A Serenity Place (ASP) offers its members a variety of opportunities to serve the group; the Daily Chairs of our daily recovery meeting, our Greeters and the Recording Secretary that assists the elected Secretary with keeping our website up to date are the appointed trusted servants.

ASP is also served by a cadre of elected officers on the Steering Committee. Each of these officers is elected to serve in a specific capacity for 3 years as described in an ASP group conscience.  Currently, that group conscience is Motion #22.  In addition to the elected officers with assigned duties, two similarly qualified members of ASP may be elected to serve on the Steering Committee as At Large members, without assigned duties, for a shorter 6-month term.  Finally, in addition to the elected officers of the Steering Committee, the two most senior members of ASP (defined as the original founders of A Serenity Place or those most nearly so) serve on the Steering Committee as Founders.  Founders hold a permanent seat on the Steering Committee as long as they are ASP members and do not resign their position.  The Founders do not ordinarily have specific duties or responsibilities; however, the Founders may serve in any capacity at the request of the Steering Committee. 

It is important to understand that Motion #22 does more than merely describe the duties and responsibilities of the officers on the Steering Committee, it describes the responsibilities of the Steering Committee as a whole.  It doesn’t stop there.  In fact, it begins with a description of Business Meeting – the group conscience of ASP – including its basic function and operation.  Motion #22 continues the practice started with its predecessor, Motion #4 by drawing a line in the sand between the domains of the Business Meeting and the Steering Committee. 

The Business Meeting establishes general meeting policies while the Steering Committee implements ASP policy & practices.

Serving on the ASP Steering Committee is the highest form of service for ASP that is available to ASP members.  As such, the group has established prior ASP service prerequisites for serving on the Steering Committee so that members of the Steering Committee have had an opportunity to better understand ASP and its policies and practices.  Prior service in other Al-Anon groups or service entities does not qualify one for service at ASP.  The membership of ASP did allow for one exception to prior service in ASP requirement: the Steering Committee may waive this requirement upon unanimous agreement on a case by case basis (see Motion 25). Our goal is clear; to maintain the personality, policies and practices of ASP, and avoid frequent or significant changes due to changes in the individuals serving ASP. 

We would be remiss if we ignored a crucial responsibility of the members on the Steering Committee – active participation in Steering Committee discussions and meetings.  Our Steering Committee discusses situations and issues via email exchanges as needed, along with quarterly Zoom meetings. 

The List Administrator is the Chair of the Steering Committee and the sole individual that represents the Steering Committee in the Business Meeting, unless another member is so delegated.  A representation of a consensus of the Steering Committee to the general membership requires (a) a formal and (b) unanimous vote of the members of the Steering Committee.  Just like in team sports where each member of a team has a somewhat unique role, the success of the team depends on the ability of the players to be a team player. The Steering Committee functions best when it functions as a team. Lastly, all discussions and business of the Steering Committee are confidential.