SOUTHERN DELAWARE INTERGROUP NEWSLETTER JUNE 2026

Highlighted Step/Tradition/Concept for June

Step 6 — “Were entirely ready to have God remove all these defects of character.”

Were we really E-N-T-I-R-E-L-Y ready to have all these defects of character removed?  ALL of them?  That is a very tall order!  This is exactly why we use the “peeling of the onion” format for achieving this goal.  We did know one thing for certain; we were DEFINITELY ready to stop destroying our lives and if that meant learning to live without alcohol, we became ready. First, we admitted powerlessness; then believed a higher power would help us and we turned our will over to that power (most days).  Taking an inventory was a challenge for sure, admitting our faults to another human being turned out to be much easier than we thought and resulted in great relief.  Now that we have a list of what caused our maladies…we have to be willing to let them go.  Many of those defects served us well in our “hiding in plain sight” survival mode.  How do we function without our defense mechanisms?  Very well in fact!  We thrive!  We let our sponsors be our guide.  I remember the first time I tried to redirect my thoughts from thinking someone was purposely doing something to upset me.  It was an interesting exercise and required a call to my sponsor.  I had gotten so accustomed to feeling victimized that it was my immediate response, and I frequently felt hurt and abandoned.  My sponsor, using our principles, was able to show me that the other person’s actions had nothing to do with me!  WOW!  What a concept!  That freedom led me to try it again…. with another defect….and one by one…many of them are in remission.  I don’t kid myself though, they are waiting in the wings,  but most days I am willing to fly free without them.  Not to worry… there is no deadline for this task.  It is an ever-evolving process of self-discovery that fuels this trudging on the road of happy destiny.  Give it a shot, you deserve that life beyond your wildest dreams! Beth S./Humble Servant & Intergroup Chair

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

12 CONCEPTS WORLD SERVICE VIDEO

Dear A.A. Friends:

We are pleased to announce that the Twelve Concepts for World Service animated video is now available for viewing in English, French, and Spanish. The video was adapted from an A.A. Great Britain version in adherence to an Advisory Action of the General Service Conference of the U.S./Canada.

ABOUT THE VIDEO
The video is based on the A.A. pamphlet The Twelve Concepts for World Service Illustrated.

This lively tour through the Twelve Concepts offers a wonderful introduction to A.A. service, with roles and responsibilities illustrated in an easy-to-understand “whiteboard animation” style. Follow along to see how wide participation in the “inverted triangle” of the Fellowship enables us all to work together to carry the A.A. message of hope and recovery.

View the Twelve Concepts Video here
English: https://www.aa.org/twelve-concepts-for-world-service-video
French: https://www.aa.org/fr/les-douze-concepts-des-services-mondiaux-video
Spanish: https://www.aa.org/es/los-doce-conceptos-para-el-servicio-mundial-video

Your Contributions in Action
Your Seventh Tradition contributions to the General Service Board of the U.S./Canada helped fund the project to adapt this video for the U.S./Canada Fellowship – an example of the powerful impact of your “dollars in the basket.”

With all best A.A. wishes:

Misha Q.
GSO Staff, Literature

Charlie Duerr
Managing Editor

The Early Birds meeting was started on June 14, 1998, and held its first meeting at the Big Easy restaurant in Sea Colony. Theresa B and her husband Jerry moved here from Columbia MD and were looking for an early meeting. Together with Theo, John and Jean B they got the meeting started and a few years later, after a short stint at the local library, they relocated to their current home at St. Martha’s Episcopal Church. Originally the meeting was held only on Thursdays at 8am but it didn’t take long for the Tuesday morning meeting to be added. In those early days the meetings were held in a small room, and chairs were squeezed in tight as the participation grew and it would get hot. However, opening the windows not only drew in flies but occasionally a bird would fly in!

The meetings have become a favorite for sober vacationers, and some members report they chose to retire to Bethany because of those meetings! A new addition was added to the church in 2013 allowing the group much more space to grow which facilitated the increasing member numbers due to retirees. The addition also facilitated annual holiday dinners and special events.

When Covid struck and the world shut down in 2020 the group decided to move the meetings online to Zoom. These meetings became so popular that even after the church re-opened the Zoom meeting continued.

Today the Early Birds group continues to carry the message of recovery both in-person and via Zoom six days a week at 8am Monday thru Saturday.