A.A. concept · recovery put into action
Service
In A.A., service covers the work that helps reach an alcoholic who still suffers and keeps that help available—from direct person-to-person contact to the shared services of the Fellowship.
The basic purpose
Carry the message, then make carrying it possible.
A.A.’s service literature treats a simple act of help and an organized service office as points on the same continuum. The scale changes; the purpose does not.
The general service structure
Group conscience travels outward; shared experience travels back.
The Service Manual presents the groups as the foundation of an upside-down structure—not as the lowest rank in a chain of command.
A.A. groups
Members choose a general service representative and form a group conscience.
Districts
Representatives from nearby groups share concerns and experience.
Areas
Area assemblies select a delegate and consider Fellowship-wide matters.
General Service Conference
The groups’ collective voice meets the trustees and service organizations.
Service has a work surface.
“Participating in A.A.” grounds service in practical jobs. These actions are not status markers; they are ways members keep a group available and connect help with the person seeking it.
Open the room
Arrange a meeting place, set up, welcome people, and leave the space ready for the next meeting.
Answer the contact
Respond to inquiries, take a Twelfth Step call, or help a newcomer locate a meeting.
Make information available
Keep approved literature accessible and provide accurate information about what A.A. does and does not do.
Share responsibility
Rotate group jobs so the work is done without turning service into personal authority.
Connect beyond the group
Participate in intergroup, district, area, corrections, treatment, or public-information service.
Support common needs
Voluntary contributions help the group and wider service entities carry out work a single member cannot do alone.
A.A.’s Third Legacy
Service joins recovery and unity.
A.A. names Service alongside Recovery and Unity as one of its three legacies. The service structure exists to serve the groups and their primary purpose—not to govern individual members.
Members carry what they have learned to another alcoholic.
Groups cooperate around a common purpose while remaining autonomous in other matters.
Responsibility, communication, and voluntary support keep the message available.