Secretary Responsibilities

Transcription

1 Secretary Responsibilities I. Purpose Lighthouse AA Group Secretaries/Chairpersons Protocols/Procedures/Responsibilities/Duties To provide a safe, secure, quiet and comfortable environment for people to attend regularly scheduled Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings who have the current desire to stop drinking alcohol. II. Definitions Secretary: An active member of the Lighthouse AA Home Group, who has at least 30 days of continued sobriety and who joyfully and willingly accepts the responsibilities, and duties of secretarying the specific meeting(s) they are assigned to with honesty, care, sincerity, concern and commitment to current established Lighthouse AA Group By-Laws, procedures and protocols. Carries out specific outlined duties and responsibilities for the position of meeting secretary, as established through initial orientation of the position, and attendance at all scheduled Lighthouse AA Group Secretaries meetings, where and when possible. Enforces the key code combination on a need to know basis, and NO CANDLES burned at ANY meeting including 9:30 PM (per order of the Fire Marshal and Lighthouse Policy). Chairpersons: Chairpersons of each scheduled Lighthouse AA Group meeting are either the Secretary assigned to each specific meeting themselves, or a person selected by said assigned Secretary from the meeting attendees present. If a person other than the assigned meeting secretary is chosen, they MUST be an alcoholic and MUST have at least 30 days of continued sobriety. They are NOT required to be Lighthouse Home Group Members, but are required to follow all Lighthouse AA Group By-Laws, protocols and procedures, as set down by the general membership and enforced by the current elected Steering Committee, as well as the appointed current Secretary Representative of the Lighthouse AA Group. Selected chairpersons shall be individually instructed by the meeting secretary, Secretary Rep. or alternate Rep as to the deliverance of proper and current meeting protocols and procedures as established by the group conscience of the general membership of the Lighthouse AA Group. In general, the chairperson of any scheduled meeting is required to follow the chairpersons responsibilities as outlined in section IV below.

2 II. Definitions (continued from previous page) Chairpersons: Chairpersons shall be cautioned to NOT just entirely call on their personal friends or other members from their specific home groups to share during any meeting. This process shall give a representative cross section of the people attending any specific meeting an opportunity to share during said meeting. ALL sharing shall be limited from 3 to 5 minutes or less per person, particularly in the case where there are several people in attendance at any one meeting. All persons ignoring this established time limit for sharing may be tactfully cut off at the discretion of the meeting Secretary. This includes the chairperson. NO cross talking is allowed during any meeting. Remember, the person chairing each meeting,sets the tone for that meeting. III. Secretary Responsibilities Take charge of the security of the Lighthouse AA Group Fellowship Hall directly before, during, and immediately after the meeting they are assigned to. Act as an ambassador and meter/greeter of the Lighthouse Group, introducing themselves and welcoming newcomers, visitors, and other people who are new to the Lighthouse Fellowship Hall. Make certain ALL Lighthouse Meetings are carried out in an organized, orderly, non-disruptive and timely manner, according to all current By-Laws, protocols and procedures as set down by the group conscience of the Lighthouse AA Group. Follow to the letter, the outlined secretary s duties as listed below in Section V. Make certain all entries are made correctly on the proper page of the Lighthouse Meeting Log Book, on the money envelopes, and that the money envelopes are placed securely into the drop box of the safe. This includes book sales. IV. Chairperson Duties The meeting secretary may elect to choose someone else from the meeting group to chair the meeting. This person must meet the qualifications as outlined in the above definitions regarding chairpersons. The ONLY responsibilities of the chosen chairpersons are: Select a topic for the meeting with the help of the secretary and referencing the meeting log book for the Topics list if needed. Conduct the meeting according to the current established Lighthouse Meeting Format. This should be done VERBATIM (the exact way it is

3 written out). NO EXCEPTIONS! Meetings shall be conducted in an organized, orderly, timely and undisruptive manner. Read the current Lighthouse AA related announcements. Begin the meeting on time, then end the meeting on time, with The Lord s Prayer. ALL Lighthouse AA Group meetings shall be topic meeting. Tag meeting, alcologs and drugalogs are NOT ALLOWED! A selected chairperson shall NOT count or log the collected 7 th tradition OR sign the court slips. This is the responsibility of the meetingsecretary. Book sales and logging these sales are also the responsibility of the Secretary. Select people to share by alternating AA birthday people, old timers, new comers, visitors, men and women. Try to choose people who do not routinely share at meetings before calling on those who share often. If you do not know people s names, then select people by pointing at them and/or describing clothing they are wearing. Again, ALL sharing is to be kept to a 3 to 5 minute timeframe or less. V. Secretary Duties for Each Meeting: Follow Secretary Responsibilities as outlined above in Section III. Arrive at least 15 to 20 minutes prior to your scheduled meeting time, in order to allow enough time to meet/greet people and prepare the room for your meeting. NO alcoholic beverages, illicit drugs or unauthorized weapons are allowed on the premises of the Lighthouse at any time, as per the adopted policy in the By-Laws, Procedures, Protocols and Policy book. Always turn the overhead light ON in the room, even if there is full sunshine outside. If you leave them off, it appears from outdoors like no one is inside. NO CANDLES ARE ALLOWED to be burned! Make fresh coffee. Restock coffee, coffee filters, creamer, sugar from the bookcase and Styrofoam cups, paper towels, toilet paper and paper towels for the restrooms, etc. from the back room if necessary. V. Secretary Duties for Each Meeting: (continued) Assign people to assist in being a door meeter/greeter, make and/or serve coffee during the meeting and to help clean up after the meeting. Generally, ask some other person to chair the meeting. If you decide to chair the meeting, please make certain you remain at the front desk during the meeting, except to use the restroom. Going outside for a cigarette is NOT an acceptable reason for leaving the front desk. If you should need to leave the meeting suddenly due to an emergency, illness, etc., please hand over the meeting to another active Secretary.

4 This person does not have to be the very next scheduled Secretary. If none are available, immediately contact the Secretary Representative. If you don t want to chair the meeting, select someone to do so who qualifies as outlined in Section II (Definition of the Chairperson) above. Remember, the chairperson sets the tone of the entire meeting. Make certain to briefly orient them to the Lighthouse protocols and meeting procedures for conducting our meeting. Help them choose a topic for the meeting if necessary. Note: Suggested Topics List is in the Secretary Log Book. Make certain they understand all of THEIR responsibilities as chairperson for conducting a Lighthouse meeting correctly, including adhering to our current accepted Lighthouse meeting format. Have them read the list of Chairperson duties as listed in log book, adjacent to the Lighthouse Meeting Format. Ensure the meeting is started on time, and is conducted in an organized, orderly and non-disruptive fashion. Disorderly, disruptive or noisy people shall be asked to cease this conduct or leave the meeting. This includes unruly children and their parents or chaperones. Drunk or otherwise drug impaired people are allowed to attend our meetings as long as they sit quietly, are not disruptive and do NOT share during the meeting. They should be encouraged to meet with a member after the meeting. If grossly disorderly or disruptive people refuse to leave the Lighthouse Fellowship Hall, then call 911 and ask for police assistance, then contact the Secretary Representative. After the 12 Traditions have been read, count the collected 7 th tradition monies, and count the number of people in attendance at the meeting. Make certain to log this information onto the proper meeting log sheet, and place the SEALED money envelope into the drop box of the safe. Sign all court slips only for people who have attended the ENTIRE meeting. Collect and record in the log all book sales, again placing money envelope securely in the safe. After the meeting, tidy up the room, and empty all garbage cans that are full. Ask for volunteers to help you with this if necessary. Ask one of the younger members to stomp down the garbage in the three large garbage cans in the back room, using one of the available ladders for safety. V. Secretary Duties for Each Meeting: (continued) Give the meeting attendees 10 to 15 minutes to visit inside the Fellowship Hall, then if your relief facilitator for the next scheduled meeting has not shown up and it is necessary for you to lock up and secure the building, ask everyone in the room to leave and carry on their visiting outside. This includes other active Secretaries if they are not going to be secretarying the very next scheduled meeting. No exceptions to this rule, unless preauthorized by the Secretary

5 Representative. Women Secretaries should be cautioned to be aware of their own personal safety, especially at night. Ask one or two of the other trusted members in attendance to stay with you until you have secured the fellowship hall and gotten safely into your vehicle. Make a sweep through the fellowship hall, making certain the side door is closed and locked. Check the bathrooms and back room to make certain no one is in there. Turn off all overhead and decorative lights, including in the bathrooms. Turn off the BURNERS ONLY on the coffee pot, leaving the yellow power light ON at all times. Have no concern about lights left on in the back room MAKE CERTAIN all oil lamps areblown out and secured. Again, NO BURNING CANDLES ALLOWED AT ANY MEETING! Using the key available in the lock box, lock the main door, then return the key back into the lock box. At this point, you have secured the building and your immediate responsibilities of your Secretary position are completed. NOTE: Do NOT shirk your duty to secure the fellowship hall at the end of your scheduled meeting. The ONLY PERSON you are allowed to have take over the Security of the building without locking it, is the very next scheduled Secretary or their designated prearranged alternate. If someone other than the very next scheduled Secretary has the code to the key lock box and wishes to enter the building, then they shall at that point take over the responsibility of the security of the Fellowship Hall. However, you shall have completed your responsibility by having previously locked the doors. Security of the fellowship hall is of utmost importance between meetings. Often times it is not necessary to lock the building between meetings, but the exception should only be when the next scheduled Secretary arrives early ahead of their meeting, and is willing to take on the responsibilities and security of the fellowship hall. If you cannot conduct your assigned and scheduled meeting, then please make arrangements in advance to have your meeting covered by another active Secretary who performs the same meeting at the same time frame you do. You can readily achieve this by having the other 6 people doing that same meeting and their phone numbers available for you to call. You should also record the Secretary Representative s phone number for your use. This information is available on the Secretary s Schedule. Lighthouse AA Group July 20, 2009

6 The Secretary s Representatives, in accordance with Lighthouse policies, have the right to relieve a Secretary of his/her responsibilities if not in compliance with Lighthouse format. Approved by the group conscience at the July 2009 business meeting.