An Introduction to Service (The Third Legacy)

A.A.’s Legacy of Service

written by A.A. co-founder Bill W., 1951

“Our Twelfth Step—carrying the message—is the basic service that the A.A. Fellowship gives; this is our principal aim and the main reason for our existence. Therefore, A.A. is more than a set of principles; it is a society of alcoholics in action. We must carry the message, else we ourselves can wither and those who haven’t been given the truth may die.

“Hence, an A.A. service is anything whatever that helps us to reach a fellow sufferer—ranging all the way from the Twelfth Step itself to a ten-cent phone call and a cup of coffee, and to A.A.’s General Service Office for national and international action. The sum total of all these services is our Third Legacy of Service.

“Services include meeting places, hospital cooperation, and intergroup offices; they mean pamphlets, books, and good publicity of almost every description. They call for committees, delegates, trustees, and conferences. And, not to be forgotten, they need voluntary money contributions from within the Fellowship.

“These services, whether performed by individuals, groups, areas, or A.A. as a whole, are utterly vital to our existence and growth. Nor can we make A.A. more simple by abolishing such services. We would only be asking for complication and confusion.”

Most A.A. members are primarily interested in their groups, in their own sobriety, and in helping other drunks one-on-one. And that is as it should be. While the work of general service has precisely the same objective—carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers—the connection is not always direct or obvious. Some stimulators are usually needed to get the attention of A.A. members—to show them that service can add a rich dimension to their sober lives and Twelfth Step work, and that their participation is vital to the future of A.A. –reprinted from The A.A. Service Manual, page S23,
with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

What is “General Service”?

Office, Conference, and Structure

Once upon a time, A.A.’s main service office was called the Foundation Headquarters. Then the name was changed to the General Service Office. When responsibility for running A.A. was turned over to its members, we needed a way to direct the operations of the General Service Office (G.S.O.). Hence, the General Service Conference.

So how do A.A. members “run” A.A.? How do the groups make their voices heard on overall A.A. policies? In order for A.A. to run itself, we have to have a system for finding out how A.A. as a whole feels about its world affairs, and how it wants to operate:

Each A.A. group has its say in worldwide A.A. affairs through its general service representative (G.S.R.)—a member of the group elected by the group members. If a group does not have a good G.S.R., it is isolated from the rest of the Fellowship. It does not participate in the group conscience of A.A. as a whole.

For every district (of about ten groups or so, but there may be many more; District 24 is composed of over 40 groups), the G.S.R.s elect a district committee member (D.C.M.). Good D.C.M.s hold district committee meetings with their G.S.R.s regularly.

Every group in an area can send its G.S.R. to its area assembly. The D.C.M.s are there, too, making up the area committee—a sort of steering committee for the assembly. Each group sends its own ideas or problems to the assembly, so other groups can share their experience and maybe help. From the assembly, each G.S.R. can take back to the group the experience of other groups.

Every area elects a delegate to go to the General Service Conference in New York each April. The Conference represents a vast pool of A.A. experience gathered for decades from A.A.s all over the world. Every A.A. group can share its experience with other groups through its area delegate to the Conference.

The 93 elected area delegates make up over two-thirds of the Conference, but there are others at the annual Conference session, too: the 21 trustees of A.A.’s General Service Board; the directors of A.A. World Services, Inc. (the legal entity responsible for the business of the General Service Office) and the A.A. staff members at G.S.O.; and the directors of The A.A. Grapevine, Inc., as well as the A.A. staff of the magazine.

Every A.A. group has a voice at the Conference if it has an active G.S.R.!

General Service Activities

At the Conference, various committees address specific aspects of A.A.’s interaction with the rest of the world: through literature, public media and information, correctional and treatment facilities, professionals (such as doctors, lawyers, and clergy) who come in contact with alcoholics, local A.A. offices (known as central offices or intergroups), etc. Not surprisingly, many of these same activities are conducted on a smaller scale to more effectively and appropriately respond to the needs within a community—thus the standing committees of areas and districts. These standing committees discuss, plan, and carry out their related service activities, relying on the direction and participation of the A.A. groups they serve.

Southern Minnesota has been designated as Area 36 of the General Service Conference. District 24 is one of the many districts that make up Area 36. Within our district, we have formed several standing committees which are responsible for the local organization and function of A.A.’s service activities: Cooperation with the Professional Community, Correctional Facilities, Public Information, and Treatment Facilities. Additionally, we support communication and participation through our newsletter and website. The chairpersons of these committees are also members of the corresponding Area 36 standing committees (e.g., the District 24 Treatment Facilities Committee Chair is a member of the Area 36 Treatment Facilities Committee).


G.S.R.—General Service Representative

“May Be the Most Important Job in A.A.”

“The general service representative has the job of linking his or her group with A.A. as a whole. The G.S.R. represents the voice of the group conscience, reporting the group’s thoughts to the district committee member and to the delegate, who passes them on to the Conference. This communication is a two-way street, making the G.S.R. responsible for bringing back to the group Conference Actions that affect A.A. unity, health, and growth. Only when a G.S.R. keeps the group informed, and communicates the group conscience, can the Conference truly act for A.A. as a whole.

“FINANCIAL SUPPORT: Current experience indicates that many groups provide financial support for their general service representatives to attend service functions.”

–The A.A. Service Manual, page S26

Essential Reading for the G.S.R.

Additional G.S.R. Resources


What is an Intergroup (Central Office) and What Does It Do?

The Local A.A. Service Office

An Intergroup or Central office is a vital A.A. service office that represents a partnership among groups in a community—just as A.A. groups themselves are a partnership of individuals. These offices are established to carry out common functions that are best handled by a centralized office, and it is usually maintained, supervised, and supported by these groups for their common interest. The office exists to aid the groups in carrying the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Methods and goals vary from one area to another, but their essential services are generally the same.

Your intergroup is often where the still-suffering alcoholic first calls or shows up for A.A. help.

Although local intergroups operate independently of A.A.’s worldwide service structure, they are a vital part of the Fellowship. In most areas, any group that so wishes can belong to the local intergroup, which is supported by contributions from its member groups. These contributions are purely voluntary.

Most intergroups function with only one or two paid workers and so rely heavily on A.A. volunteers for help. Many A.A.s have found that serving at intergroup—answering calls from alcoholics and doing what else needs to be done—greatly enriches their sobriety and broadens their circle of friends.

The Greater Minneapolis Intergroup is one of the most well-established local A.A. service offices throughout the world. We are very fortunate. Minneapolis Intergroup provides the following Vital Services to all A.A. groups and their members:

  • Answer Phones 24 Hours a Day
  • Information & A.A. Meeting Location Calls
  • A.A. 12-Step Calls
  • A.A. Literature—English, Spanish, non-English Languages
  • A.A. Grapevine Publications
  • A.A. Orientation Meetings
  • A.A. Group Evening Phone Answering
  • MIRUS Newsletter ... the Shared Voice of IG
  • Public Information
  • Special Events
  • Meeting Directories
  • Daytime Office Volunteers
  • Night Owl/Early Bird Phone Committee
  • Cooperation with Outside Agencies
  • Web Site Meetings schedule updated weekly


The Twelve Concepts for World Service

(short form)

  1. Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience or our whole Fellowship.
  2. The General Service Conference of A.A. has become, for nearly every practical purpose, the active voice and the effective conscience of our whole Society in its world affairs.
  3. To insure 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.”
  4. At all responsible levels, we ought to maintain a traditional “Right of Participation,” allowing a voting representation in reasonable proportion to the responsibility that each must discharge.
  5. Throughout our structure, a traditional “Right of Appeal” ought to prevail, so that minority opinion will be heard and personal grievances receive careful consideration.
  6. The conference recognizes that the chief initiative and active responsibility in most world service matters should be exercised by the trustee members of the Conference acting as the General Service Board.
  7. The Charter and Bylaws of the General Service Board are legal instruments, empowering the trustees to manage and conduct world service affairs. The Conference Charter is not a legal document; it relies upon tradition and the A.A. purse for final effectiveness.
  8. The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of overall policy and finance. They have custodial oversight of the separately incorporated and constantly active services, exercising this through their ability to elect all the directors of these entities.
  9. Good service leadership at all levels is indispensable for our future functioning and safety. Primary world leadership, once exercised by the founders, must necessarily be assumed by the trustees.
  10. Every service responsibility should be matched by an equal service authority, with the scope of such authority well defined.
  11. The trustees should always have the best possible committees, corporate service directors, executives, staffs, and consultants. Composition, qualifications, induction procedures, and rights and duties will always be matters of serious concern.
  12. The Conference shall observe the spirit of A.A. 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, by substantial unanimity; that its actions never be personally punitive nor an incitement to public controversy; that it never perform acts of government, and that, like the Society it serves, it will always remain democratic in thought and action.

The “Twelve Concepts for World Service” were written by A.A. co-founder Bill W. in 1962. A “short form” of the Concepts was approved by the 1971 General Service Conference for inclusion in The A.A. Service Manual.

View/Download the Concepts Checklist