June 2024 Newsletter

June is a special month as it brings Founders’ Day 2024 on June 7, 8 and 9 – live and in-person at Akron University. The annual gathering is always held on the weekend closest to June 10, which marks the day in 1935 when A.A. co-founder Dr. Bob had his last drink in Akron, Ohio.

For more information visit: Founders’ Day 2024 (foundersday.org) and for specific program events visit: Events Schedule – Founders’ Day 2024 (foundersday.org).

During this June month, let’s take a look at Step 6, Tradition 6 and Concept 6.

Step 6 — “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.” This is the step that separates the men from the boys. So declares a well-loved clergyman who happens to one of A.A.’s greatest friends. He goes on to explain that any person capable of enough willingness and honesty to try repeatedly Step Six on all his faults – without any reservation whatever- has indeed come a long way spiritually and is therefore entitled to be called a man who is sincerely trying to grow in the image a likeness of his own creator. — Reprinted from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions© (page 63), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Tradition 6 — “An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance, or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.” The moment that we saw we had an answer for alcoholism, it was reasonable (or so it seemed at the time), for us to feel like we might have the answer to a lot of other things. The A.A. group, many thought, could go into business, might finance any enterprise whatever in the total field of alcoholism. In fact, we felt duty-bound to throw the whole weight of the A.A. name behind any meritorious cause. — Reprinted from Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions© (page 156), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Concept 6 — “On behalf of A.A. as a whole, our General Service Conference has the principal responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by the Trustee members of the Conference when they act among themselves as the General Service Board of Alcoholics Anonymous.” Just as the A.A. groups find themselves unable to act decisively respecting world service affairs unless they delegate a great amount of active authority and responsibility to their Conference, so must the Conference in turn delegate a liberal administrative authority to the General Service Board, in order that its Trustees may act freely and effectively in the absence of the Conference itself. Bill W. makes the point that although “our objective is always a spiritual one” nevertheless our world service is a “large business operation”. — Reprinted from The A.A. Service Manual combined with Twelve Concepts, 2021-2023 Edition (page c20) , with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Southern Delaware Intergroup Monthly Meeting — Join us on Thursday June  6 at 6PM via Zoom. Meeting ID: 987-8810-5001, Passcode: 914711. Our intergroup is a resource for 12-Step work and Alcoholics Anonymous information in Southern Delaware. Please consider volunteering for a service opportunity, which includes most Intergroup committees. For more information about what each Committee does, see our Service Committees page and plan to attend our next intergroup meeting.

Bash at the Beach – Save the Date of September 15^th! Another year of food, fellowship, and fun. More info to come.

For District Meeting Times and Dates visit: Events – Southern Delaware Intergroup (sussexaa.org)

Delaware Area 12 Convention
See Flyer Below For New Place and New Time!

Organizers are seeking volunteers to lead (small room) breakout sessions. The sessions are 75 minutes and will be held before and/or after the main room events. Some suggested topics are: The Three Legacies, Service Sponsorship, Yoga, Meditation, Safety in A.A., The Home Group, Committees, Archives/History. http://delawareaa.org/

DEYPAA Pancake Breakfast!

The Delaware Committee of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous (DEYPAA) is composed of AA members, directly responsible to the young alcoholics of the three counties of Delaware (New Castle, Kent and Sussex). https://www.deypaa.org/

Make plans to attend the 2025 A.A. International Convention scheduled in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada! An International A.A. Convention is held every five years and this year marks the 90^th anniversary of the beginning of our fellowships founding and is titled “90 Years – Language of the Heart. More information will be published in the coming months in this newsletter. Meanwhile, here is a glimpse:

Vancouver will welcome A.A. members from around the world for the 2025 International Convention. The International Convention will take place from July 3 – 6, 2025, at the Vancouver Convention Centre and BC Place Stadium. As the Convention approaches, AA will update the website with registration information. Let’s celebrate sobriety together in Vancouver in 2025! For more information, go to: https://www.aa.org/international-convention

Want to be part of this newsletter? We would love to hear from you! We’re always interested in receiving short articles and experiences written by our A.A. members for possible publication. All submissions are subject to review and editing. Send submissions to support@sussexaa.org. Below are some ideas.

• How you worked a specific step.
• A favorite A.A. slogan and how it has helped you.
• Something your sponsor said that impacted you.

Subscribing to this Newsletter via e-mail is very easy. Simply email “subscribe” to support@sussexaa.org or sign up online and you will receive the monthly email on the 1^st of each month.