First Quarter 2007 Volume 17, Number 1    IN THIS ISSUE Convention 2007 Awaits You! Update 2006 — 2007 Unity Day: February 24, 11:30 a.m. PST Apply for Matching Grants What's New From WSO Budget Set for 2007 Web Links Second Conference Mailing Coming Soon Professional Exhibits Fund Needs Your Support Video Inspiration to Feed Your Recovery! OA Carries Message to Professional Community Twelfth-Step Service Opportunity OA Turns 47 How Lifeline Changes My Life and the Lives of Others Why Should You Subscribe to Lifeline? Lifeline Meeting Format Attention Group Secretaries: Please download the PDF file of this issue and make copies to share with your group members. Note: You need Adobe Acrobat on your computer to download PDF files. If you don't have it, go to the Help page for instructions on how to download this free tool. Convention 2007 Awaits You! Find Friendship and History in the City of Brotherly Love “Ring in Recovery: Declare Your Freedom from Compulsive Eating,” the theme of the 2007 Overeaters Anonymous World Service Convention, promises a liberating experience. Convening in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA, August 30 to September 2, attendees will celebrate freedom from compulsive eating in a city renowned for its historic freedom sites. Come to Philadelphia, famous in the United States as the birthplace of “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” and rich in American history. Best of all, meet fellow OA members from around the world. Share their joy of freedom from compulsive eating. Hear stories of experience, strength and hope that will lift your recovery to a new level of freedom. Rejoice in emotional and spiritual growth by shedding the bonds and the pounds of compulsive eating. Don’t miss this opportunity to forge new friendships in a setting where America’s forefathers forged a country. Workshop Topics: Food Holding You Hostage? Step One Freedom Under God: Step Two Freedom From Self Will: Step Three Several Step-Four writing workshops, unnamed The Truth Shall Set You Free: Step Five A Crack in Your Program: Step Six Humility: Step Seven Brotherly Love: Step Eight Freedom at Last: Step Nine Persevere Through the Storms: Step Ten Peace in the Valley: Step Eleven Let Freedom Ring: Step Twelve Welcome to OA: Newcomers Men in OA Youth/Teen Focus Couples in OA Freedom Over the Years: Longtimers Peeling Off the Pounds: 100 Pounders Bulimia/Anorexia Free Thinking: Attitude of Gratitude The Truth Shall Set You Free: Stigma and Shame Freedom With Body Image and Sexuality Dealing With Diversity and Shame Release From Bondage: Relapse/Recovery Freedom on Three Levels: Physical, Emotional and Spiritual Free to Be Me: Practicing These Principles “Through the Freedom of Recovery” A Recovery Plan: Finding Recovery Freedom Over the Years: Achieving Long-Term Abstinence The Fireworks of Recovery: Vision for You (Big Book) Ending the Debate: Abstinence Living in the Solution: Traditions Practicing the Traditions in Relationships The Tools to Freedom Follow Your Leader: Sponsorship Freedom Through Acceptance: Big Book Liberty for All: Autonomy We All Know a New Freedom: Promises Light Up Your Life: Service The Spirit of Fellowship: Concepts See the World Service Convention page for details and updates, and the registration page to register and pay online. Loews Philadelphia Hotel Lodging cost for single — quadruple occupancy; US$139.08 per night (includes applicable taxes) Loews reservations 1-215-627-1200 (USA) Full pre-registration (before July 2, 2007) $79 Saturday Only $45 Full pre-registration (after July 2, 2007) $99 Sunday Only $25 Onsite Full Registration $99 Banquet $50 Thursday Only $25 Dance Only $10 Friday Only $35 Tote Bag $5 Top Update 2006 — 2007 Send in Your Update Form Today! Imagine going to your first meeting afraid, ashamed, hopeful… and no one else shows up! Imagine calling a contact for an OA meeting only to be met with the angry response, “You people keep calling me! This is the wrong number!” What a sad first impression of the loving Fellowship of Overeaters Anonymous. The OA responsibility pledge affirms, “Always to extend the hand and heart of OA to all who share my compulsion; for this I am responsible.” By implication, this responsibility pledge includes the tedious details of maintaining accurate meeting information with the World Service Office (WSO). In July 2006, the Member Services Department of the WSO launched the Update 2006-2007 Campaign. The WSO is asking each intergroup to review the quarterly intergroup-meeting-list report and to return the accompanying response form to the WSO. If corrections and/or additions are necessary, please make them directly on the intergroup report, and mail or fax it to the WSO. If you wish, you may make your changes on the registration/change form. If you make your changes online, please notify the WSO on the response form or by email to ensure that your intergroup’s response is recorded. For the last two quarters, 80 intergroups have responded out of 335 service bodies registered with the WSO. Your responses may save the lives of suffering compulsive eaters in search of hope. Dateminder OA Birthday January 20 Unity Day February 24 Top Unity Day: February 24, 11:30 a.m. PST Every year, on the last Saturday in February, OA celebrates Unity Day to reaffirm the strength inherent in OA’s unity worldwide. Members pause to reflect on the “unity with diversity” that binds the Fellowship and promotes recovery. To encourage your group to reflect on OA unity, consider the suggestions offered by this OA member. Promoting OA Unity Tradition One: Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon OA unity. How does your group celebrate the diversity in which its members work the program? Do you acknowledge that there are as many ways to work the program as there are members in it? Let’s ensure that we keep OA a welcome home for everyone by asking all sponsors to identify themselves and describe how they work the program. By allowing all members to share their experience, strength and hope, we keep our rooms a safe place for members to become “a part of” rather than “apart from.” If we don’t show peace, love and acceptance of one another’s differences within our rooms, how can we hope to find it outside our doors? Celebrate Unity Day every day this year! Possible Topics for Unity Day Discussions What can I do to help promote unity in our Fellowship? Am I open to different approaches to working the program, or do I think that what worked for me is the only way to be abstnent and working the Steps? Does the wording of my group’s format include all members? Does it give each a voice? What can a group do to reach out and foster an attitude of unity with neighboring groups? What can we do at an intergroup level to foster unity between groups in our area? What can our intergroup do to support unity with neighboring intergroups in our region? What can our region or world service provide to help us promote unity? — Edited and reprinted from Lifeline, February 2001 Top Apply for Matching Grants At the 2005 World Service Business Conference (WSBC), delegates adopted a motion directing the Board of Trustees (BOT) to implement a Matching Grant Program. The program’s purpose is to extend financial help to service bodies to enable their participation in projects that enhance OA unity and carry the recovery message to compulsive eaters within and outside OA. Intergroups, national/language service boards and regions may apply for funds. The motion states that yearly funding for this program will not exceed 1 percent of all donations to the World Service Office (WSO) for the prior year. At the November BOT meeting, trustees budgeted $3,550 for 2007. In the spirit of “matching grants,” the Matching Grant Program will award up to 50 percent of the cost of the proposed project. Service bodies working together on a project receive preference in fund allocation. It should be specified on the application which of the participating service bodies will act as project coordinator. The coordinating service body is responsible for providing progress reports to its region trustee. The Matching Grants Committee of the BOT will allocate funds at its meeting immediately preceding the annual WSBC. The committee will announce the allocations at the WSBC and by letter following the Conference. Deadline for applications for the 2007 Matching Grant Program is March 1 (postmarked). Service bodies may download the application from the OA Web site. For more information, please contact the WSO at info@oa.org or 1-505-891-2664 (USA). Top What's New From WSO 2007 Literature Catalog The new catalog for 2007 is now available online and in the January mailing to group secretaries. Members may also request copies by contacting the WSO. Among the new or revised items for 2007 are the following: Sponsorship Kit This collection of helpful and inspiring information for sponsors comes in a handy 6-by-9-inch envelope and includes: Lifeline magazine issue featuring stories about sponsorship Tools of Recovery pamphlet A Guide for Sponsors pamphlet A Guide to the Twelve Steps for You and Your Sponsor pamphlet “Working with Others” article from A Step Ahead Item #210, US$2.25 each; #211, US$20/pack of 10, plus shipping. American Medical Review Profiles Overeaters Anonymous This 12-minute video of a cross-section of OA members relating their recovery stories is ideal for intergroup functions and health fairs, and for personal inspiration. Item #652, US$6 (DVD); #651, US$6 (VHS); #650, US$24 (DVD-PAL); #653, US$24 (VHS-PAL), plus shipping. Service and Traditions Workshop Manual In addition to the wealth of information designed to help service bodies plan and execute workshops, the manual now includes these new features: Illustrated Twelve Concepts Workshop on “Accepting Our Disease Without Feelings of Shame” “Planning a Sponsorship Workshop” Includes a complete set of transparency masters and a script for use during presentations. Three-hole punched to fit a binder (binder not included). Item #773, US$9 (new price), plus shipping. Guidelines for a Group Conscience Meeting This new addition to the OA Guidelines Packet is a practical guide to the theory and practice of group-conscience meetings. Includes a Suggested Group-Conscience Meeting Format. Item #570, US$5 each, plus shipping. US Shipping: $3 for orders up to $18. Orders $18.01 to $100, 17% of total. Above $100, 12% of order. Call the WSO for shipping charges outside the US. Top Budget Set for 2007 The Overeaters Anonymous, Inc., budget for 2007 is $1,694,850 in revenue against $1,694,850 in expenditure — an increase of 9.4 percent over the 2006 budget. One reason for the significant increase is the upcoming 2007 World Service Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA, August 30 to September 2. The global Fellowship eagerly anticipates “Ringing in Recovery” in the City of Brotherly Love; sharing tales of experience, strength and hope; and forging new friendships. In 2007 the World Service Office will also hire an additional part-time staff person to better serve the needs of the Fellowship. Overeaters Anonymous looks forward to an exciting 2007 as we continue to reach out to compulsive eaters around the world. Together we can! Many Languages Available Many service bodies have translated OA materials into other languages — Afrikaans, Arabic, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hebrew, Icelandic, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Swedish and Turkish. Contact the World Service Office for information on obtaining copies of translations. Top Discover interesting and helpful OA Web-site links. How OA Changed My Life — “My Turn” Ask-It Basket — “Is it acceptable to call oneself a ‘recovered’ compulsive overeater, as I read in a past Lifeline story? I thought we were never really recovered?” Tradition Four Issues — WSBC workshop report discusses group autonomy Consensus Guidelines and Board Article — May help other service bodies with meetings Links are current when A Step Ahead is published online; however, some Web pages will be updated during the quarter. Top Second Conference Mailing Coming Soon On January 10, 2007, the WSO will distribute the second Conference mailing to all service bodies, region offices and chairs, board members and 2007 registered Conference delegates. This mailing includes the agenda questionnaire, and motions and bylaw amendments submitted by the December 10 postmarked deadline. Among the motions received by the WSO are the following: to transfer a service body to a different region to transfer OA’s incorporation from California to New Mexico to conduct a public awareness campaign to approve a manuscript titled “Black OA Members Share Their Experience, Strength and Hope” (procedural motion — will be sent in the third Conference mailing) Service bodies should review agenda questionnaires, vote on them and return them to the WSO by March 1, 2007. This is a postmarked deadline date. The mailing also includes hotel reservation cards and the following forms: tour registration forms delegate registration forms green-dot mentor registration forms committee preference forms The complete second mailing will also be posted on the OA Web site on January 10. WSBC 2007 Important Deadlines January 30, 2007 Trustee Nominee Applications March 1, 2007 Agenda Questionnaires Committee Preference Forms Top Continued on page 2