ATTENTION: A response is required from the fellowship to questions in this newsletter.

Please enjoy and share these highlights from our September 2020 Board meeting. It is important for the democracy of Al-Anon that our fellow members know what we are working on and we rely on our service structure for this to happen. Thank you for taking the time to be informed.

The Board met by Zoom on 5-6 September 2020, five Board members were present. The Board received the resignation of Sarah R , SRBM and  Melda T, Chair, Editorial Committee (non-Board); the Board acknowledges with thanks their service to NZ Al-Anon. Paula B has been appointed to the Board as National Alateen Coordinator. The Board also made five appointments to Selected Committees from profiles submitted to the Board.

Due to the resignation of the Editorial Chair, the Board agreed to suspend the publication of the Messenger.  A report from the Chairperson of the Editorial Committee said that the Messenger was not receiving sufficient sharings from the membership and had been relying on extracts from CAL to boost the content – this is in breach of the WSO copyright. In addition the member who assisted with the publication of the Messenger is no longer available.

We will need an editor, assistance with publication and continuous sharings from the fellowship for the Messenger to continue.  As General Secretary I have been requested by the Board to circulate these questions to the membership.

• Does the fellowship wish the Messenger to continue? YES    |    NO
• If yes, how are you prepared to help?

The results will be included in a KBDM at the 2021 Al-Anon Service Conference to determine the feasibility of continuing to produce the Messenger.

The Board sees these questions being raised by the Area Delegates at their next Area meeting asking groups to respond to them. Delegates are requested to reply to the General Secretary by the 25 November for results to be presented to the Board on 5 December. Thank you for your help with this.

Current Board Vacancies:

SRBM, CRBM, Editorial Chair, Literature Chair, Alternate Board Chair,  IAGSM Delegate 2.

We need more Board members and  would like to see the positions of SRBM and CRBM filled, the appointees to these positions are elected by the Areas and help the Board have the ‘big picture’ of what is happening nationwide in the fellowship and are important for our democracy.  Profile forms for these positions can be obtained from the General Service Office.

The NZ AA Convention with Al-Anon participation will be online on 23-24 January 2021. Al-Anon’s theme will be Just for Today.  We have started work on the programme and intend to have an electronic flier sent to the fellowship shortly.

Our IAGSM delegate will be attending the IAGSM virtual conference from the 4-10 October and will be accompanied by a previous Delegate as a mentor.

In service

John B
General Secretary
NZAGSB