The Newcomer We Haven’t Met Yet
By Jason D.
dcm@area93district7.org
It can be easy to lose sight of why we do the work of General Service.
District meetings, committee reports, budgets, elections, workshop planning, and discussions about procedures may not seem exciting. At times, they can even feel disconnected from carrying the message. Yet every decision we make in service should lead us back to one simple question:
How does this help the alcoholic who still suffers?
Most of the people we serve are not sitting in our district meetings. They aren’t voting during our group consciences or attending committee meetings. In fact, many of them haven’t even walked through the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous yet.
They are the newcomer we haven’t met.
The choices we make today help determine the experience that newcomer will have tomorrow. Will there be coffee ready before the meeting? Will someone be there to greet them? Will the meeting have current literature? Will the phone be answered when they reach out for help? Will there be a healthy home group waiting to welcome them?
These things don’t happen by accident. They happen because trusted servants quietly give their time and attention to the work that keeps our Fellowship strong.
General Service can sometimes seem removed from the meeting room, but it exists for the same reason every AA group exists—to support our primary purpose of carrying the message to the alcoholic who still suffers. Whether we’re discussing finances, planning a workshop, electing trusted servants, or sharing information between our groups and Area, our work helps ensure that AA remains available for the next person who needs it.
I’ve found that asking one simple question can bring clarity to almost any discussion:
How does this help the newcomer we haven’t met yet?
When we keep that person in mind, personalities become less important. Differences of opinion become easier to navigate. Decisions become less about what any one of us wants and more about what will best serve Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole.
None of us knows who that next newcomer will be. It could be someone walking into a meeting for the first time tonight, someone calling our hotline next month, or someone who won’t need AA for years to come. But when that day arrives, I hope they find what so many of us found: a welcoming Fellowship, a message of hope, and people who cared enough to prepare the way before they ever arrived.
Thank you to everyone in District 7 who continues to give your time, experience, and willingness in service. Every group conscience, every committee meeting, every report, and every act of service helps ensure that the doors of Alcoholics Anonymous remain open for the newcomer we haven’t met yet.
In love and service,
Jason D. Decker
District 7 DCM