AAWS

Alcoholics Anonymous World Services: one of two corporations of the General Service Board, it oversees the operation of GSO and publishes approved literature.

Alternate 

A service worker who supports and assists a trusted servant and is often considered “in training”, but always stands ready to step in for the primary trusted servant.

Area

All or part of a state or province that is responsible for sending a delegate to the General Service Conference. 

Area Assembly

A quarterly meeting of GSRs, DCMs and Area committee members that assembles to discuss Area affairs and to elect a delegate and area officers every two years. Please refer to the Area schedule/calendar for dates and location.

Area Committee

Body composed of the District Committee Members, the Area Committee Chairs, the Area Officers and the Delegate.

Autonomous

Our Fourth Tradition states: “Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole." This means that we have been given the courage to declare each A.A. group an individual entity, strictly reliant on its own conscience as a guide to action. However, a group ought not do anything which would injure A.A. as a whole, nor affiliate itself with anything or anybody else.

BTG

Bridging The Gap. A trusted servant that works with Correctional and Treatment centers to inform the those whom admit that they are an alcoholic to when and where there are A.A. Meetings being held within their community.

Class A Trusted Servant

A person whom is not a recovering alcoholic (Not a member of A.A.)

Class B Trusted Servant

A person whom is a recovering alcoholic (A member of A.A.)

Committee Chairs

Trusted Servants with a minimum of two years recovery that are appointed by District Chairperson to serve on District Committee, Area Chairperson to serve on Area Committee. (Al-Anon Liaison, Archives, BTG, Conferences-Conventions, CPC, Corrections, Finance, Grapevine, Intergroup Liaison A.A. Answering Service – Hot-Line, Internet, Literature, PI, Special Needs, Treatment) There are Guidelines and or Pamphlets for these service positions

Conference

The General Service Conference; this can mean either the structure involving committee members, GSRs and Delegates in an Area, or the annual meeting of Conference Delegates each April in New York City.

Conference
Approved
Literature

Pamphlets, Books, Posters, Videos and films produced by A.A. World Services that have undergone an approval process within the General Service Conference. To be modified they must be brought to the Conference.

CPC

Cooperation with the Professional Community.

CSO

Central Service Office (or intergroup) is an A.A. service office that involves partnership among groups in a community—just as A.A. groups

Themselves are partnerships of individuals. A central office is established

To carry out certain functions common to all the groups—functions which are best handled by a centralized office—and it is usually maintained, supervised, and supported by these groups in their general interest. It exists to aid the groups in their common purpose of carrying the A.A. message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Intergroups are not part of our A.A. Service Support Structure; however Intergroups are a service entity.

DCMC

District Committee Member Chairperson

DCM

District Committee Member. An experienced GSR elected by other GSRs to represent the groups of their district in Area committee meetings and to coordinate services in the district.

Delegate

A man or woman elected every other year to represent the Area at the annual General Service Conference meeting in New York City and to bring back to the Area the results of that meeting.

District

A geographical division within an Area, represented by a DCM.

District
Meeting

Meeting of the GSRs, DCMs and Standing Committee Chairs in a district.

Group
Conscience

The collective conscience of the group membership representing substantial unanimity on an issue before definitive action is taken. Another instance would be the collective conscience of a formed committee. 

Group Inventory

Questions, compiled from A.A. shared experience, may be useful in arriving at an informed group conscious; Groups will probably wish to add questions of their own.

GSB

General Service Board

GSC

General Service Conference for Delegates held at GSO usually in April each year

GSO

The General Service Office, which provides services to groups in the United States and Canada and publishes A.A. literature.

G.S.R.

General Service Representative: The group representative is the contact on record with the GSO and a voting member of the Area Assembly.

MACM

Maine Area Committee Meeting

PI

Public Information committees at the district, Area, Trustee and Conference level help carry the message by working with the media.

Post Conference Forum

A.A. trusted servants become informed of and discuss agenda items that will be presented at the upcoming General Service Conference for Delegates

Pre-Conference Forum

Area Delegate reports to Groups, Districts, Area Trusted Servants the outcome of the General Service Conference that our Delegate attended.

Region

A group of several Delegate Areas from which a Regional Trustee is elected to the General Service Board. There are six regions in the U.S and two in Canada. Area 28 is part of the East Region.

Round-Up

A committee of trusted servants from Maine  Area 28 that provide alcoholics in recovery from different locales to come together for joint Meetings, Workshops, and to hear featured speakers share their personal experience, strength, and hope for recovery from alcohol addiction and tips for sober living. (Conference-Convention)

Third Legacy

Our three legacies include Recovery, as described in the Twelve Steps, Unity, as described in the Twelve Traditions, and Service, as described in the Twelve Concepts for World Service. Our Third Legacy of Service is the sum total of all A.A. services, from a Twelfth Step call to worldwide service activities.

Third Legacy
Procedure

A special type of electoral procedure used in the election of Delegates and Trustees. It is explained in chapter one of The AAWS Service Manual.

Trustee

The title for a member of the General Service Board.

Seven trustees are non-alcoholic (Class A)

Fourteen trustees are A.A. members (Class B).