New Group and Group Update Forms

The following forms should be used to update your group information or register a new group with Area 28 General Service. Send the forms to our Area 28 Registrar. We will register your group with the General Service Office allowing both records to be updated with one form, saving us both time.
Scan and email the form to Area 28 Registrar, [email protected] or snail mail it to Area 28 Registrar, 499 Broadway #225, Bangor, ME 04401OR simply email the information to the registrar, clearly identifying what group you are talking about.
  • Use this form to change your meeting location, time, or GSR contact or additional contact information Group change form
  • Use this form to register a new group or register a group that has been in existence but never received a group id number from GSO  new group registration form
  • This form is used to update the DCM and is here for convenience only; it has a very limited audience  DCM Change Form
  • To change your group online listing (or to post an event) write to [email protected]. NOTE: you still need to submit the change form to our Area28 Registrar or directly to New York.

Why Register Your Group With GSO?

Is Your Group Linked to A.A. As a Whole?

Most groups in the United States and Canada choose to be linked to A.A. as a whole by listing the group with the General Service Office (G.S.O.), as well as with the Area Assembly, district and local central/intergroup office.(1)
Groups listed with G.S.O. have either General Service Representatives (G.S.R.s), or “group contacts,” who act as channels for two-way information and shared experience. Once a group is listed with G.S.O., the group information is shared with the Area Assembly via the delegate. Group information may be first received by the Area, which then shares the information with G.S.O.
What’s the point? Each group linked to the local general service structure is automatically a part of the “group conscience” of A.A. in Canada and the U.S. through their G.S.R.’s participation in district meetings and Area Assembly.
Each G.S.R. communicates his or her group’s “conscience” on important matters of policy considered by the district and Area Assembly. During the Annual General Service Conference, the Area’s groups are represented by their elected delegate. Groups in our listings are included in the confidential domestic directories(2) published annually, which provide contact information for traveling A.A. members.
New groups listed with the General Service Office are assigned an identifying service number (ID),(3) receive a “Group Handbook” (through their G.S.R. or group contact), and are included in mailings sent to all listed A.A. groups. For instance, groups receive our bimonthly newsletter Box 4-5-9 that keeps them informed on policies being considered by the Conference, changes to A.A. literature, and when and where their Regional Forum will be held (Forums are weekend gatherings where current experience is shared). Additionally, G.S.R.s or group contacts for listed groups receive registration details for each International Convention, held every five (5) years.
How? To participate in services provided by G.S.O. to A.A. groups, it is vital to furnish simple information to G.S.O. through the Alcoholics Anonymous New Group Form. To notify G.S.O. when group information changes, i.e. the group contact or G.S.R. moves or resigns, and a new G.S.R. or contact is elected; or, when there is a change in the group’s location or meeting day(s) and time, please use the Alcoholics Anonymous Group Information Change Form. Group changes should also be given to the Area registrar/secretary, and to the District Committee Member (D.C.M.).
A New Group: When a new group forms, the members usually take time to decide on the name of the new group,(4) elect trusted servants, plan the time and format of meeting(s), and obtain A.A. literature from the nearby central/intergroup office.
A new group may first ask to be listed with the local district and Area, or through direct contact with G.S.O. Either way works well. When G.S.O. receives an Alcoholics Anonymous New Group Form, a copy is forwarded to the delegate of the Area where the group is located, so that the delegate may communicate the good news to the D.C.M. and Area registrar/secretary. Thirty (30) days after group information is sent to the delegate, the group is assigned an ID number for G.S.O.’s records, and a “Group Handbook” is mailed to the G.S.R. or group contact.
Your District: Regardless of how new group information is received, the D.C.M. will make contact and welcome the group to “general service.”
Whether a group is “new” or has existed for years, the D.C.M. is the primary contact through the G.S.R. or group contact. Group representatives attend district meetings where they are kept up-to-date on A.A. activities and topics of interest. G.S.R.s attending district meetings are an excellent resource for addressing group problems and concerns. In matters affecting A.A. as a whole, a group’s “conscience” is communicated to the Area Assembly by their G.S.R.
If you do not know how to contact your group’s D.C.M., Area registrar/secretary, and delegate, staff members in the General Service Office can often provide that information.
G.S.O. staff members are always happy to hear from A.A. members and groups. G.S.O. has two primary purposes: 1) to serve as a resource to better enable groups to carry the A.A. message of experience, strength and hope to the still-suffering alcoholic; and, 2) to provide services to A.A. as a whole which individual groups cannot usually manage, such as the publication of A.A. literature. The A.A. group is the fundamental unit supporting A.A. recovery.
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(1) To participate fully, a group lists itself 1) with the general service structure (G.S.O., Area and District); and, 2) with the local intergroup/central office.
(2) Domestic directories are: Eastern U.S., Western U.S. and Canadian. Each group is identified by city or town, Area and district, group name, meeting day(s), and G.S.R.’s or contact’s name and phone number. Alternate G.S.R.s or contacts are also listed. Directories are widely used by traveling members, so only groups that provide a G.S.R. or contact’s telephone number are listed.
(3) Once an ID number is assigned and becomes part of a group’s record, the number remains with the group and is not usable by any other group.
(4) Guidelines for naming an A.A. group are based on “group conscience” as expressed through the Annual General Service Conference. “The A.A. Group” pamphlet, the basic guide for all groups in Canada and the U.S., suggests that a group avoid choosing a name that might suggest affiliation with any organization, club, political or religious institution. New groups are also advised to avoid names that refer to “family,” “double trouble,” “alcohol and pills” or the name of any actual person, living or dead.” (“The A.A. Group” pamphlet is available at central or intergroup offices or through G.S.O.)
Rev.8/2/02                                               This is Service Material Available from http://www.aa.org