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| Mid-West TN. Area Service Committee P. O. Box 3454 Jackson, TN. 38303 Phone (731) 616-1333 tjbutler.na@gmail.com “ directly responsible to those they serve.” Regional Committee Member Report 2/23/08 Hello Family, On February 17, 2008 Jason F, Jesse J, Michael B, Amy M, Michael, and myself (TJ B.) attended the 2008 Car Agenda Report workshop in order to discuss the motions involved in this years’ report. We also spent a great deal of time broken into small workgroups in order to discuss certain issues within the fellowship in order to provide feedback and send it back to the WSO. These topics were as follows; The first discussion topic was “Building Strong Home Groups”. It was regarding the Building Strong Home Groups Worksheet (p. 57 Addendum A of CAR), and was asking for those members of the discussion group for any experience they may have had with this tool. The other point of interest of this discussion was “If you haven’t utilized this tool, what would convince you to do so within your home group. Some ideas were discussed within that discussion group, and a group spokesperson shared the outcomes with the other attendees. The next discussion group discussed the topic “Our Service System” regarding the Area Planning Tool. This group focused on determining peoples experiences with this tool, and how it has helped within their ASC’s. It was also It wa also asked within this discussion group was “if you haven’t used this tool, why not?” and “what would it take to convince you to use this?”. The other questions addressed within this group were basically what they thought is working in their ASC’s, and what isn’t. Some ideas were discussed within that discussion group, and a group spokesperson shared the outcomes with the other attendees. The next discussion topic was “Who is missing from our meeting, and why?” I will probably remember what was discussed in this workgroup in a little more detail than the others because I actually was a member of this group, along with Amy M., who is a member from the Never Alone group within our area. The core focus of this discussion group was basically what the title implies. We discussed what we thought may be preventing any given population that may not be making it to our recovery meetings, or fellowship. It was brought up from some members of the West TN Area that they have been running into a problem with certain treatment facilities only pointing their client’s in the direction of other fellowships. They also discussed that it has been difficult for them to deal with the flood of newcomers, who don’t appear to be motivated for recovery, but have other motives. It idea of “hugs” and “group greeters” was brought up, and discussed at length. The final outcome was basically that we as a fellowship may benefit from getting back to the basics of our program of recovery, and maybe re-ignite our compassion for the newcomer. I was very pleased with the outcome of this discussion. A group spokesperson shared the outcomes with the other attendees. “Targeted Literature” was another topic discussed within a group. This group’s focus was to discuss the fact that the WSC is producing an IP for young people, and then another for their parents. One of the hot topics that arose from this discussion was the apparent misinterpretations, or misunderstanding of what an IP is, as opposed to pamphlets that are focused towards fellowship members. A group spokesperson shared the outcomes with the other attendees. The final discussion group that I will report on is the one that focused on our least used item of literature available to our fellowship, the “Sponsorship” book. The point of interest focused on from this group was that the sales of this item are very stale. There has been an increasing decline of sales, and the WSC is attempting to identify why this is. It was brought up that there are many that felt before the release of the book, that it would be a guide, possibly like the Step Working Guide. It was pointed out that before the construction of this project, it was voiced by the fellowship that they did not want the book to be a guide, but simply a tool of enlightenment, or something receive inspiration from. A group spokesperson shared the outcomes with the other attendees. The remainder of this workshop was focused on the 12 motions contained in the 2008 CAR, which we will discuss in detail today. I am not going to list each of these motions due to the fact that the report has been available to us for some time. For anyone who does not have a copy of this report, I can make a copy of the abbreviated form of them so that you can have a copy of the motions. If I am not mistaken, there is a limited amount of copies of the CAR available here at our area, but don’t quote me on that (or do, for that matter, I don’t mind). I just feel that if I attempt to summarize the motions, and discussions that took place on paper, it may be difficult to abstain from writing opinion, rather than fact. This is an issue that we RCM’s from Mid-west TN Area have discussed. We want to bring you the facts on paper, and just voice our opinions to deter any persuasion from us in any one direction based on our personalities. This will better give those we serve the opportunity to establish their own opinions, and hopefully spark debate so that we may come up with an objective, and effective group conscience. I would like to thank you all for loving me, and allowing me to serve at this level of our service structure. I will be happy to answer any questions you may have (and probably some you don’t). Just remember that we all have r own ideas, perceptions, and opinions, and that mine may overlap into my answers to spoken Q&A’s, but I will do my best to help you to understand the facts, and not my opinions. We can get together after this committee meeting for that. In Loving and Compassionate Service, TJ B. |