Fellow World Travelers

Service in online meetings

Why do it?

“The purpose of service in ACA is to support one another in becoming responsible for our own well-being.”

“Our feelings of self-worth and adequacy start to grow as we successfully re-parent ourselves, and we begin to trust our ability to love and serve others.

"We give service just by being present to support and encourage other members of the program as they make the transition from frightened adult children to whole human beings who are capable of acting with the spontaneity of a child and the wisdom of a mature adult.

"This central concept underlies and supports all forms of service. …by uniting in service, we create a program for living which provides a sane alternative to the insanity of family dysfunction.”

(Chapter 10, BRB)

Some fellows from this Intergroup share their experience, strength, and hope with being trusted servants:

“When I started my journey in ACA I didn´t want to be seen at all. Step by step I gained trust and started sharing my experience, strength and hope. Later on I felt the wish arising in myself to learn to become an actor in my life. And I thought that sooner or later the boat must leave the harbor and sail into the sea. And the ACA meeting I attend regularly provides a safe place to practice in a loving environment. Therefore the next step for me was to take over the position as Co-Host and later as Host. This was an important step in my recovery.”

“In my first months in ACA I didn´t dare to share. I absorbed the sharing of my fellow travellers like a dry sponge. It took time until I dared to share. And even more time until my thoughts about doing service began to take shape. When I started to entertain the idea of doing service I was afraid I am not advanced enough on my recovery journey and I was afraid about having problems with technique. And then one day I started to talk with fellows doing service about may fears and about support they can give to me when I try out doing service as Co-Host and later as Host. I am so glad I made up my mind to do this step. It has given me a new perspective on ACA and my recovery.”

“In our meeting we have had no chair for quite a while. Hearing each meeting by the technical Host at the beginning that there is no chair for the meeting was a bit tiring. But one day the Host changed the strategy and started asking: “Does anyone step up to chair this meeting?” Since then each meeting another fellow can step up. This approach has reduced the barrier for fellows to be chair. And it has proven as a suitable way if no one volunteers to be chair for a longer period of time.”

“Chairing a meeting is challenging for me since it can bring up childhood fears. For this reason a safe and serene atmosphere of a meeting is most important. And it is good to know that I am not alone. The other fellows in the meeting know how I feel. They accept me just as I accept them. So I am free to decide without any hurry when I take over the position of a chair.“
“I always felt so safe in the meeting I attend. When the former chair stepped down I volunteered to be chair in future. It felt good to be able to give back some of the benefits I got from this meeting. And I learnt that it is helpful to ask everybody to step in and contribute what they are able to do. One chair for example said she couldn´t screenshare. Therefore she read the text directly from the Big Red Book. There are always solutions if we are open to find them.”

We have the following service positions available in this group:

- Chair (usu co-host)- Fellow who reads the script and "chairs" the meeting
- Host (usu host) - Fellow who shares the script on the screen for others to read

Both "Admit" attenders into room and Mute when appropriate