October 2020 ISO Conference

The ISO has voted to conduct a special conference entirely on the Zoom platform on Saturday, October 24th, 2020 Noon – 5pm, and Sunday Noon-4pm [Note: all times are EDT= GMT- 4:00].
The primary focus of this conference is to consider specific pieces of new literature and other items of SCA business.

Please e-mail me at sca.iso.inreach@gmail.com for the Zoom meeting ID (phone access code) and password.

SCA Groups moving from Yahoo to Google

Attention all members: we will soon be discontinuing our use of the Yahoo groups for ISO business. All members of the current ISO list YahooGroup were issued invitations yesterday (Oct 30th) to join the google groups which will be replacing Yahoo. It is incumbent upon you, the addressee, to accept the invitation if you wish to continue receiving ISO messages, conversations and files. You must respond within the next 48 hours, at which time the invitation will expire.
OR
If you would like to become a member of the SCA Outreach, Inreach, Recoverybook,or Literature Development groups, send your request with your e-mail to:  sca.iso.inreach@gmail.com

Now Available for Review

New SCA Conditionally Approved Literature

“The Promises” has now been printed and is being distributed to various intergroups, meetings and individuals. Members are encouraged to read it and make comments and suggestions for the Literature Development Committee to consider and/or incorporate into their recommendations for ISO approval.

Please submit your suggestions to the  following address: iso-lit-comments@sca-recovery.org.

Also let David N. know if you need additional copies mailed to you: davidn4sca@gmail.com

SCA BIG BOOK

SCA
Needs Your Commentary on any of The Characteristics

The Recovery Book Subcommittee of SCA’s International Service Organization is inviting interested SCA members to submit their personal commentaries for consideration for use in an upcoming Recovery Book or other SCA publication.  Please target for around 500 words and suggest a title.

(Commentaries should not contain references to personally identify the author and may be edited.  SCA-ISO would own the rights to publish these stories in any of its publications.)

Please submit to sca.iso.recoverybook@gmail.com by the deadline of December 31, 2019.

You may also submit questions about the process of development and publication of the SCA Recovery Book, or requests for support and suggestions of how to begin writing your personal story of recovery to sca.iso.recoverybook@gmail.com.

SCA-ISO Conference Chicago May 3-5, 2019

You’re invited to participate in this year’s

SCA International Service Organization’s (ISO) Annual Conference.

This year’s ISO conference will take place from Friday May 3rd through Sunday May 5th in Chicago IL. Any SCA member may attend, and we especially encourage representatives from intergroups and/or meetings to do so. You don’t have to travel to be a part of the ISO Conference. Using the app StartMeeting will allow you to fully participate from your home, allowing you to see documents that are being discussed, as well as engage in any discussion and voting.

The ISO was created by SCA in 1990 to serve all intergroups and meetings worldwide.  ISO approves,  publishes and distributes SCA approved literature. It also maintains the website: www.sca-recovery.org, it answers inquiries via phone, letters and email, encourages and helps support the development of new SCA meetings. ISO also reaches out to families and friends, the courts, institutions, the media, and professionals to make them aware of SCA  and its purpose.

Among the Fiduciary, Outreach and Inreach topics to be discussed and voted upon this year will include 3 pieces of new SCA Literature. All of these documents have been sent to ISO delegates currently registered in our SCA  ISO Yahoo group. If your intergroup and/or solo meeting is unrepresented and has not received these documents,  please consult with your members as to electing someone to be a delegate, and notify sca.iso.inreach@gmail.com so that your delegate can be included in the email/document list. Each SCA meeting has one vote, and a delegate from an intergroup may represent one or more meetings for voting purposes.If you have any questions about the conference, or if you would like to become more active in the ISO is, please contact Gordon at: iso-chair@sca-recovery.org.

New SCA literature available

SPONSORSHIP IN SCA – A new ISO approved piece of literature now available for purchase.  Ask if your local intergroup has it or order it on-line at: https://sca-recovery.org/WP/literature-and-resources/store/

SPOSponsorship in SCA $3.50

Experience, strength and hope discussion of Sponsorship as a tool of the program. Topics include setting expectations, finding a sponsor, and guidance on the conduct of the sponsor-sponsee relationship (18 pages).

ISO update to all SCA members

A message to all SCA members, from your International Service Organization

Dear SCA members,

the annual conference  of SCA’s International Service Organization (ISO) took place April 20th-22nd in St. Louis MO

Among other business matters, the ISO did the following:

—heard and approved the final report of the History & Unity Committee, which described in detail how SCA was formed separately in Los Angeles and New York, and quickly came together as a 12-Step fellowship, helped by a growth in shared literature and by “cross-pollination” of members  and 12-step principles between the two cities.

—heard and approved a report of the newly-formed  Ad Hoc Committee on Program Inventory, now known as the Fellowship Inventory Project.  This committee was started last year in response to the growing concerns  among individual intergroups and meetings over the recent decline in membership in some regions. This committee has now been granted a charter by ISO to continue examination of SCA’s strengths and weaknesses, in order to clarify our need for acceptance and/or need to take actions, going forward. The committee’s work may include a survey of the fellowship, as part of the process of identifying areas that may need strengthening, in order to fulfill SCA’s primary purpose—to carry the message to the addict who still suffers. The Fellowship Inventory Committee operates under the Inreach umbrella.

we have 3 new pieces of literature:  two of them “provisionally approved” for one year, which means that are printed in a limited number, and  have been sent to ISO delegates and Intergroups, seeking comments and suggestions for possible changes/additions/deletions.

They are: 

Commentary on the 12 SCA Traditions , submitted by Toronto Intergoup. This replaces the Traditions document that had been provisionally approved at the 2017 ISO. The new version was “provisionally approved” by the ISO and  was  duly published and sent to ISO members and intergroups earlier  this summer. The Literature Development Committee has since received feedback, and will use this as a basis for suggested revisions.

— Commentary on The Promises of Sexual Compulsives Anonymous, also submitted by Toronto Intergroup, and currently available for use by SCA Toronto meetings. This has also been “provisionally approved” , and will soon be sent to ISO delegates and intergroups. The Literature Development committee welcomes any feedback from the membership, prior to its submission for a possible final, unconditional approval at next year’s ISO Conference.

The Sponsorship Pamphlet. This document, which had already received final approval at the 2017 ISO Conference, was never printed, and has since received some welcome editorial changes from the Toronto Intergroup. The newest version has been given final, unconditional approval by the 2018 Conference. It will be published in October  and will become part of our SCA Conference-approved literature, available for online purchase.

On Fiduciary matters, the previously approved Privacy policy has been implemented and is now in force. This policy guides how we gather, use, retain and purge information about anyone who contacts ISO,  who orders literature from the ISO website, or who does service for ISO. 

 

we also have new written documentation on ISO service positions, which have been written and compiled as part of a project to produce a comprehensive service manual.

we heard a report from our Archives Committee, who have made significant progress on transcribing interview tapes from early SCA members and founders.

We also conducted elections for Executive Committee members. The Executive Committee consists of 6 members, 3 of whom are up for election in even-numbered years, and the other 3 members in odd-numbered years.

David N. (New York) is now the Fiduciary Chair, having taken over from John F. (Paris), who completed a two-year term.

Gary S. (Los Angeles) is now the  Inreach Chair, having taken over from Tony D. (New York), who completed 2 two-year terms

Jim M. (St. Louis) is now the  Director-at-Large, having taken over from Dan W. (Los Angeles) who completed a one-year term.

ISO is very grateful to John, Tony and Dan’s hard work and devotion in their recent service positions. 

the remaining executive committee members are:

Rich K. Outreach Chair

Linda Engstrom , Outside Director

Gordon B. ISO Chair

these 3 service positions will end their term after the 2019 ISO Conference, which is tentatively scheduled for May 3rd-5th, 2019 in Chicago IL. 

The next ISO Quarterly Conference call will take place  3:00-5:00 pm  EDT , Saturday October 20, 2018, via our conference call app—StartMeeting. Any SCA member may participate. ISO delegates are encouraged to do so.

yours  in service 

Gordon B.

ISO Chair

Just What Does the Inreach Committee Actually Do??

The International Service Organization of SCA is essentially composed of three service committees, a chairperson, a Director at Large and two Outside Directors.  The Directors serve as members of the Executive Committee and help keep the committee chairs on track and insure that actions taken reflect the 12 traditions of SCA.

The Inreach Committee deals with all issues arising from within the fellowship. The structure of the Inreach Committee is as follows:

Sub-Committees:  Literature Development subcommittee is the place where any piece of literature considered for conference wide approval is vetted.  Often members of this subcommittee will work with the authors of a piece of literature where suggestions for any changes can be worked out.

Recovery Book Subcommittee is working on an expanded 3rd additon of the “Little Blue Book.”  Chapters are being written addressing the 12 steps, 12 traditons, characteristics and personal stories of recovery.

Nominating Committee:   The Inreach Committee works to find qualified individuals to take on service within the Executive Committee of ISO.

Regional Coordinators:  Regional Coordinators serve to keep the various intergroups and meetings worldwide informed about developments within ISO.  Regional Coordinators serve specific areas of the globe.  Regional Coordinators also maintain contact with individuals within their region who live where there is no SCA meeting.  The Regional Coordinators could bring together lone members who live near each other, not knowing that another Secxually Compulsive Individual lives nearby.  New SCA meetings can be formed in this way.  (Some of the earliest meetings of SCA took place in members living rooms.)

Presently there are vacancies for regional Coordinators for the Central and Western United States and for Asia and Oceana.  You do not need to live in a specific region in order to serve as a Regional Coordinator.  This service is open to any member of the fellowship.  You do not need to be involved with ISO in any other way. 

Finding sponsors for individuals who live where there are no SCA meetings is also part of the Inreach Committee’s service to the fellowship.  Fellows often sponsor individuals who live in other countries.  The Inreach Committee puts sponsor and sponsee together and encourages them to work things out between themselves as to whether to be in contact by email, text message or texting. 

Any individual interested in providing service as either a distance sponsor, Regional Coordinator, member of the Nominating Committee or any other service within ISO can contact Tony D. Inreach Committee Chair at
sca.iso.inreach@gmail.com

 

Outreach Committee Report – Doing 12th Step Work for the Global Fellowship

The Outreach Committee handles a number of vital functions, such as our 800-number, PO Box, and email account. Ongoing projects include the sponsor-by-mail prisoner outreach. The committee’s leadership has undergone several turnovers in the past couple years, so additional projects have been on hold. 

Our highest priorities would be reaching out to professional organizations and developing our capacity to respond to media queries. We also want to place SCA ads in relevant apps and online resources, such as recovery blogs, publications, and search engines. To strengthen the outreach committee’s team, we hope to recruit the outreach/12th-step committee chairs from the various Intergroups to join our committee. Another project would be to reach out to the other S-fellowships regarding an agreement not to solicit one another’s members. Finally, we would like to contact other 12-step groups that make referrals, such as AA, and ask them to include SCA. 

We believe that these efforts could significantly impact the growth of our fellowship in the future. The Outreach Committee is always open to people who want to contribute their talents. In particular, we are seeking someone to Chair the committee. Any nominations should be sent to the Inreach Nominating Committee at sca [dot] iso [dot] inreach [at] gmail [dot] com.