Tradition Nine
“A.B.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.”
GSA = General Service Association
GSA of ABA = General Service Association of Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous
So what is this GSA of ABA?…
(See the Official Answer- A Document that explains it beautifully is below…. print it out if you want…. Great READING!!)One limited not so short answer…
The GSA is, at times, lovingly referred to as the “Mother-ship” by some of it’s members.
… The General Service Association (GSA for short)… is the manifestation of our ninth tradition…
The GSA Office & Board deals with the day to day work of running a non-profit business… for the purpose of serving US… The collective ‘WE”. … ABA as a whole…The board deals with the business . ABA as a whole is not a business– We are a fellowship of individuals… as spelled out in our ABA preamble.
They, the GSA, are our trusted servants they do not govern. It was created …So as individuals we could focus on our primary purpose… getting sober, staying sober, helping others & carrying the message to those AB’ers who still suffer. on our individual, and group levels..they do that also on an international & business levels. All types of service have a place in our fellowship.
What does GSA do for us? I’m certain I’ll omit some things but here a few things they do…
Deal with the publishing details & sales of the ABA Text, created the pamphlets and sell all the other recovery items—medallions, retreat CD’s, The organization of the yearly retreats and this years International Conference. They host a yearly AGM “ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING” open to all ABA members. They are the Hub for All of ABA. Answering letters, emails, phone calls about the program.
All this is and much more behind the scenes. I guess isn’t so short anymore so I’ll end now…. Read the official memo below it explains it much better .
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ABA AND
THE GENERAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF ABA
***This material is Copyrighted and we have been given permission to post it on our blogsite. Go to the file cabinet to read & download entire doc. and other stuff too.*****
I got this doc. from The GSA office. Here is an excerpt and The entire document not IS NOW currently available to be downloaded because PERMISSION has be given to us to place this copyrighted document on our site by the GSA of ABA.
MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING:
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ABA AND
THE GENERAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION OF ABA
We, the elected Board of Directors know legally as the General Service
Association of Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous and hereafter referred to as
“GSA-ABA,” wish to clarify herein our understanding of the relationship that
exists between us and the Fellowship of Anorexics and Bulimics Anonymous,
hereafter referred to as “ABA.”
1. ORIGIN OF ABA: ABA is a grass-roots organization that originated in Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada in February 1993. It gradually evolved into a full-fledged 12-step Fellowship
whose primary purpose is to support its members to recover from anorexia, bulimia, and
associated eating disorders, and to carry its message of recovery to others who suffer from
eating disorders. ABA uses the 12-Step Program adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous and
abides by the 12 Traditions, also adapted from those of Alcoholics Anonymous. It has been
successful in facilitating scores of individuals to find and maintain sobriety in their eating
practices and through the 12 Steps, to deeply heal the insane manner in which they think
about food and about their bodies.
2. EVOLUTION OF ABA: Over the past eleven years ABA has expanded and continued
to evolve. New ABA groups are now springing up internationally, a process that has been
catalyzed by the Dec 2002 publication of ABA’s textbook of recovery, Anorexics and Bulimics
Anonymous: The Fellowship Details Its Program of Recovery for Anorexia and Bulimia.
3. CURRENT NATURE OF ABA: To this day, ABA remains what it has always been: a
loosely organized, spiritually-based community of individuals who come and go from our
meetings, who remain anonymous at a public level, who have no leader and are all equals,
who have no membership rules to abide by, who pay no dues or fees for membership in ABA,
who receive no monetary return for their participation in the group, and whose sole
responsibility remains to share their experience strength and hope with one another that,
together, all will find the power to recover from their eating disorder.
4. NON-LEGAL STATUS OF ABA: ABA, as such, can never become a legal entity
because it can never be organized in the manner that corporations or businesses organize
themselves. No member is required to provide their surname or any personal information
about themselves, no member can set themselves up as a ruler or authority, and no one can
ever own the Fellowship except our Higher Power.
5. NEED FOR A LEGALLY RECOGNIZED SERVICE ARM OF ABA: That being so,
when the time came in 2000 to begin writing a book that would carry the ABA message
beyond the confines of Edmonton, ABA soon realized that it would need to create a service
board that would acquire some kind of legal status designed to allow it to function in the public
domain, carrying on such activities as distributing ABA’s literature nationally and
internationally, receiving and disbursing funds surrounding the publication and sale of such
literature, tracking ensuring the unity required for ABA’s continued survival. Thus, in Sept.
2002 ABA began holding a series of business meetings to discuss the issues involved.
The final outcome of ABA’s deliberations was the formation of the GSA-ABA, incorporated as
a non-profit society under the Societies Act of the Providence of Alberta on March 2003.
Memorandum of Understanding: GSA-ABA 24 Nov 2004 – 1 -
***This material is Copyrighted and we have been given permission to post it on our blogsite. Go to the file cabinet to read & download entire doc. and other stuff too.*****
Contact the ABA office directly and ask them for more information if you’d like to: ABA Office email address: aba@shawbiz.ca
