Online
Intergroup is pleased to report that the Sunday telephone meeting, held each
Sunday at 4 p.m. New York time, is celebrating its first anniversary next week!
The meeting
has been going well, and has grown nicely over the past year. We now have some 70
members signed up, of whom roughly 10 attend a given meeting. Like any meeting,
there is a small core group of people who attend most weeks, and a larger group
of people who attend now and then.
The format
of the telephone meeting is much like many face-to-face meetings. We start with
basic readings from SCA literature such as the Statement of Purpose, Characteristics
and Steps, then we usually have a short special reading to do with recovery
from sexual compulsion, from SCA’s or other recovery literature. Alternatively,
sometimes a member will give a long share for 10 to 15 minutes. After that,
members share about the reading or whatever is going on in their recovery and
lives for a few minutes each. We finish the meeting with a reading of the SCA
Closing Statement.
After the
meeting, which is usually an hour long, members who want to can stay on the
line and talk informally for a while as a form of fellowship, which gives
people an opportunity to socialize and ask questions. We have an email contact
list for members of the phone meeting who sign up for it, that is only
circulated to the members on it. That way, people can be in contact with each
other between meetings if they wish.
Most members
report that it is a warm and friendly atmosphere, despite the electronic nature
of the Calliflower conference call connection. Telephone meetings are a great
means of recovery for those who are unable to get to face-to-face meetings, who have limited meetings in their area, who are travelling, who are perhaps confined by illness, or have special concerns about
anonymity and the like. Members currently attend from various parts of North
America and Europe, and we have just registered our first member from
Australia!
Online
Intergroup hopes to expand this option and put on a second weekly telephone
meeting in addition to the Sunday meeting in the next few months. To do so, we
are in need of service people willing to moderate, and to undertake the other
service associated with a telephone meeting, such as handling email requests
from members wanting to sign up. Volunteers need to have unimpeded access to a
computer at meeting time. The technological know-how required to chair is
rudimentary, and training is offered.
If you are
interested in attending, or getting involved in telephone meeting service,
please sign up via the SCA website at http://www.sca-recovery.org/telephoneaccess.htm or send an email to oimoderator@gmail.com.
Please pass
this information on to your groups and any members who may be interested!
In service,
Kevin – SCA Toronto
& Online Intergroup