Los Angeles Intergroup is promoting a regular monthly get-together, complete with the accompanying flyer. Others may want to try something similar, and visitors might want to attend when in town.
Day of Recovery in Chicago
“Acceptance Is the Answer” is the theme this year for Chicago Intergroup’s annual day of recovery on Saturday, November 12, 2016.
It will be held from 9 to 5 at Unity in Chicago, 1925 W. Thome Avenue, with Noah B.E. Church as Keynote Speaker.
Besides Noah Church (pictured), author of “WACK: Addicted to Internet Porn,” there will be speakers, workshops and fellowship. Lunch is included. The suggested donation is $25 pre-sale, or $30 at the door.
The event is open to members of all S-fellowships and supportive partners.
Los Angeles workshop coming up
L.A. Intergroup’s next workshop is on the Tool of Writing, with an emphasis on Journaling, Saturday, October 8th, 2016 from 9:30 a.m.., to 12:30 p.m.., in Art Room #2 at Plummer Park, 7377 Santa Monica Blvd., in the City of West Hollywood. Want to do accurate Tenth Step inventories? Want to release some of those pent-up feelings, and express yourself in a healthy way?
To download a flier or for more information, visit http://scalosangeles.org/content/workshops
A peek at the Fiduciary Committee
Hi, I’m John F., chair of the Fiduciary Committee of the International Service Organization. We run the “back office” side of SCA internationally. If you’re the kind of detail-oriented person who likes working on projects, you’ll find a home here.
Most of our service opportunities are tied to specific geography. So, for example, if you want to take the mail from our Post Office box and forward it to the right person, you need to be able to get to Old Chelsea Station in New York City on a regular basis. That’s where the box is located.
Other positions can be filled from anywhere, in our “virtual office”. For instance, we need someone to maintain the electronic “masters” of all our literature. These are stored as editable files, then converted to PDFs for printing. This work can be hectic at times, in case new literature is being published for the first time, but for the most part, our literature doesn’t change much (if at all) from year to year, so this is more a job of stewardship.
According to the bylaws:
The Fiduciary Committee is responsible for the daily business of ISO. It maintains ISO’s financial records and is responsible for its budget and for its bank accounts, whose signatories are designated by ISO. It publishes and distributes ISO-approved SCA literature in a timely manner. It manages literature sales and inventory. It handles legal records, including copyrights of ISO literature. It maintains the ISO Archives. It produces minutes of ISO and Executive Committee meetings. One year’s membership in SCA is suggested for joining the Fiduciary Committee.
Here’s a list of what kinds of service we do. One of the advantages of our committee system is that you don’t need to make a long-term commitment. And if only a small part of a task interests you, sign up for that.
- Fiduciary chair. This is a two-year commitment, and it’s expected that you have previous service at the international level. My term ends in 2018, so if you’re interested, start now!
- Treasurer. The requirement for this job is that you must be a U.S. citizen (or green card holder) and reside in the United States. Our current treasurer, Russell P., has been doing an excellent job for some time now, but he can always use help, and because of the tradition of rotation of service, it would be good to have a backup in training.
- Literature Distribution. This is currently a one-person operation based out of Los Angeles. The tasks include shipment of orders in a timely manner, making sure we have enough stock on hand, contacting a printer for more copies if we run low, and preparing a report on all this on a regular (quarterly) basis. If you’re in the L.A. area and want to help, let us know.
- Electronic masters. As mentioned above, this task can be done from anywhere. It involves proofreading our existing literature and preparing masters when new literature is approved by the International Service Organization’s annual conference. Those masters are sent to the chosen printer when the Literature Distribution operation determines that we have run low.
- Ebook sales. The electronic masters are also posted to the three bookstores we use as electronic sales channels: Amazon, Google Books and Apple iTunes. Each bookstore has its own peculiarities that require occasional attention. For the most part, this is purely financial, and that aspect is handled by the treasurer. But if new literature needs to be posted or something goes wrong, we need someone to step in.
- Website maintenance. We rarely make changes in our site except for making changes to the International Meeting List. This task can be done from anywhere and involves perhaps an hour a month.
- Website redesign. We are in the midst of a long-term project to redesign our website from the ground up. Marty S. is handling that aspect but could always use a hand.
- Email address maintenance. We have addresses at sca-recovery.org (like mine, “fiduciary”) that forward to personal addresses. Those change when the list of officers changes, normally once a year. This is a low-work task that can be done anywhere.
- Copyright. When we publish new literature, we register it with the U.S. Copyright Office. We also use one of our ISBN numbers for each new work, and that has to be tracked.
- Incorporation. There are several tasks currently being carried out to protect the International Service Organization through incorporation in Delaware. Just ask.
- Privacy. We have drafted a privacy policy and could use legal advice on how best to proceed.
- Archive. We have a small archive based in New York City and would love to have a volunteer to be its steward.
- Recording Secretary. This is a one-off position for the annual conference of the International Service Organization, which will be held next year in Los Angeles. It involves attending the conference, taking notes in real time, and typing up the Minutes of the conference in a timely manner.
- Phone Moderator. Another one-off position for the annual conference. Like the Recording Secretary, the Phone Moderator is usually appointed by the host committee — in this case, Los Angeles Intergroup. It involves monitoring those who call in to the annual meeting (because they cannot physically attend). It’s important to control the volume levels, make sure the chair knows if someone wants to speak, and keep track of who is present virtually for voting purposes.
If you’re interested in any of these positions, contact me or Tony D., chair of the Inreach Committee, which is responsible for recruiting.
John F., fiduciary chair, ISO
Preregistration open for DC fall retreat
The 2016 DC SCA Fall Retreat will be held Sept. 23-25 at the beautiful Claymont Mansion in historic Charles Town, WV. The retreat theme is “Relationships 102: Making the Most of Them!” While full details are still pending, preregistration is now open. Book early to get the best room selection.
New York retreat nearly sold out
The Summer SCA New York Retreat will be held on Friday, September 9th through Sunday, September 11th.
This retreat will focus on the “Tools of Recovery.” It will deepen our understanding and relationship to the suggested tools of the program. The three workshops at the summer retreat will focus on the following tools of the program: Meetings, The Telephone, Sponsorship, Service, A Sexual Recovery Plan & Abstention.
SCA New York offers two retreats each year: winter and summer. Each retreat is two nights and three days (Friday to Sunday) at the Incarnation Center, a tranquil retreat facility in the woods in Ivoryton, CT. The retreats are reasonably priced at $225 and are subsidized by SCA NY fundraisers, and a scholarship fund supported by your generous donations.
What to expect on the retreat: fellowship; games; laughter; free time; nature walks; a creativity salon; moments of quiet reflection; meetings and workshops focused on the steps and recovery tools; swimming in the lake during summer and sledding and fires during the winter; and an opportunity to strengthen program friendships and develop new ones. All workshops, meetings, and scheduled events are optional.
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
Sunday Funday and other Los Angeles news
Help Wanted!!!
After several years of serivce Alexander T. has resigned as the editor of the SCANNERONLINE blog.
The SCANNERONLINE is an important and underutilized vehicle for fellows in our program to share their experience, strenth and hope. The SCANNERONLINE also serves as a vehicle for the various intergroups to share notes about what is happening within their particular Intergroup. It is important to keep this vehicle alive.
For the time being I will serve as a focal point where folks can send information to be uploaded. Send information to sca.iso.inreach@gmail.com. In the header write for the SCANNERONLINE.
Los Angeles is Carrying the Message to Professionals
SCA Los Angeles is doing outreach to mental health and related professionals. See the attached flyer for more info.