Common Service Structure Language: Global Discussion Forums

Forums

This common language was created by the International Service Structure Ad Hoc Committee (ISSAC) and approved by the S-Anon Board of Trustees in 2015.

 

Board of Trustees (BOT): A service arm of the WSC. It exists as the legal entity, S-Anon International Family Groups, Inc.in the U.S. and Canada. The BOT is comprised of the Officers of the Board, the six Regional Trustees, Trustees at Large (members who chair Standing Committees), and the WSO Executive Director.

General Service Conference (GSC): The annual business meeting of a nation/geographic area outside North America where representatives convene to make decisions on matters affecting the national/geographic area fellowship as a whole.General Service Office (GSO): the term given to a national service structure in a country outside of the North American-based World Service Conference structure. GSOs are linked to the World Service Office through the Global Coordination Committee.

Global Coordination Committee (GCC): A proposed advisory committee to the BOT that will provide an avenue of communication to support the international growth of S-Anon and S-Ateen and work to perpetuate worldwide unity. The GCC coordinates information-sharing initiatives and will eventually be responsible for organizing the International S–Anon General Services Meeting (ISGSM). The GCC also reviews the activities of the World Service Office (WSO) as they relate to those individuals, groups, and service arms outside the areas served by the North American World Service Conference (WSC) structure. It also considers first-time requests for permission to reprint Conference Approved Literature (CAL) outside the WSC structure. The GCC provides guidance to groups worldwide as they endeavor to form service structures within their own countries.

International S-Anon General Services Meeting (ISGSM): a periodic service meeting for General Service Offices/national service structures. The purpose of the ISGSM is to share the experience of S-Anon national services around the world through its Delegates. It is not a decision-making body and passes any recommendations through the Global Coordination Committee to the Board of Trustees. In addition to the Global Coordination Committee members attending this meeting, the WSO Board of Trustees sends two Trustees, one from the United States and the other from Canada, if possible.

International Service Structure Ad Hoc Committee (ISSAC): An ad hoc committee formed by the BOT in 2014 for the purpose of developing a recommendation for a service structure for groups outside North America.

World Service Conference (WSC): The WSC is S-Anon’s annual business meeting where representatives from S-Anon groups in the U.S. and Canada convene to make decisions on matters affecting our fellowship as a whole.

World Service Office (WSO): Located in Nashville, Tennessee, the WSO coordinates the fellowship-wide effort to help new members make contact with recovering S-Anon members in their area, serves as the communication link between groups and individual members, and the Board of Trustees and its Committees, arranges for printing and distribution of conference-approved literature to groups and individuals, maintains records of income and expenses, assists the Board of Trustees and other service committees, and serves as a first point of contact for the media and referral agencies.