I was first introduced to service by an old sponsor when he asked me to tag along as we went to my first Region 7 assembly in North Plainfield, NJ. This was 1989, I had been in the program only about a year and a half, and had only done some minor service work on the group level. I can remember that on the ride back home, I sat in the back of my sponsor’s car, and felt like eating the whole way back! I was exposed to conflicting personalities, and heated discussions; I was not used to this atmosphere at an OA event; I was used to the “warm fuzzies” of my regular Tuesday night meeting. I vowed never to come back! But of course I did come back, and I learned how “the business of OA” gets done. And without the service work done by regular OA members, who come together to address the needs of our fellowship, so much of what we take for granted wouldn’t exist. The books, the pamphlets, the websites, the podcasts and videos, none of that would exist without our members coming together to perform the service needed to help the still-suffering compulsive overeater who wouldn’t even know we exist. If Rozanne S, Bernise K, and the other original members of OA hadn’t done the work they did back at the time of our fellowship’s founding, OA could have simply been a little support group that never made it out of California! Most of you know our program is patterned after Alcoholics Anonymous, but what if Bill W. and Dr. Bob had kept the program top themselves? AA would have never been founded, NA would have never been founded, and GA (Gambler’s Anonymous) would have never been founded. And if you’ve read “Beyond Our Wildest Dreams” by Rozanne S, you will know that it was while attending a GA meeting in support of a friend with a gambling addiction that Rozanne got the idea to start a program for those with compulsive overeating! Everytime I read from the 12 steps and 12 traditions of OA, I’m reminded of the fact that I was fortunate enough to have been at the OA Business conference in 1993, in Los Angeles (the last conference held inLos Angeles before OA moved to New Mexico!) when the 12 steps and traditions were combined as one book! I will never forget the huge crowd of delegates that stood up and cheered when the motion to combine the steps and traditions were passed, and the book was sent to be printed. I was blessed to have been on the literature committee (as a green dot!), when we debated passages for the book. That service that I gave 31 years ago, still gives me rewards to this day, and will likely for my lifetime. Performing service is a pleasure, performing service is essential, performing service works to keep me committed to this program that has saved my life on at least two occasions. If you feel your program is not what you would like it to be, get involved in service. Whether at the group level, intergroup, region or world service; our fellowship needs you.
– Ed L.