Page 12 - The Twelve Concepts for World Service

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Concept VI

On behalf of A.A. as a whole, our General Service Conference has the principal
responsibility for the maintenance of our world services, and it traditionally has
the final decision respecting large matters of general policy and finance. But the
Conference also recognizes that the chief initiative and the active responsibility
in most of these matters should be exercised primarily by the Trustee members
of the Conference when they act among themselves as the General Service Board
of Alcoholics Anonymous.

e have seen that the “final responsibility and ultimate
W authority” for A.A.’s service activities rest with the A.A.
groups (Concept I), but to carry out this responsibility they must
delegate to the Conference (Concept II). The Conference, in turn,
must delegate administrative authority to the General Service
Board of Trustees. Again, it is helpful if you are familiar with both
the Conference Charter and the Bylaws of the General Service
Board to understand this relationship and the freedom of action
that the trustees must have.
The trustees have the legal and practical responsibility for
the operation of A.A. World Services, Inc. (which embraces A.A.
publishing as well as the General Service Office) and of the A.A.
Grapevine, Inc. These entities have a combined cash flow of many
millions of dollars annually. The trustees are also responsible for
A.A.'s public information activities. They are the guardians of the
Twelve Traditions. They are responsible for carrying the A.A.
message to other countries around the world. They are A.A.’s
“bankers,” overseeing the financial operations and investing A.A.’s
substantial Reserve Fund. (Read the text of Concept XI for a more
detailed account of their functions.)

Bill makes the point that although “our objective is always a
spiritual one,” nevertheless our world service is a “large business
operation.” “Indeed,” he says, “our whole service structure
resembles that of a large corporation. The A.A. groups are the
stockholders, the delegates represent them, like proxy-holders,
at the annual meeting; the General Service Board Trustees are
actually the directors of a ‘holding company.’ And this holding
company (the General Service Board) actually owns and controls
the two ‘subsidiaries’ (A.A.W.S and the A.A. Grapevine) which carry on
the. . . services.
“This very real analogy makes it. . . clear that, like any other board
of directors, our trustees must be given large powers if they are to
manage the. . . affairs of Alcoholics Anonymous.”