'If what we have learned and felt and seen means anything at all, it means that all of us, whatever our race, creed, or color, are the children of a living Creator with whom we may form a relationship upon simple and understandable terms as soon as we are willing and honest enough to try.' (page 28, Alcoholics Anonymous)
  • Concept I as the answer to worry
    • God has final responsibility and ultimate authority
    • God is good
    • God is smart
    • God is powerful
    • So I need not worry
    • To worry is to usurp that final responsibility and ultimate authority
  • My role
    • God works in the world through delegation to three levels:
      • Conference (decisions)
      • The Board (planning and administration)
      • Staff and servants (action)
    • If I do my part, God's part is unlocked in the material realm
    • If I do not do my part, God's will is delayed
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