Greetings from District 13! We meet on the 2nd Saturday of each month at 10:00 AM. We are in need of a Bridge-the-Gap Chair, CPC/PI Chair, and a Young People Chair. If you are interested and available to serve in either of these positions, join us so you can be elected! Our next meeting is on Saturday, April 10, 2021. For the foreseeable future we will be meeting online via Zoom. Feel free to join through video or phone. Our Meeting ID is: 719-543-888 on the Zoom app or you can dial in: 1-346-248-7799, Access Code: 719-543-888.
Jeff celebrated 5 years in February, and Renee celebrated 2 years in March. Congratulations!
District 13 had the opportunity to discuss General Service Conference Agenda item VI.U: Consider if proposed agenda items for plain language, simplified language, accessible translations and large print versions of the book Alcoholics Anonymous, as well as workbooks to help study the program of Alcoholics Anonymous, can be addressed with a common solution. District 13
discussed the issue and unanimously agreed that Alcoholics Anonymous should be exploring possible solutions that could help make our message more accessible and relatable. Alcoholics Anonymous membership has plateaued at approximately two million members since the 1990s. Our District feels this lack of growth may be a consequence of taking no action on requests to accommodate lower literacy levels, and ignoring the need to evolve despite an increasing awareness of diversity in our membership. Understanding the historical value of the Big Book and the resistance to change it, several GSRs supported the idea of creating companion materials or a new book with more simple, modern, and inclusive language as an alternative. Others felt a separate book would create more division in our fellowship and expressed that it was time to address and/or take responsibility for our reluctance to alter problematic language in our basic text. Fear of change is natural for the alcoholic, however, our founders consistently recognized the need to grow and change with the times. Bill W. encouraged us to be mindful that “content or style that might offend or alienate those who are not familiar with the program should be carefully eliminated.” Bob S. set a precedent for accompanying materials, which ensured the A.A. message would reach a wider demographic of alcoholics. Tradition Five states that our primary purpose is to carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. If the still suffering alcoholic is telling us our program is inaccessible or exclusive, why are we taking no
action? We enthusiastically support continued efforts to satisfy the need for accessibility and relatability of the book, Alcoholics Anonymous.
I am also starting to visit groups virtually to encourage GSRs and/or Group Contacts to attend monthly District meetings and quarterly Area Assemblies.
Please consider including District 13 when your group makes quarterly distributions. It is through your generous contributions that we are able to provide services to our local A.A. community. Checks can be made out to District 13, and mailed to P.O. Box 11134, Albuquerque, NM 87112. To contribute digitally, follow this link: https://venmo.com/?txn=pay&audience=private&recipients=district-13, or send contribution in Venmo to user: district-13.
We hope to see you at our next virtual District meeting in April. Your participation and your vote are very important and we appreciate your willingness to serve.
In love & service,
Laura S.
DCM, District 13
district13@dev.aa-nia.org