April 1, 2020
There are so many ways to give service in OA and pay forward all we have so freely received. Not all forms of service require years of commitment or abstinence. Will service make you abstinent? No, unfortunately, it is not a magic cure. But it is one of the Tools you can use to work the Steps. Members can give service at the group level, and the next level of service is at the intergoup. (Intergroup officers usually have abstinence and attendance requirements.) Below are fifty ways to give service.
Abstinence
Attend conventions
Attend meetings
Become a speaker
Clean up meeting spaces
Convention committee
Designated downloader
General service trustee
Greeter
Group bylaws or standing rules
Group contact
Group secretary
Group treasurer
Group website maintenance
Intergroup bylaws
Intergroup chair
Intergroup newsletter
Intergroup rep
Intergroup secretary
Intergroup vice chair
Intergroup website maintenance
Lead a meeting
Literature chair
Maintain group contact list
Meeting setup
Newsletter editor
Obtain speakers
Offer transportation
Outreach calls
Professional outreach
Program chair
Provide safekeeping for records
Public information
Put up posters
Region chair
Region delegate
Region media committee
Region secretary
Region treasurer
Region vice chair
Speak up when OA guidelines or Traditions are not being followed
Special events
Sponsorship
Talk to newcomers
Translator
Twelfth Step Within committee
Workshop committee
World Service Delegate
World Service Trustee
Write newsletter articles
Why not pick two or three opportunities and get started? Remember, as OA’s Responsibility Pledge states, “Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion; for this, I am responsible.”
—Anonymous
SOURCE: Lifeline
Lifeline: Stories of Recovery, 2016-2026 ©Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved.
Did you enjoy this article? We would encourage our members to use this post, and others like it, at their meetings, or for private reflection. We also encourage you to share this post to other fellows to help the compulsive eater who still suffers. Please let us know if you have an idea for an article or an upcoming theme, or have any questions or suggestions. Email our editorial staff at [email protected].
The experience, strength, and hope expressed in this article, reflect the individual OA members and does not represent OA as a whole. Other OA groups and service bodies are welcome to reprint articles from Experience, Strength & Hope Newsletter without permission. When reprinting from other OA newsletters, be sure to credit the source.
