I received this request for information on starting a meeting:
I would like to start a new meeting in Any Town, USA and already have one other person who for sure wants to do OA with me, and a mention of a few others who are interested as well in our local community. I would love some guidance and help in starting a meeting. I have been a part of the Nicetown meetings, and understand how it is structured and run, and understand we would need to make donations to sell books, and other needed materials, and to pay for a meeting place as a group.
I'd like to purchase a starter pack, and any additional guidance, rules, etc. that I need to know when beginning this meeting.
I would love to start this group asap, and want to get together with people who want to join in on beginning this much-needed recovery group here soon. Please feel free to email or call me anytime? Thank you for your support and help, and I'm excited to begin a new meeting and service work for our mountain community.
Answer:
How exciting! It is fun and scary to start a new meeting. I have started several myself over the years. I started a meeting on moving to a new town after only about 1 year in OA. All you really need is a place to meet and the starter kit. The starter kit is great because it has 2 copies of each of the literature pamphlets, the formats for leading a meeting and all the readings. Usually in a smaller town the newspaper will run an announcement or listing for something new like a new meeting. You can do flyers on a computer and put them up around town. Just pick a date to start and go for it.
I have tons of advice for you but as always you need to do the things that work for you. One of the most important things to not do is to give into pressure from someone to set the meeting on a day that does not work for you. Unfortunately, I have learned this lesson several times. As soon as I give in and let someone (who really needs the program) talk me into putting it on a day that does not work; that person never shows up for one meeting and I am stuck going on a day that didn’t work for me to begin with. Stick with the day and time that works best for you.
I live in an area of small towns and small meetings – we often have a varied format. That means that on 1st week we do something; 2nd week something else, etc. Some of the options are Step Study, Tradition Study, a podcast speaker, a Lifeline meeting, a meeting using a different reading from one specific book each session, a Big Book Study, a reading from one of the daily readers as a topic, or leader’s choice. You get the idea - there are tons of choices.
I also encourage you to connect with the Intergroup in the local area. If there any meetings somewhat close -- that’s great because you can get together with them for events, workshops and retreats. Those things sure have helped my recovery over the years.
Best of luck. I am excited for you.
Margie
I would like to start a new meeting in Any Town, USA and already have one other person who for sure wants to do OA with me, and a mention of a few others who are interested as well in our local community. I would love some guidance and help in starting a meeting. I have been a part of the Nicetown meetings, and understand how it is structured and run, and understand we would need to make donations to sell books, and other needed materials, and to pay for a meeting place as a group.
I'd like to purchase a starter pack, and any additional guidance, rules, etc. that I need to know when beginning this meeting.
I would love to start this group asap, and want to get together with people who want to join in on beginning this much-needed recovery group here soon. Please feel free to email or call me anytime? Thank you for your support and help, and I'm excited to begin a new meeting and service work for our mountain community.
Answer:
How exciting! It is fun and scary to start a new meeting. I have started several myself over the years. I started a meeting on moving to a new town after only about 1 year in OA. All you really need is a place to meet and the starter kit. The starter kit is great because it has 2 copies of each of the literature pamphlets, the formats for leading a meeting and all the readings. Usually in a smaller town the newspaper will run an announcement or listing for something new like a new meeting. You can do flyers on a computer and put them up around town. Just pick a date to start and go for it.
I have tons of advice for you but as always you need to do the things that work for you. One of the most important things to not do is to give into pressure from someone to set the meeting on a day that does not work for you. Unfortunately, I have learned this lesson several times. As soon as I give in and let someone (who really needs the program) talk me into putting it on a day that does not work; that person never shows up for one meeting and I am stuck going on a day that didn’t work for me to begin with. Stick with the day and time that works best for you.
I live in an area of small towns and small meetings – we often have a varied format. That means that on 1st week we do something; 2nd week something else, etc. Some of the options are Step Study, Tradition Study, a podcast speaker, a Lifeline meeting, a meeting using a different reading from one specific book each session, a Big Book Study, a reading from one of the daily readers as a topic, or leader’s choice. You get the idea - there are tons of choices.
I also encourage you to connect with the Intergroup in the local area. If there any meetings somewhat close -- that’s great because you can get together with them for events, workshops and retreats. Those things sure have helped my recovery over the years.
Best of luck. I am excited for you.
Margie