What is Central Office?  

In our populous area, there are functions common to all AA groups which are best handled by a centralized office facility. Our Intergroup Association is a partnership among the Middle Tennessee AA groups - just as an AA group is a partnership of individuals. It exists to aid our regional groups in their common purpose of carrying the AA message to the alcoholic who still suffers by establishing a Central Office under suggestions in traditions 8 & 9.

Principle Activities of Your Central Office  

1. 831-1050 - The Central Office is currently averaging 2100 telephone calls a month, and that number is expected to double in the next few years.
2. 12th Step List - Our most important phone calls come from individuals or families seeking help. Central Office maintains a 12th Step calling list, by area, of individuals who are willing to follow up in person or on the phone.
3. Our telephone is also the pipeline to persons seeking information about AA and the conduit between local, district, state or national AA members committees.
4. Central Office purchases approximately $100,000 worth of AA books and literature for distribution and resale to AA groups and others. This amount grows annually.
5. Meeting Lists. Every six months Central Office up-dates and publishes a Middle Tennessee Directory of Meetings.
6. The Messenger is published monthly as an information and idea source for AA members. Currently, 3,000+ messengers are mailed to individuals and are distributed among area groups. The distribution is growing.
7. Central Office is the clearinghouse for information and logistical support among individual AA members, groups, local and state committees, General Service Office in New York and the community at large.

Group conscience supervises Central Office through the Intergroup Association (commonly called the Intergroup Committee).

Intergroup's Structure  

1. All groups in Middle Tennessee are encouraged to name an Intergroup representative to express their group's view points and desires at the monthly Intergroup Association meetings. Financial support of Central Office is purely voluntary and is not required from any group to have a representative and a vote.
2. At the October meeting, the Intergroup Association elects a chairperson, secretary, treasurer, chairpersons for the PI, CPC, Corrections and Treatment Facilities Committee, and five zone representatives. These individuals, plus the Central Office manager, become the active Intergroup Steering Committee for the following year.
3. The association authorizes the steering committee to interview and hire a Central Office manager who is an AA member with at least four years of sobriety. It is the Intergroup Association's responsibility to outline and monitor the Central Office operations and activities from the majority vote of Intergroup representatives' formal resolutions.

How is Intergroup Financed?  

(a)Group contributions
(b)Individual contributions
(c)Sponsored activities
(d)Sale of AAWS literature

A financial statement is published monthly in The Messenger. The association also maintains a non-voting tax and legal advisor

The common concern of each Intergroup rep is to examine all ways we can most effectively carry the message of AA to all who want it. Here are a few of the activities:

Intergroup Service Responsibilities
- Group Conscience  

1. Seeking ideas and methods to improve the Central Office communication services outlined above.
2. Public Information (PI) and Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) committees work to provide information and services to individuals, media groups, government, religious, medical and other organizations seeking information about AA.
3. The Corrections Facilities Committee offers support, literature and cooperation to correctional facilities.The Treatment Facilities Committee offers similar assistance to treatment and medical facilities.
4. Sponsorship of activities such as local conferences, dinners, workshops or other committees specifically designed to serve theMiddle Tennessee AA membership.
5. Liaison Committee - Cooperation with the AA General Service structure locally and nationally.
6. Prudent financial management.
7. The last paragraph of the Middle Tennessee Intergroup Association By-Laws' states:

"The Twelve Traditions of Alcoholics Anonymous and Guidelines for Central or Intergroup Offices are accepted as guides regarding the functioning of the Middle Tennessee Intergroup Association of Alcoholics Anonymous."

Additional Information  

In this page we have distilled the principle responsibilities of the intergroup Association and the Central Office. If you would like to acquire the complete By-Laws' and AA Guidelines for intergroup/Central Office for your group, call Central Office and we'll mail them to you. (*The By-Laws were amended in 1982, 83, 87, 91, 94 & 95).

In 1979, the By-Laws of the Middle Tennessee Intergroup Association of Alcoholics Anonymous were adopted and published for the Middle Tennessee fellowship at large. The opening paragraph of the By-Laws is a statement of purpose:

"The purpose of the Association shall be to aid the groups in their purpose of carrying the AA message to the alcoholic who still suffers. An Intergroup Central Office, referred to as the Middle Tennessee Central Office, shall be maintained, supervised and supported by the groups and/or the individual AA members to carry out certain functions common to all groups -- functions which are best handled by a centralized office ('functions' as outlined in the GSO Guidelines and in the Service Manual). The Central Office may function as a clearinghouse for the circulation and exchange of information among all the AA groups in Middle Tennessee."

The model for our Middle Tennessee Intergroup and Central Office was drawn from the vast experience accumulated by over 500 Intergroups and Central Offices functioning throughout the world. This experience is published by our General Service Office in the document AA GUIDELINES - CENTRAL OR INTERGROUP OFFICES and other service documents. These guidelines and the Middle Tennessee By-Laws are provided to each local Intergroup rep.

Area 64 Tennessee State Archives  

"Whenever a society or civilization perishes there is always one condition present; they forgot where they came from".
-Carl Sandburg

From AA Guidelines "Archives":
"Like any other AA service, the primary purpose of those involved in archival work is to carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous. Archives service work is more than mere custodial activity; it is the means by which we collect, preserve and share the rich and meaningful heritage of our Fellowship. It is by the collection and sharing of these important historical elements that our collective gratitude for Alcoholics Anonymous is deepened."

Visit YOUR State Archives. They are beautifully displayed in a new facility.

Central Office * 176 Thompson Lane, Suite G-1
Nashville, TN 37211 * Hot Line (615) 831-1050 * Business (615) 832-1136
Outside 615 only: 800-559-2252
Fax (615) 834-5982 * Mon. - Sat., 9am - 4:30pm * mtcoaa@aanashville.org