General Service Representative Job Description
An elected General Service Representative (G.S.R.) carries the voice of his or her A.A. group’s conscience to the A.A. General Service Conference held in New York each April. Through the elected District Committee Member (D.C.M.) and the Western Washington Area 72 Delegate, the G.S.R. will become the two-way link between the group and the world of A.A. as a whole. As such, he or she and fellow G.S.R.s all over the world have become the key to the unity of A.A.
The G.S.R. is the A.A. group's link with Western Washington Area general service and the General Service Office (G.S.O.). He or she, unless directed otherwise, has his or her name and telephone number listed in the Western Directory as the official contact for the home group.
A G.S.R. active presence in General Service helps ensure that A.A. will still be here for future generations of suffering alcoholics. As such he or she has an active part in building a strong service structure. Please take care to protect the rights of individual A.A.s to have their voices acknowledged and heard, no matter how much in the minority they may be.
People in General Service--particularly the G.S.R.s--are generally known as the guardians of our Twelve Traditions.
The relationship of a G.S.R. with the home group is crucial. An important element of becoming effective is to attend the meetings of the home group on a regular basis. Becoming acquainted with home group members and their ideas support the credibility needed when making suggestions and reports. Only by attending group meetings regularly can the G.S.R. stay informed of the group's affairs.
If the home group has a steering committee, the G.S.R. should be an active part of it by giving regular reports to the group on service activities and brief reports on important issues discussed at the district and area meetings.
Just as a personal inventory helps us to maintain a health sobriety by revealing our strengths and weaknesses, an annual group inventory can flag areas that may need some focused group attention. A good starting format for this inventory may be found in the pamphlet The A.A. Group.
The General Service Office has a publication, Box 4-5-9, which contains many articles of general interest to the entire fellowship. Since the G.S.R. is listed at G.S.O. as the mail contact for the group, he or she automatically receives a copy, which should be read, then shared with the group. For the nominal cost of $6.00 per year, a group may receive a bulk subscription of 10 copies of each issue. Often just a simple exposure to the availability of this newfound hidden resource is enough to get a group interested in subscribing.
Other areas in which the G.S.R. can be of service to the group include the group's finances. It is suggested that a group retain a prudent reserve of money to cover any potential extraordinary cost that may be incurred, as well as one to three months' regular expenses. This reserve is retained after the group's expenses have been paid. These expenses may--and probably should--include supporting the G.S.R. in his or her duties directly related to the position. Such expenses might be for traveling to district meetings and area assemblies.
The G.S.R. has the job of linking the group with A.A. as a whole; carrying the voice of the group's conscience; reporting it to the D.C.M. and the Delegate, who passes this on to the conference and rest of A.A.; and bringing the problems and solutions that affect A.A. unity, health, and growth back to the group.
In this sense, the General Service Conference can feel that it is acting for A.A. as a whole only to the extent that the G.S.R. keeps the group informed and can gather and communicate the group's conscience.
In general, the G.S.R.'s major responsibilities involve a two-way relationship with the group, district, and general service area.
Other tools to help the G.S.R. perform his or her duties include--