August 2026 Bulletin
Step 8
Step 7: Made a list of all persons we had harmed, and became willing to make amends to them all.
What are the most important relationships you destroyed or damaged because of your addictive behaviors?
Do you owe anyone an apology for your non-addiction related behavior? Should they be on your list?
Have you pictured making amends to anyone over the years? Who was it? What did it look like?
Who do you most fear making amends to? Do you look forward to making amends to anyone?
Will I be harming the person or others further by making amends?
What is your absolute worst fear regarding making amends? How likely is that to occur? What are your best expectations? How likely are they?
How can I let go of these expectations and realize I am powerless over the response?
How is making amends different from just saying you are sorry?
Proposed Amendment to the Bylaws
This is a proposed Amendment. It is for you to take to your homegroups and for them to decide if they want to pass it or not. A motion may or may not be made at the August 31, 2026 Service Board Meeting to make the Amendment.
Proposed Amendment to Article XI: Prudent Reserve of the Bylaws:
The article currently says: “The Service Board is responsible for maintaining a Prudent Reserve, which consists of one-half of its annual operating expenses (i.e., the total expenses for the previous fiscal year less the expenses for the Big Deep South Convention and Central Office Inventory purchases).
The proposed change is: “The Service Board is responsible for maintaining a Prudent Reserve, which consists of six to nine months of its annual operating expenses (i.e., the total expenses for the previous fiscal year less the expenses for the Big Deep South Convention and Central Office Inventory purchases).
Prudent Reserve: Our current prudent reserve is $32,610. If we have more money we are supposed to distribute it to other entities. With the proposed change our prudent reserve could fluctuate between $32,610-$48,915.
Reason for the Amendment: "If you remember, the Big Deep South in the three previous years made a total of approximately $40,000. That’s about $13,000 a year. And 2025 we predicted a deficit for the fiscal year on the presumption that Big Deep South would make an amount similar to the previous years. It turned out Big Deep South made $22,000 thus alleviating, for the time being, the deficit concerns. However, there is no guarantee that 2026 will be duplicated in 2027. So the change in the prudent reserve allows for potential future shortages without having to ask permission to dip into the prudent reserve." -Jim
Tradition 8
Short Form: Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
Long Form: Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional. We define professionalism as the occupation of counseling alcoholics for fees or hire. But we may employ alcoholics where they are going to perform those services for which we might otherwise have to engage non-alcoholics. Such special services may be well recompensed. But our usual AA Twelfth Step work is never to be paid for.
Tradition Check list from the the Grapevine:
Does my own behavior accurately mirror the Traditions? If not, what needs changing?
When I chafe about any particular Tradition, do I realize how it affects others?
Do I sometimes try to get some reward - even if not money - for my personal AA efforts?
Do I try to sound in AA like an expert on alcoholism? On recovery? On medicine? On sociology? On AA itself? On psychology? On spiritual matters? Or, heaven help me, even on humility?
Do I make an effort to understand what AA employees do? What workers in other alcoholism agencies do? Can I distinguish clearly among them?
Do I know where my local meeting directory comes from?
In my own AA life, have I had any experiences which illustrate the wisdom of this Tradition?
Have I read the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions? How about the pamphlet “AA Tradition - How it Developed”?
Can my group rely on me to fulfill my service responsibilities without someone checking on me?
Service Board Notes - July
Service Board Budget
The Greater New Orleans Service Board, Inc. (GNOSB) is not running its projected deficit but has instead ended the year with a surplus of $20,487. Two key factors contributed to this amazing recovery. The first was the amazing success of Big Deep South this year and the second was the predicted number of employees needing to be paid was substantially less then otherwise estimated.
The 2026-2027 Budget is currently being prepared. More information will be forthcoming in next months meeting.
Website Progress
The Treatment Jedi Pack has returned to the website. It is available on the Treatment Page under the Service tab. If there are still problems with the Pack please let Central Office know and we will do what we can to resolve the issues.
Convention and Committee News
Big Deep South 2027 will hold its first meeting August, 5. For more details please see the events page of the website.
DAAy in the Park’s next meeting will be August, 6 here at Central Office. For more details please consult the events page of this website.
Bylaws and Amendments
A proposed amendment to the bylaws was submitted for homegroup review. Details above.
Motion was passed to form an ad-hoc subcommittee focusing on structure and procedures for the GNOSB.
AA Trivia
Our recovery history:
In which state was Dr. Bob born and raised?
Who was offered, but declined, the opportunity to write the chapter “To the Wives”?
In what popular national magazine did Jack Alexander write his 1941 article introducing and supporting AA?
Who was Bill W.’s secretary in the late 1930s?
Answers provided in next month’s bulletin.
Answers from last month’s Trivia Questions:
Who received the one millionth copy of Alcoholics Anonymous? Richard Nixon. The one millionth copy was publicly presented to Richard Nixon by Bill Wilson.
The importance of “helping another alcoholic” was not discovered by the Oxford Group or by our founders but, rather, by a different group which predates both. What was the name of that group? The Washingtonians.
Where, when, and by how many alcoholics was the above group founded? The Washingtonians was founded on April 2, 1840 by six alcoholics, at Chase’s Tavern on Liberty Street in Baltimore, Maryland.
What caused the dissolution of the group? What are some examples? The Washingtonians got involved in outside issues such as the prohibition of alcohol movement, sectarian religion, politics, and the abolition of slavery movement.
Concept 8
Short Form: The trustees are the principal planners and administrators of over-all 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.
Long Form: The Trustees of the General Service Board act in two primary capacities: (a) With respect to the larger matters of over-all policy and finance, they are the principal planners and administrators. They and their primary committees directly manage these affairs. (b) But with respect to our separately incorporated and constantly active services, the relation of the Trustees is mainly that of full stock ownership and of custodial oversight which they exercise through their ability to elect all directors of these entities.
Concepts Questions part of Service Material from the General Service Office, Concepts Checklist
Do we understand the relationship between the two corporate service entities (A.A. World Services, Inc., the AA Grapevine) and the General Service Board?
How can the business term “custodial oversight” apply to the trustees’ relationship to the two corporate service entities?
Does my home group subscribe to GSO’s bimonthly newsletter Box 4-5-9? AA Grapevine? Do I?
Central Office Report
Central Office hasn’t burned down yet. The bills are being paid and literature is being bought. Still working on making sure we don’t run out of chips.
Volunteers Needed: We still need volunteers for most shifts. If you are interested please email us at office@AANewOrleans.org or call us during business hours at 504.836.0507. Thanks for thinking about taking action.
The Updated Website: We continue to encourage groups to update their own information through the AA portal. However, if you struggle, please let us know and we are happy to post anything you want. This means that Central Office will be listed as the primary contact person for your meeting. If that does not bother you, it does not bother us.
We have also added the Jedi Treatment Pack to the website. Please let us know if you like it, or if not, how it can be improved.
Meeting List: The printed meeting list is complete and provided in Newcomer Packs. If you would like a copy, we are happy to print one for you. However, we strongly recommend using the website, as we are unable to provide area specific meeting lists at this time.
Monthly Blog: We have also slightly changed the info provided in the monthly blog. The Central Office Manager is using AA literature and resources to provide information on the step, tradition, and concept of the month in which the bulletin goes out. The bulletin also includes AA trivia again. The answers for the previous month’s trivia are available in the following month’s blog. We hope this encourages people to keep reading.
Bi-Weekly/Weekly Email: We started a weekly email with upcoming events and service opportunities, but hit the limit of emails we were allowed to send with our current operating system this month. This was in part because we had to send out a correction email, however, we might have to do that again in the future. To stay within email limits, we will probably do bi-weekly emails with an occasional email in between if important and timely information needs to be shared.
Cost of Pamphlets and Packs: The price of most of the packs is going to go up to reflect the increase in the price of the pamphlets that are included in the packs. We are trying to keep them under $5, but as World Services raises the cost of pamphlets, so too must we.