Our common welfare should come first; personal progress depends upon unity.
What is our common welfare? How do we acknowledge and share it with each other? What happens to our group when we put our uncommon valor (those things that make us stand out) first? How is our personal recovery dependant on the unity of the group? What are some of the ways in which we support that unity? How does our personal recovery support the group as a whole? The fellowship as a whole?
For our group conscience there is but one authority - a loving God as may be expressed in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
How does our group handle problems that may develop within the group? Do we try to sort things out behind the scenes or do we bring everything to the attention of the whole group? Are we open to negotiating doing things in new ways or are we absolutely fixed in the way we do things? Do we give in to loud and over bearing individuals or do we seek to find a mid-point in all decision making? How do we do this? Do we make decisions on the spot or do we allow people the time to think about the issues? Are we willing and able to let all point of view be heard? How do we rotate service positions in our group? Or do we allow the same people to keep doing the same tasks over and over? Do we trust and accept that what the group decides as a collective is the appropriate decision for the time being, or do we plot and scheme to get our own way?
The only requirement for SCA membership is a desire to stop having compulsive sex.
How do we welcome newcomers in our group? How do we ensure that newcomers are not left alone to feel isolated and un-welcomed? Is our group open to anyone who may want to join our group or do we inadvertently (through our attitudes), tell some people that they are not welcomed? Do we seek to find out people's background, education, professions to ascertain if they are 'right' for our group, or do we share our experience, strength and hope with whoever comes to our group?
Each group should be autonomous, except in matter affecting other groups or SCA as a whole.
In what ways is our group autonomous? In what ways is it not autonomous? Does our group seek to find out how other group function in order to benefit from the diversity within the fellowship? Does our group have a group representative who liaisons with the whole fellowship for us? Has our group ever done a group inventory? Do we share our concerns with other groups through our Intergroup? What kind of things do we learn from other groups in our fellowship? Tradition Four asks us to be obedient to the unenforceable, what does this mean?
Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the sexual compulsive who still suffers.
How does our group reach out to those who still suffer (even those within our group)? What does the slogan 'You can only keep it, if you give it away' mean in relation to this tradition? Do we remember that to digress from our primary purpose is to sometimes muddle our relationships with other members in our group? What kind of actions do we take when we discover that we are one of those who still suffers? How do we stay focused on our primary purpose?
An SCA group ought never endorse, finance or lend the SCA name to any outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
Has our group had occasion to deal with unscrupulous individuals or organizations that tried to get us to participate in activities not related to our group's primary purpose? How did we deal with this? Does our group allow outside issues and enterprises to enter into our group, so that our meetings become a market place? Do we concern ourselves with others' social and financial status and forget to focus on the spiritual nature of our program? Do we place too much importance on fellowship and forget to apply the steps and traditions to our lives? Are we all aware how our group functions and are we fully involved in all its functions to ensure the survival of our group as well as SCA as a whole?
Every group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
Is our group able to support itself by filling all its service positions? How does our group contribute to Intergroup and ISO (International Service Office)? Is our group beholden to any person(s) or organization through special deals that give our group certain privileges? How does this affect our group? Does our group have a prudent reserve in case of emergencies? Is everyone in our group aware of how our finances are handled? Is our group able 'to hold its own', by, for example being fully stocked with literature? Is it connected to the rest of the fellowship and fully informed of developments that are taking place at the Intergroup and ISO levels?
Sexual Compulsives Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
Does our group defer to certain individuals within the group, assigning them special roles or powers because of their knowledge of the program or do we encourage everyone to find out about the program by reading and discussing our literature and service manuals? How do we encourage people in our group to take on service positions? How do we ensure that we are represented at all levels of our fellowship? How do we offer our service at conferences and other special events?
SCA, as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
How does our group ensure that all service positions are rotated? How do we ensure that everyone in our group participates in all things that affect our group? How do we encourage the members of our group to get involved in all levels of our fellowship? How do we teach the members of our group to be self-sufficient and responsible at the same time? Are the members of our group accountable to our group and the SCA fellowship as a whole? Are we consistent in our running of our group, do we for example make sure we begin and end our meetings on time?
SCA has no opinion on outside issues; hence the SCA name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
Are our meetings for the discussion of all the latest books, films, television shows, politics, or our psychotherapy sessions or do we focus on how to recover from sexual compulsion using the steps and traditions of SCA? Do we notice how we can split a room when we offer an opinion about a film or book? Is our recovery based on reaction? Do we notice how people are drawn to us when we talk practically about how to use one of the tools of the program? Do we know how to mind our own business? How do we lead by example within our group? How do we focus on the things we have in common rather than on our differences?
Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, television and films.
How do we present ourselves to others in the fellowship as well as those outside the fellowship? What are some of the ways in which we share our recovery by example? When we speak about SCA are we conscious that we do not speak for SCA as a whole but only about out own experience? When co-operating with media do we make sure that our anonymity (if not for our sake then for the sake of our loved ones) is protected? Is our recovery something people come towards or run away from? How do we experience sitting patiently, within our group, waiting for God's time and God's way to resolve our needs?
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
How do we ensure that we guard each other's anonymity while still ensuring that we share our strength, hope and recovery with one another? How is confidentiality different from anonymity? Do we pry into each other's lives or do we support each other in our recovering from sexual compulsion? Are we able to love and accept unconditionally everyone in our group, even though we may not agree with everyone's opinions? What steps are we taking to familiarize ourselves with the principles of SCA, so that we are not as easily swayed by the personalities of our group members? How do we ensure that recovery is fun and exciting while sticking to the suggested guidelines?