District 13 Meeting Minutes – 11/19/2019

Next District Meeting 12/17/2019

In Attendance: Adam K, Daniel C, Debbie B, Dwight J, George M, Jim W, Joe B, John M, John S, Judy M, Mark C, Mark M, Mike C, Mike O, Paul S, Phil M, Sandi S, Scott H, Sheilah S, Steve B, Terry H, Terry O, Troy C, Bob R, Calvin H, Mike R, Jimmy P, Matt S, Lynn G, Matthew J.

Troy C Opened the District Meeting and Troy C. Chaired the Meeting. Troy C. opened the meeting with a quiet time followed by the Serenity Prayer and Responsibility Statement.

Paul read Traditions 1, 2, 9 and 12.

1. Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon AA Unity.

2. For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority – a loving God as He may express himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

9. A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards directly responsible to those they serve.

12. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Concepts 1 and 12 were read by George M.

1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for AA World Service should always reside in the collective conscience of our fellowship.

12. The conference shall observe the spirit of the AA tradition taking care that it never becomes the seat of perilous wealth or power; that sufficient operating funds and reserve be its prudent financial principle; that it place none of its members in a position of unqualified authority over others; that it reach all important decisions by discussion, vote, and whenever possible substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government; that, like the society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.

Troy C. Introductions were made and the sign in sheet was passed.

Troy C. went over the agenda. John motioned, Terry seconded, passed.

REPORTS:

Treasurer’s Report – Dan C.

• Collected $825.10. Paid out $90.79. Have a surplus in funds totaling $2,737.81.

• Troy motioned to make distributions to Chicago and New York, $700 and $500 respectively.

January 25^th CASA Assembly: Troy C.

• Next meeting will be December 14^th at 8 am at Alexian. Insurance was brought up to Troy, it was mentioned that Brian K will be handling this. Paul confirmed that we do have an insurance that covers all events in District 13.

• Terry and Ted have volunteered to handle the food.

Finance Committee – Todd

• Not in attendance tonight

Correctional Facilities Committee – Phil M.

• National Corrections Conference Nov 1-3^rd in Houston. Phil attended, and will be getting a report together for us.

• Stateville was canceled this past Saturday due to a lockdown at the facility. Next meeting will be the first Saturday in December.

• Sheridan meeting had about 8 guys. Looking to move their meeting to the transitional building in hopes to get more guys as they are on their way out.

• DuPage is also going well. 12-14 guys attend regularly.

• John brought Phil a newcomer packet, and Phil will contact Adam the Corrections Chair, in hopes to start bringing these into the facilities.

Directory and Literature Committee – Judy M.

• Have a new meeting, called the Heartland Group, at Heartland Bible Church. This is a step meeting and it will be added to the new directories.

• Judy participated in the meeting via Zoom.

• Two books being reviewed, Practicing the Here and Now, Being Intentional with Step 11. Also reviewed the ACOA Red Book, which is not an AA book, so it will not be considered.

• Confirmed that when a book is reviewed, it goes to CASO and they make the final decision.

Workshop Committee – Brian K.

• Not in Attendance tonight

• Debbie gave feedback on the workshop, said it went well. Dove into barriers regarding meditation and had a nice long guided meditation. Had 86 people in attendance.

• Lynn said they got back the surveys, and they were 99.9% positive. Looking at another workshop tentatively slated for March.

Public Information Committee/ Cooperation with Professional Community Committee – John M.

• Moved their meeting to Saturday Nov 9^th. Megan M volunteered to be the alternate chair for CPC. Discussed preparations for the CPCI workshop, had 25 participants.

• Rebecca has been working on a pamphlet project, in order to get more information about AA out to those that are looking for it. Includes a lot of different packets to cater to all kinds of alcoholics.

AA Grapevine Committee – John

• Attended the meeting via video conferencing, which worked out well.

• About 25 years ago circulation was around 100,000. Today it is roughly at 50,000, with only 3,000 in the Cook County area. John brought some copies of subscription sheets and asked us to distribute these at our meetings. Also, if anyone has old subscriptions, John would like to bring them to Share

• Troy will email us the full minutes from their meeting.

Hospitals and Treatment Facilities Committee. – Mike R.

• There is an AA meeting every day at Share. There are several groups that bring meetings to share. Also, looking at a Bridging the Gap scenario, driving people to sober houses, or to outpatients’ programs when they are released. Mike asked us to ask our meetings for volunteers to help with this. Call Mike at 847-846-6456 if you’d like to help.

• Treatment Centers of Illinois has been in contact about speakers every so often. Also have been in contact with Familia and is looking for speakers for the last Sunday of the month, preferably those that have had a DUI.

Committee on Conferences – Steve B

• Had their meeting Nov 13^th. Updated ACO amounts and ended up with a loss. Planning committee being formed for the 2020 ACO. May discuss changing the venue. Are looking for 1 volunteer from each district to join the committee.

• Have a workshop committee in place that is looking to reach out to all the DCM’s regarding what type of workshops are being held and would like to get these put on the Chicago calendar.

• The Illinois State Conference is moving forward. See flyer for more details.

• GSR workshop went off without a hitch. Took up about 3 hours.

Special Needs Committee – Mike M.

• Not in Attendance tonight

Website Administrator – Nazar Z

• Nazar has a new email address, which should make it easier to contact him going forward. Still looking for an alternate for this position.

Secretary’s Report – Sandi S.

• Updated the Sign in Sheet and the minutes with all the new people and things!

• Will put together an easy step-by-step on how to register as GSR.

District Chair Report – Troy C.

• Phone Committee is looking for help and so is the “Chat Now”

• The GSR experience was awesome, despite the low attendance. Troy apologized for not getting the flyers out.

• Troy will be emailing us a copy of a new service work pamphlet to be distributed.

• Budget was passed almost unanimously.

• Looking for a meeting to help man the hospitality room at the Illinois State Conference in August of 2020.

Alternate District Chair Report – Vacant

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New Business

• Next meeting is December 17^th. All flyers have been put on ChicagoAA.org.

Old Business

• N/A

Motion to Close - Troy

Meeting Adjourned with the Seventh Tradition and The Lord’s Prayer.