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Tradition Nine
"NA as such ought never be
organized; but we may create service boards or committees
directly responsible to those they serve."
"Our PI efforts are carried out through
committees created by our Fellowship. All service boards and
committees exist to serve NA. "NA as such" is never organized,
but we do have a service structure for our service boards and
committees. If we haphazardly go about the business of NA,
quoting this Tradition as our excuse, we are not serving our
Fellowship. Our service boards and committees are given the
responsibility of providing much needed services, while the
groups go about the business of holding meetings, working with
newcomers and generally focusing on recovery. The business of NA
does not belong in our groups. We hold business meetings for our
groups to discuss matters that do not relate directly to
recovery. And we elect trusted servants to carry out whatever
work that could not be done efficiently by the individual group.
In public information work, we must remain
directly responsible to those we serve. The members of a
subcommittee or service committee cannot do this if the
committee itself is not linked to the service structure in the
local area or region. "By maintaining regular two way
communication between NA groups and the boards and committees
serving them, we create an atmosphere of responsibility that
serves our fellowship and its primary purpose as well." [It
Works How and Why, English, page 192].
PI subcommittees which start up without the
support of an area or regional service committee may be working
outside the service structure and outside the spirit of this
Tradition. PI efforts need to be linked with all other
activities in an area or region. |
