General Information Page

A Serenity Place Founding Statement & Policies

Every Al-Anon meeting has a different 'flavor'. This includes online meetings like A Serenity Place. This page is here to give prospective members a taste of what it might be like in A Serenity Place. Some people want more structure in their meetings, some less, some just a little different. Here you can see what our structure is. If you like it, you may want to join us. If you don't like what you see here, you may want to continue your search for the right online meeting for you.

The founders of A Serenity Place put their combined Experience, Strength & Hope into these policies to provide a stable foundation for a healthy online meeting. Stability is fostered by requiring substantial unanimity to amend these core policies, similar to way the stability of the Al-Anon program itself is assured by maintaining the Steps, Traditions and Concepts the way they were written.

This page also serves as a reminder to our current members of some of our policies. These policies are posted here so that every one in our group knows where to find them.

The Founding Policies of A Serenity Place

1. These Founding Policies are subject to amendment by substantial unanimity of the full membership of A Serenity Place. Amendments are defined as changes to Core Policies and will be added to the end of this list of policies. Substantial unanimity is defined to be the same as that required to change the Steps, Traditions or Concepts at the fellowship level; 75% of all members must affirm the change.
2. A Serenity Place is a Closed meeting. Prospective members must affirm their qualification to Al-Anon, according to the Third Tradition, prior to joining this meeting.
3. Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions. Repeating of personal shares for any purpose is considered a violation of this tradition.
4. A Serenity Place follows the Twelve Traditions as closely as possible; focusing on our similarities with face-to-face meetings and the general fellowship, rather than focusing on our differences.
5. A Serenity Place recognizes and accepts that the Al-Anon fellowship, as a whole, has not yet determined how and where electronic meetings fit into the structure of the fellowship. In the spirit of unity and the Fourth Tradition, A Serenity Place will participate in the search for a solution through explicit cooperation with the World Service Office, representing the United States and Canada, as we seek our place in this fellowship.
6. The Group Conscious. No single person speaks for the meeting. A group conscious is the voice of the meeting. The definition of a group conscious may vary according to the issue before the meeting. At A Serenity Place taking the group conscious will follow these guidelines:

   a) Amendment to Founding Policies is defined above.

   b) Substantive changes to the meeting (affects the majority of the membership) require a 2/3 majority of voting members.

   c) Minor changes to the meeting (do not affect the majority of the membership) require a simple majority of the voting membership.

   d) Elections of trusted servants will adopt the election procedure as described in the 'Election of World Service Delegate' in the Al-Anon Service Manual, except that a majority vote will elect a trusted servant at A Serenity Place.

   e) A period of seven (7) days will be available following each: motions brought before the entire meeting, trusted servant vacancy announcements, and balloting period.

7. Dominance is a constant threat to any Al-Anon meeting. No one person may hold more than one service job at a time or hold consecutive terms at A Serenity Place.
8. Al-Anon is a spiritual program; discussion of specific religion tenets has no place here.
9. Al-Anon literature is known as Conference Approved Literature (CAL); discussion of other literature is discouraged except for brief sharing of ES&H (not quotations) of AA literature.
10. No flaming—disciplinary/Netiquette issues will be addressed by Greeting Committee for general membership, and by the Steering Committee for habitual abusers or trusted servant problems.
11. List Administrators subscribe individuals by direction of Greeter; or unsubscribe individuals by direction of member or at the direction of the Steering Committee. List Administrator will immediately unsubscribe anyone who violates list/server security.
12. The Steering Committee is the primary business committee of A Serenity Place. The Steering Committee is composed of all elected officers, Chair persons of committees (but not sub-committees), two 'founders' (the original founders of A Serenity Place or those most nearly so), and two general members of A Serenity Place. Only the Steering Committee has 'jurisdiction' over issues of member/trusted servant behavior; the Steering Committee has the authority to unsubscribe individuals (or remove trusted servants from office) who somehow violate Group policy so that the Group needs them to leave—a similar process to what the Alateens do.