SOUTHERN DELAWARE INTERGROUP NEWSLETTER March 2026

SPRING FORWARD AND MARCH ON!

For many of us, in our drinking careers, March held a “holiday” that we celebrated like a holy day of obligation…regardless of our national origins.  Maybe, like me, you couldn’t imagine not honoring the leprechaun-laden celebration or any others that featured alcohol as the main event.  Don’t get me wrong, I still wear green and will even make “Irish Potatoes” as part of my background is, actually, Irish.  However, in my sobriety, March now holds a much deeper, more significant meaning because we use the months to highlight the Steps and Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous and March highlights my favorite …in both categories.

Tradition 3 states “The only requirement for membership is a DESIRE to stop drinking”.  For many years, this was the ONLY thing that kept me coming back because my ego, in the form of shame, wanted to take me out and keep me out. But the fellowship of A.A., in the spirit of this tradition, kept me coming back, while my shame tried to kill me, during a six-year recurring series of relapses. If Tradition 3 had stated “Members of alcoholics anonymous must not drink or their membership will be revoked” I would not be here today…and I’m certain millions of others around the world could share similar stories.   Don’t get me wrong…sobriety is the goal, but it takes some of us longer to realize it truly is the “easier softer way” of living. Today sobriety is the number one priority, and I start each day protecting that precious gift.

Step 3 suggests “Turning our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him”.   It is in this step we learn to shut down the negative rhetoric in our alcoholic brains and offer our struggles to a higher power for guidance.  That higher power has lifted this alcoholic out of a pit of despair and hopelessness and opened up a world of possibilities, beyond my wildest dreams, just as the promises…. have promised!

If you have a problem with alcohol, and have a DESIRE to stop drinking, you’ve come to the right place.  Come join us, so we can show you how to make the “promises” a reality in your life.   Beth S your Intergroup Chair and Humble Servant

Highlighted Step/Tradition/Concept for March

Step 3: “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God as we understood him.”

Practicing Step Three is like the opening of a door which to all appearances is still closed and locked. All we need is a key and the will to swing the door open. There is only one key, and it is called willingness. Once unlocked by willingness, the door opens almost of itself, and looking through it, we shall see a pathway beside, which is an inscription. It reads, “This is the way to a faith that works.” In the first two Steps, we were engaged in reflection. We saw that we were powerless over alcohol, but we also perceived that faith of some kind, if only in A.A. itself, is possible to anyone. These conclusions did not require action; they required acceptance. — Reprinted from The Twelve and Twelve – (page 34), with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Tradition 3: “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.”

This tradition is packed with meaning. For A.A. is really saying to every serious drinker, “You are an A.A. member if you say so. You can declare yourself in; nobody can keep you out. No matter who you are, no matter how low you’ve gone, no matter how grave your emotional complications—even your crimes—we still can’t deny you A.A. We don’t want to keep you out. We are not a bit afraid you’ll harm us, never mind how twisted or violent you may be. We just want to be sure that you get the same great chance for sobriety that we’ve had. So you’re an A.A. member the minute you declare yourself.” Reprinted from The Twelve and Twelve – page 139, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Concept 3: “To ensure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A.— the Conference, the General Service Board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executives—with a traditional “Right of Decision.” Reprinted from A.A. Service Manual/Twelve Concepts for World Services (with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc)

Writing Workshops for A.A.’s New Pamphlets

Following two Advisory Actions of the 74th General Service Conference (2024), the trustees’ Literature Committee of Alcoholics Anonymous has opened calls for stories for two pamphlets: “A pamphlet on the Asian and Asian American alcoholic” and “A pamphlet on the transgender alcoholic.”

Schedule of Remaining Virtual Workshops is as follows (all workshops will be identical):

• Saturday, March 7th, 11 AM PST/2 PM EST

Zoom ID: 842 434 92371, Password: 705297 (same Zoom ID for all workshops)

Dear Fellow trusted servants,

After many significant years of writing, rewriting, editing and discussion, Area 12 has approved — with unanimous consensus — our updated bylaws at the February 14, 2026, Area Assembly. 

These bylaws will help guide how we operate as a service body and protect the Fellowship we serve.

This update has been more than six years in the making, with input from many trusted servants. The result is a clear, modern update that better reflects how Area 12 actually functions today.

This correspondence is to answer the question “What Are the Most Important Changes”? Simply stated, the proposed bylaws:

Clarify roles and responsibilities: Officer, committee, and service roles are easier to understand and better defined.

We now recognize hybrid and online participation: The bylaws now clearly allow electronic and hybrid attendance, quorum, notice, and voting — matching how we already meet.

We have defined the Board of Directors: The board’s role is clearly described and limited. The Area Assembly remains the final authority.

We have created an advisory Service Committee: Past Delegates may serve in an advisory role only, offering experience and historical perspective — no governing authority.

These updated bylaws strengthen financial oversight language: Financial responsibilities and reimbursements are clarified and tied to existing financial guidelines.

The Area has refined dissolution language: If Area 12 were ever to dissolve, remaining assets would stay within the A.A. service structure

What Has Not Changed?:Just as important, these bylaws do not change: our purpose, our self-supporting nature (7th Tradition), how or from whom Area 12 receives contribution, and our commitment to the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Concepts.
DCM’s are advised to make the Bylaws page available to their GSRs and others interested in service.  

visit:  https://delawareaa.org/area12bylaws.html

Thank you all for your service to our beloved Fellowship.

In Service,
Buck

Southern Delaware Intergroup Monthly Meeting — Join us Thursday March 5th @  6 pm via Zoom. Meeting ID: 987-8110-5001, 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.