As a Secretary, you are responsible for running a meeting where people feel safe and hear the message of Experience, Strength, and Hope. Arrive early and work with your team to ensure the meeting is set up beforehand and cleaned up afterward. You may ask for service commitments by inviting AA members to take on a six-month commitment.

A group conscience may elect a Secretary with a suggested sobriety of six months, though longer sobriety is desirable.

SCV Central Office has a Group Secretary Handbook for reference. From the Handbook.

The Treasurer is a trusted servant responsible for managing the group’s funds, including paying the rent and other authorized expenses, and making required distributions in accordance with group conscience.

Please refer to the Treasurer page for additional information.

This function may also be incorporated into the Secretary position. The literature person acquires and maintains a stock of AA Conference-approved and other books and pamphlets, meeting schedules, “Gratitude Gazette” newsletters, and flyers for AA events.

Most groups have a separate position for the coffee maker. The coffee maker ensures coffee is ready 15 minutes before the meeting starts and cleans up afterwards.

The greeter welcomes everyone to the meeting. This can be one of the most essential service positions suited to newcomers and old-timers alike.

The timer sets a time limit for shares. Depending on the meeting format, it may be one to four minutes, and there is an option to allow one minute to finish up. The limits are set by the group conscious.

Some groups give chips or tokens for different lengths of sobriety, such as a Welcome chip, 30, 60, and 90 days, six months, and nine months. Some groups may have different milestones.

Cakes or other desserts are purchased by the comittment holder for AA anniversaries (birthdays) that are celebrated with the group.

Some groups ask for a service commitment to clean up the meeting space after the meeting. This may include tasks such as resetting or putting away chairs, organizing the literature, and restoring the meeting space to its original condition.

This resource page is for Secretaries to aid them in a successful meeting.

• New Meeting Secretary Script (suggested format)
• Secretary Guidelines and Suggestions (AASCV.org)
• Safety & A.A. Groups (MG-25) (aa.org)