The Twelve Service Concepts

Together with the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, the Twelve Service Concepts open another level of spiritual connection that codependents can experience with one another and with the Fellowship as a whole. They are a source of spiritual guidance for
all members of CoDA, and not solely for those in service work. The Service Concepts do serve as a framework providing trusted servants with direction and making them accountable for the work they do, like a spiritual lighthouse shining its light outward.

The Service Concepts are the next level in our recovery, as our Step Twelve states; this program of ours teaches us how to “practice these principles in all our affairs.” Furthermore, Tradition Three encourages us, as codependents, to learn about how to build healthy relationships in our work with others. The founding fathers of the first Twelve Step program discovered service to be a crucial component in their recovery. As codependents in a Twelve Step program, we move forward in our explorations, learning how the Service Concepts can aid in our continued transformation towards healthier lives and more loving relationships.

Through principles and guidelines, there is a spiritual interaction between the members, especially in the group conscience decision making process that is used in service work. No matter where our Higher Power leads us in our daily lives, CoDA’s SERVICE
CONCEPTS MATTER IN ALL OUR AFFAIRS!

The format used for the following Service Concepts recovery work presents each of the Twelve Service Concepts along with an explanation of their significance. At the end of each is a summary, including a major topic, the essence of the message, and the spiritual
principles within. Afterward, there is a list of questions for personal contemplation and/or group discussion.

The booklet can be used by individual members seeking to deepen their understanding of the Service Concepts and how service translates into more recovery. The Service Concepts may be studied by sponsors and their sponsees, in workshops, and in regular
meetings.

The members of the Fellowship of Co-Dependents Anonymous, in carrying out the will of a loving Higher Power, advance their individual recoveries, work to ensure the continuance of their groups and their program, and carry the message to codependents who still suffer. They may also collectively authorize and establish service boards or committees and empower trusted servants to perform service work.

Service Concept One refers to the message of hope we are asked by our loving Higher Power to share with members and non-members alike. When interacting with family, friends, acquaintances, or strangers who are not in a recovery program, we may be tempted to ask, “Who is really codependent and who is not?” It does not matter who is codependent, as it is not for us to judge or decide who is or who is not. What does matter is that “we” are codependent.

Sharing the message of recovery with other “codependents who still suffer” may be done in the most trying of circumstances. In recovery, we may face people and situations that trigger our codependence regularly requiring us to use our recovery tools. In recovery, we are learning to ‘respond’ rather than ‘react’ in an inappropriate manner; we are learning to be respectful and courteous. We are learning to love ourselves and to love others we may know well or not so well. Are we able to choose tolerance and patience when we are faced with daily challenges? We can thus cultivate compassion for others; we are able to choose tolerance and exercise courage in the face of fear. When we allow our Higher Power to show us how to be at any moment, we can rise above our struggles on the wings of humility and acceptance.

By doing Step work, we improve our behaviors and become examples and messengers of recovery for those we encounter, in our groups, in the Fellowship, and in all our relationships. When we consider how our groups and the Fellowship have helped us discover the difference between codependence and maturity, we realize that we can project a strong message of hope to those who are still suffering. If we feel that difference within ourselves, others may see that difference as well, showing that change is possible for them within the CoDA program.

Any member of CoDA, newcomer, or ‘old-timer’ alike, can take on service roles; this is the opportunity to learn and practice the Traditions. Service work includes opening the door and setting up the meeting room, attending a meeting and sharing, making coffee,
being responsible for finances or literature, taking minutes for group conscience decisions, or empowering a committee to carry on a specific task for the group or Fellowship as a whole—service work is service work. We are all trusted servants. Our Twelve Traditions and Twelve Service Concepts go hand in hand in promoting this principle. We do this work to ensure the healthy continuance of the group and/or the Fellowship at large.

If no one volunteered to open the door, set up the meeting, chair the meeting, make announcements, share their personal experience, strength, and hope, count the funds from the Seventh tradition, etc., there would be no meeting. Without meetings, the Fellowship could not sustain itself. We are the lifeblood of the Fellowship leading to the
world CoDA Service Conference.

The Fellowship of CoDA has the responsibility of determining, through its group conscience, the service work to be performed, and the best manner to perform such work. This authority is expressed through our group conscience. Authority carries responsibility; thus, CoDA groups conscientiously provide adequate funding and support for the service work they authorize.

The Fellowship refers to all levels of CoDA including individual groups, community service groups, such as Intergroups, and national organizing bodies or Voting Entities. The Fellowship comes together once a year regarding the service work to be performed in CoDA. Between CoDA Service Conferences, each group is autonomous. This means that at any level, at any time, if a group conscience is held, the group can authorize and determine with total responsibility and authority how service work is to be performed within their group, unless the decision affects other groups and CoDA as a whole.

As Tradition Four states, “Each group should remain autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or CoDA as a whole.”

The group conscience is a key spiritual element of the CoDA program. It is not the personalities nor those entrusted with responsibility who determine what is to be performed and how, but the group conscience of members as guided by their individual
Higher Power, as outlined in Service Concept One. CoDA service work, when directed by Higher Power’s will, ensures the continuance of the CoDA program. For this reason, we view those doing service work as trusted servants—trusted because of the spiritual method used to decide how they will serve the Fellowship and what work they have been entrusted to do. They are given authority and responsibility through the group conscience, and they are accountable to those they serve. Tradition Two, upheld!

What exactly is a group conscience process? As members of CoDA, we experience the group conscience process as one where all the members are asked to participate, and our Higher Power is asked to be the guiding force. When we recite the Serenity Prayer, we hand over our human will to our Higher Power, and we trust that the decision made is a spiritual one. The majority vote either supports or opposes the decision.

CoDA takes the group conscience decision-making process seriously because all members are accountable and responsible for supporting the group conscience decision, not just the trusted servants (Group Service Representative, treasurer, etc.) that were given the authority and responsibility to implement the decision. For this reason, it is
especially important to ensure that each voting member is aware of the impact on the group and CoDA as a whole. To ensure this accountability, it is customary practice for those in service to provide regular reports to the group conscience.

In addition to deciding what and how the work shall be completed, the CoDA group, Intergroup, or Voting Entity is responsible for providing the resources (financial, moral, and spiritual) needed to complete the approved work. For example, if the literature person needs funds from the treasurer to purchase new literature, those funds are supplied. The Traditions make it clear that the funds are not individual members’ personal funds but those of the group. Funds acquired by the Seventh Tradition donations at our meetings or online make it possible for the group to be self-sufficient.
(Tradition Seven—A CoDA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.)

Decisions about service work in the Fellowship and all CoDA affairs are made through the group conscience decision making process. For this spiritual democratic process to work, every member of the group is encouraged to participate, consider all the facts and options concerning the issue, listen respectfully to all opinions expressed, then reflect and meditate to find a loving Higher Power’s will. Finally, we deliberate honestly and respectfully to determine the proper course of action. Unanimity in the group is the desired outcome; a majority vote is a group conscience.

Service Concept Three touches on the very foundation of doing CoDA service work, i.e., working collectively to spread the message of CoDA using a spiritual and democratic group conscience process. In many ways, Service Concept Three is an extension of Tradition Two, which states that the ultimate authority in our deliberations is “a loving Higher Power as expressed to our group conscience.” It describes the process by which we come to an informed group conscience. Our experience in CoDA tells us that an uninformed majority can often be wrong, but a truly informed group conscience,
speaking the will of a loving Higher Power, is rarely mistaken. The group conscience process is not about “winning” or “losing” an argument. It is about finding the will of a loving Higher Power to come to a solution that is best for CoDA as a whole.

In a group conscience decision-making procedure, no one governs, controls, manipulates, or uses their codependent patterns to achieve their preferred or hidden agenda. There is equanimity; everyone’s opinion has equal value and is given proper consideration. If everyone in the group agrees to the same solution, this is ideal; if not, a majority is sufficient. A CoDA group conscience decision is like that of a functional family where members discuss issues openly with mutual trust and respect. Members of a CoDA group conducting a group conscience decision are expected to do the same, but to also seek to know the will and guidance of their Higher Power.

Another crucial factor in this decision-making process is full participation. Imagine a family where one or two members do not wish to join in making any decisions and compare that to a group where most of the members do not participate in the group
conscience. In either case, the decision will impact everyone in the family or group.

In CoDA, no one is forced to speak, but everyone is encouraged to give their opinion before we decide. Out of privacy, respect, and not wanting to control each other, we accept each member’s decision to be part of the process or not.

As well as having a desire for full participation, it is also important that the group conscience be fully informed and that we take special care to ensure that the minority opinion is heard. Those of us who are dealing with the disease of codependence can sometimes find it difficult to question an apparent majority opinion. Fear of conflict,
criticism, or attracting the attention of the group have been crippling patterns for many of us. For this reason, it is the responsibility of every member—not just those who are facilitating the group conscience process—to actively seek the minority opinion by
encouraging the members who have been mostly silent to share their thoughts.

Even if we disagree with the minority opinion, it is essential that all be heard. The minority may have a vital piece of information that changes the majority’s mind. They may see a connection to CoDA principles that others have not considered. If the group conscience is to be truly informed, the minority must be heard.

If the minority feel railroaded or shouted down—if they feel (even mistakenly) that they have not been afforded a fair opportunity to participate in the deliberation—there is no real unity in the final decision. Trusted servants who are working a mature, effective
program of recovery can accept a difference of opinion. They can agree to disagree, but no one wants to be shut out of the process. And so, it becomes every member’s responsibility to listen respectfully to the minority voice with an open mind.

There is a spiritual connection between this Service Concept and the Twelve Steps and our recovery. Working the Steps is a very personal and spiritual process in which we discover who we truly are. It can help us understand why we do not participate fully in family or group decision making, inside and outside of CoDA. Completing our Step work and Tradition work allows us to become spiritually, emotionally, and physically available—to our families, our loved ones, at work, and in CoDA service work. We learn how to bring the will of our Higher Power into the collective decisions we make for the benefit of all concerned.

What does a healthy group conscience process look like? Depending on the issue, the group conscience can take up to an hour or be ten minutes or less. During the group conscience, we consider issues that disrupt the group’s unity and health. Individually, we seek guidance from our Higher Powers, in our own ways, and then decide what we
think is the best solution. We respectfully listen to each person’s viewpoint and then consider what we are willing and feeling guided to do. We may then change our opinion based on what we have heard and recast our vote accordingly.

Tradition One states:

“Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon CoDA unity.”

It does not say “recovery depends on one member’s opinion,” although each member has the right to express themself. Our personal recovery
depends on this unity. Each member of the group participates in making the group healthier, which makes each of our personal recoveries easier. In the spirit of unity, we accept the result of a majority vote and support the group conscience, even if it is not our
preferred solution

All those who volunteer to do service work for CoDA by serving on committees, boards, or corporations are trusted servants, not authority figures. Ideally, trusted servants volunteer out of a desire to follow their Higher Power’s will, out of gratitude for the gifts they have received from CoDA, out of a desire to grow in their ability to create and keep healthy relationships, and to contribute what they can of themselves to CoDA. The Fellowship recognizes the need to select the most qualified people willing to serve as trusted servants. At times, trusted servants may hire individuals outside of the Fellowship for commercial services.

In Service Concept Four, the Fellowship of CoDA provides a list of reasons why someone would want to become a trusted servant. The list may not be complete, but the reasons listed have one common denominator—they are spiritual. Trusted servants are codependents with shortcomings; yet all reasons listed are qualities valued in trusted servants. These qualities are the by-product of a member’s good recovery; as a result, their experience, strength, and hope shine outwards while their connection to their Higher Power is strengthened.

Ideally, the members of a group need to be connected in the same way to each other so that as a group, they can reflect on a group conscience. They draw upon everyone’s personal connection to their Higher Power, ultimately leading to decisions that follow their Higher Power’s will. The need for a personal connection to Higher Power and a group connection to Higher Power applies at all levels of CoDA, starting with home groups and down through all levels of the Fellowship. In fact, as trusted servants grow within the Fellowship and participate at different levels of service, their group conscience process decisions are more likely to affect other groups or CoDA as a whole (e.g., Intergroup, a Voting Entity, or the world), and the need to follow their Higher Power’s will becomes more essential.

Personalities expressed as self-will are possible at all levels of CoDA service work, and trusted servants frequently need to remind themselves of the need to place “principles before personalities,” as stated in Tradition Twelve. The volunteer who wishes to become a trusted servant must be trusted and trustworthy and put their personal will aside in their service work.

In addition to keeping the CoDA principles at the forefront of our service work, anonymity is also essential. In service work, labels or titles of trusted servants are unimportant. Who we are, where we come from, what we do, or how long we have been in recovery is not important; it is vital to leave our reliance on these elements of ego at the door. In CoDA, we are all equal, and labels tend to distance us rather than to unify us. When we identify ourselves, all we need to provide is our first name; the only other consideration needed is “I am a codependent” or “I am a recovering codependent.”

Nevertheless, having the authority and responsibility to do the assigned work is crucial. It matters that the trusted servant is qualified to do the assigned work. In addition to an individual’s qualifications, their experience, strength, and hope in CoDA may become a large part of what qualifies them. Group conscience is extremely important in selecting trusted servants; this includes all those qualities mentioned: gratitude for gifts received from service, our desire to grow, maintain healthy relationships, carry the message of recovery, etc. The authority and responsibility given to our trusted servants can be a heavy load. However, if our personal reasons for doing service work are as stated in Service Concept Four, we will carry the load with integrity and humility, using the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions to guide us. These are the guidelines and principles
of our program of recovery, and they are also the ones we use in our service work.

We also apply the integrity and humility of this concept in our families and other relationships. We are all equal, but we are free to divide up responsibilities based on our individual interests and skills.

Service Concept Four also indicates that as trusted servants, we may not be able to do all the work required to complete our tasks. It gives us the authority to hire someone outside of the Fellowship to complete tasks when necessary, and when authorized, funds can be
allocated to pay for these expenses.

Trusted servants must keep in mind the gifts they have received from recovery including the CoDA Twelve Traditions. Tradition Two states that “our leaders are but trusted servants…” and not “our trusted servants are leaders.” We are all equal in service. Tradition Eight states that “Co-Dependents Anonymous should remain forever non-professional” since we serve unconditionally without a form of compensation or expectation but only to carry the message.

Trusted servants are directly responsible to those they serve and are bound to honor the group conscience decision making process and uphold those decisions concerning their service work. The Fellowship also recognizes the need and right for members to honor their own experience, strength, and hope and their Higher Power’s will as expressed to them. When the group conscience violates an individual’s own truth and makes participation impossible, the individual may relinquish the service position.

Service Concept Five identifies a trusted servant’s sources of guidance and inspiration: firstly, the group conscience—where a member honors all other members’ spiritual guidance; and secondly, when a member follows their own experience, strength, and hope—where a trusted servant (or any member) follows their own Higher Power’s will. Trusted servants are bound to honor the group conscience process.

It follows that all decisions that affect a group and its members are to be made by the group conscience.

This principle is supported by Tradition One, where we are reminded that “Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon CoDA unity.”

This accentuates the need for a volunteer to consider the common welfare of their group first and to not decide based solely on their personal beliefs. No one member governs. If we pay attention, we can see that all of CoDA’s principles come together spiritually.

This Service Concept also provides a disclaimer of sorts: If a trusted servant is not comfortable with the group conscience, they may choose to relinquish their service position. This allows a member to honor their own personal truth. If a particular individual feels uncomfortable with the group’s decision, for whatever reason, the group is assured that the trusted servant will express their truth. If such a situation presents itself to a group, the members may wish to look more closely at the group conscience. This process is meant to strengthen and enhance the common welfare and is not to be used to hold a group hostage.

The group conscience process—a spiritual and democratic one—allows a member to speak their truth and share their experience to request that a particular decision be postponed for members to be better informed.

This makes the process more honorable and beneficial for the group and CoDA as a whole. Service Concept Six, described later, also offers any member “the right to respectfully dissent” as a solution. Every member’s truth is spiritual if it is spoken as their Higher Power’s will.

It can be said that to ignore or exclude a member’s truth, for whatever reason, renders this spiritual process questionable. In addition to Tradition One, this is supported by Service Concept Three, explained above, as it clearly describes the elements necessary for this process to work as it should. Our spiritual principles come together for the benefit of the group and CoDA.

All of CoDA’s principles are intricately connected. One, examined by itself, may be profound, but when looked at together, the bigger picture comes into focus. Every member of CoDA has a truth or a personal belief on any matter— hopefully, as expressed through their Higher Power. Honoring our individuality and remembering our slogan, “To thine own self be true,” is an important recovery goal. The gifts of working the Twelve Steps and following the Twelve Traditions are learning that “I know a new sense of belonging” (Promise One), “I am a unique and precious creation” (Promise Nine), and, guided by my Higher Power, “[I] come to believe in my own capabilities” (Promise Eleven).

We come to understand that in our service work, we do not make final decisions in isolation or based on one person’s opinion. We need to consider our common welfare because it is with unity that our best solutions are found. Each member is responsible for being true to themselves, continuing to speak accordingly because each member’s experience, strength, and hope plays a significant role in helping others in their recovery. When members carry their recovery into their service roles, relationships, and personal lives, their trust and faith in HP’s guidance becomes stronger, and they expand their experience, strength, and hope. This is a never-ending, lifetime process.

The Fellowship guarantees trusted servants the right and authority to freely make decisions commensurate with their responsibilities and the right to participate in group conscience decisions affecting their responsibilities. Each CoDA member is also guaranteed the right to respectfully dissent during the group conscience decision making process. A member may freely and safely express any personal grievances if no person or group is unexpectedly singled out as the subject of the grievance. Members are encouraged to honor their own integrity as well as the integrity of others.

Service Concept Six explains that the Fellowship delegates to trusted servants the responsibility for making group conscience decisions on their behalf when necessary. This applies at all levels of service work—a home group, Intergroup, Regional group, Voting Entity as well as international service boards and committees. Special workers are entrusted with the responsibility and authority to act on behalf of the Fellowship.

This can also be applicable in our relationships as well. For example, in families at home or among co-workers at work, individuals are assigned tasks they are good at or have knowledge about, such as handling the finances. We entrust that person with the responsibility of making those decisions on our behalf for our common welfare. Trusted servants, in a relationship within the Fellowship, are another example.

This Service Concept gives us guidelines on how trusted servants are encouraged to participate during group conscience decisions. A service worker is given the right to express themselves fully during a group conscience. We have the right and authority to help make decisions; we have the right to dissent; we can safely express our thoughts, opinions, and differences without naming another member or a group, making it instead about ourselves. Because we make it about ourselves and not about others, we maintain our own integrity and responsibility, thereby giving us the right to be who we are, but
not at the expense of someone else’s integrity. That is being true to ourselves; that is being responsible; that is being accountable. As we respectfully express ourselves and maintain our integrity, we make it safe for others to do the same; there is a mutual trade-off—a
solution where everyone benefits from effective communication.

This principle can be easily transposed to our own personal world of experience, strength, and hope, where we can, as it says in our Step Twelve recovery work, “practice these principles in all our affairs.”

The connection between Step Twelve and Service Concept Six validates and clarifies how we are to behave and gives us solutions and tools to use when our codependent traits are being triggered. They provide the checks and balances we can consider not only in ourpersonal affairs but also in CoDA affairs. What we learn in CoDA regarding healthy and loving relationships can be applied to any kind of relationship. What works at the meeting for one or two hours a week, will work with family, friends, and acquaintances.

Trusted servants do practice the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions in their service work and in all of their affairs. Trusted servants do not seek power, prestige, wealth, status, or acclaim; do not govern, coerce, or attempt to control others; and do not push a personal agenda, promote controversy, or advance outside issues at CoDA’s expense. Since issues over authority, will, money, property, and prestige can and do arise in service work, trusted servants need to practice emotional sobriety, including anonymity, humility, tolerance, gratitude, making amends, and forgiveness.

Trusted servants are only human! Our emotions change constantly with circumstances. They are a sign of what is stirring within and can help us determine our response. As recovering codependents, we wish to manage those emotions, and even while being true to ourselves, we do not wish to harm anyone, including ourselves. We are reminded in The Welcome, that ‘codependence is a most deeply rooted compulsive behavior’ and that we try ‘to restore within us the emotional losses from our childhoods.’

Service Concept Seven states that trusted servants, although given responsibility and authority, must not seek personal power or acclaim through their service work and that they do not govern or control others to advance their personal agendas or egos.

In addition to the above issues, this Service Concept also proposes six healthy recovery traits to empower trusted servants:
“anonymity, humility, tolerance, gratitude, making amends, and forgiveness.”

These six traits can be used as benchmarks not only for trusted servants in their service work but for all CoDA members who wish to improve their
personal recovery and maintain healthy relationships.

When we “continue to take personal inventory” while practicing Step Ten, we review each day to determine how we are managing our recovery. This recovery accompanies trusted servants in their service. We have learned that we need to remain true to CoDA’s principles to be able to attain some level of serenity, courage, and wisdom; these three gifts we ask for when we recite the Serenity Prayer. Steps Ten, Eleven, and Twelve ask trusted servants to maintain contact with their Higher Power and to continue practicing the CoDA principles in all their affairs.

The principles – within Traditions Ten, Eleven, and Twelve – remind trusted servants to refrain from allowing outside issues to interfere with their service work on behalf of the Fellowship to maintain anonymity and to place principles before personalities.

When we read the Service Concepts on their own, they may seem remote and difficult to understand. Yet, they are essential in our recovery work in service. They are meant to complement the Steps and Traditions, and to provide additional spiritual guidance for
trusted servants to practice within their groups, so that they can remain safe places.

The CoDA Service Conference (Conference), through its group conscience decision-making process, guides the Fellowship in making policy decisions and in following the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. The Conference, though providing guidelines, holds no authority over the decision-making process of individual groups. The group conscience process is our decisionmaking process. Failure to honor this process may violate Traditions One and Four and a sanction may be imposed. The harshest sanction Conference can impose on an individual or group is to no longer recognize it as belonging to CoDA; this sanction may only be imposed on those who consistently violate the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, as determined by guidelines accepted by Conference.

The CoDA Service Conference is a gathering of Fellowship members who meet annually to make group conscience decisions that provide guidance to the Fellowship—for CoDA as a whole, for our groups, and for each individual member. The Conference uses the Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Service Concepts to guide their decisions. However, this Service Concept makes it clear that the Conference holds no authority over any individual group’s decision-making process.

This goes hand in hand with Traditions Two and Four:
“Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern” and “Each group should remain autonomous.”

The CoDA Service Conference guides the Fellowship but does not hold authority over the preeminent rights of a group. This is a very spiritual approach—one in which we have a Higher Power that guides us, but that also gives us freedom of choice and authority to decide for ourselves how to live and to operate. We are free to do as we wish; similarly, each group is autonomous and free to do what it decides, no matter the guidance provided by the Conference. Groups have the autonomy to do as they wish, yet the Conference has the authority to issue sanctions on a particular group that consistently violates the Steps and Traditions.

For example, the Conference stipulates that if a group wishes to go about its business in a way that goes against Traditions One and Four, it is not reflecting a true group conscience decision. Although it has this power, the Conference acknowledges our Higher Power’s will for us, which is to avoid harsh sanctions if possible.

Tradition One reminds us of two things: “Our common welfare comes first,” and “personal recovery depends upon CoDA unity.” The group’s common welfare comes ahead of any one member’s welfare in a group conscience. When there is no unity in the group, each member’s recovery is in jeopardy. When a group is overrun by personalities rather than by principles, it is not serving its members in a healthy manner.

As guided by Step Eleven, groups and trusted servants are encouraged to meditate and pray to their Higher Power when making decisions. This is the same approach we use in our personal recovery. As we grow in our program, Higher Power takes on a more vital
role; as members grow, the group and its group conscience evolve and our connection to the Fellowship and the Conference takes on a more significant role.

Where Tradition One speaks of the individual group and the responsibility of its members, Tradition Four explains that our groups are autonomous if we do not jeopardize other groups or the Fellowship as a whole. Connections to other groups and the Conference are similar, and it is incumbent on the members and their groups to proceed responsibly, with care for the rest of CoDA. Should any one member feel that common welfare and unity are not present in their group, they have the authority and responsibility to express themselves upon the guidance of their Higher Power. Based on the group conscience of trusted servants, Conference is also given the authority and responsibility to impose sanctions, which may result in an individual and/or group losing their status and membership.

By tradition, the CoDA Service Conference gives responsibilities to working committees composed of Conference Delegates and other CoDA volunteers or to separate service boards or corporations. All are directly responsible to the Conference. The scope of the work a committee does is determined by the Conference group conscience. The chairperson of each committee assumes the responsibility to ensure the work assigned to the committee is completed in a timely manner.

The richness and spiritual connection between all of CoDA’s principles are especially evident in-Service Concept Nine.

Tradition Nine mentions: “CoDA as such ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.” The message is clear.

Service Concept Nine states that the Conference (CSC) gives responsibilities to committees consisting of Delegates, volunteers, or service boards who are members of CoDA. Similarly, a group gives responsibilities to its committees or trusted servants who are members of the group. When any group sets up a committee to work on a project or an event or accepts a member in a service position, it is mirroring what is done at Conference.

What is the CoDA Service Conference (CSC)? How does it operate? These questions are answered in the CoDA Fellowship Service Manual, but to summarize, Delegates are members of CoDA who have been selected by group conscience to represent their Voting
Entity at Conference and are given permission by CoDA to be a voting member at the annual Conference, along with other Delegates from around the world. From these Delegates, the CoDA Service Conference forms various committees and boards to complete specific tasks, such as Literature, Finance, Outreach, etc. These committees and boards are answerable to Conference and the Fellowship on an annual basis.

On the surface, a member of a home group may think, “What does this have to do with me and my recovery?” or, “I will just let the group and the Fellowship take care of themselves, and I’ll just concern myself with my recovery.” Well, CoDA’s process of delegating and requiring responsible updates is also true, on a smaller scale, in a home group. What each member is responsible for in a group is also representative of what happens at the CoDA Service Conference.

To draw a comparison, a meeting’s treasurer, or the chair of a committee answers to the group. They are trusted servants assigned these specific tasks for which they are responsible to the group. As determined by the group, the treasurer may be required to submit a monthly or annual report, and the chair of the committee may be required to give an update. This is no different than the treasurer of the CoDA Board or the chair of a standing committee who is required to submit a report to the Delegates at the annual Conference.

Understanding this process that protects our ‘common welfare’ is what CoDA unity is all about. It is not something that just happens with ‘them over there;’ it begins with ‘us over here.

When the CoDA Service Conference is in session, the CoDA Board of Trustees is directly responsible to the Conference. When not in session, the Conference assigns its decision-making authority on material matters to the Trustees. The Board of Trustees is authorized to monitor the work of Conference-appointed service committees and may provide assistance or guidelines when necessary. The Trustees serve as the board of directors of CoDA, Inc., the non-profit corporation, are assigned custodial control of all money and property held in trust for the Fellowship and are responsible for prudent management of its finances.

Service Concept Ten identifies CoDA Inc. (Co-Dependents Anonymous, Inc.) a non-profit organization. There are two underlying purposes behind the creation of this legal entity:
a spiritual one and a practical one. Service Concept Ten describes both. The spiritual aspect aims to bring the voice of all members of the Fellowship together to provide guidance and direction at the annual Conference. The practical side addresses the need for a structure to handle the day-to-day operation and management of material matters between Conferences.

The spiritual goal of CoDA is “to carry the message.” To do this, CoDA has a bottom-up or ‘inverted pyramid’ structure, in which the groups are at the top of the pyramid, and the Board is at the bottom. (This structure is illustrated in the Fellowship Service Manual, Part I.) The groups have the final responsibility and authority through their Delegates at the annual Conference. Each group is represented at the annual Conference by their Voting Entity Delegate. The Group Service Representatives carry the groups’ conscience to their Intergroup or Voting Entity Delegate, who then carries the message to CoDA Service Conference. Similarly, the Delegates carry the message back to their Voting Entity or Intergroup, and from there back to the groups. With this structure, the spiritual goal of CoDA is maintained. At any time, the trusted servant (or any member) can carry the message sideways—as well as up or down the pyramid structure—to anyone who may be suffering. This spiritual purpose is supported by Tradition Five and Step Twelve.

For the practical day-to-day operation of the Fellowship worldwide, local groups rely on the trusted servants serving as Group Service Representatives, Delegates, committee members and trustees to carry out their responsibilities so that CoDA can continue to achieve its spiritual goal of carrying the message to codependents worldwide.

Service Concept Ten clarifies that when Conference is in session the Board reports to the Delegates; but, between Conferences, the Board of Trustees acts on behalf of the Conference on material matters (money, property, prudent management) and by overseeing and providing guidance to the standing service committees. The Trustees and standing committees, comprised of Delegates and CoDA members from around the world, ensure the ongoing day-to-day operation of CoDA between Conferences.

There is a direct correlation between sharing the message and becoming a trusted servant on either the world or the local group level. At the local group level, the group conscience decides how it will “carry the message” and which service positions it needs for the dayto-day operations of the group (money, chairing meetings, community outreach, literature, etc.) For example, to carry the message, the group can create committees to examine the possibility of preparing a workshop or retreat. The correlation between the
local group and the CoDA Service Conference is evident.

As a group grows in membership, so too does the need for trusted servants. The growth in local groups is reflected in the growth of CoDA worldwide. CoDA needs a steady flow of members willing to be Group Service Representatives and Delegates to CoDA Service
Conference. Ideally, they will also be willing to do the world service work needed beyond the group level to continue to carry CoDA’s message worldwide.

The powers of the CoDA Service Conference derive from the pre-eminent authority of the group conscience decision-making process. Arizona State law gives the Board of Trustees legal rights and responsibilities to act for the Fellowship in certain situations. CoDA, Inc.’s Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws are legal documents enumerating these Board rights and responsibilities.

Service Concept Eleven clarifies the powers bestowed on the CoDA Service Conference to direct the decisions made by its trusted servants, as the Conference has approved and outlined in the Articles of Incorporation that define CoDA. The need for the establishment of a corporation to organize and handle legal and financial rights and responsibilities became clear in CoDA’s early years.

The story of CoDA is told in the final essay of the CoDA Blue Book, titled “CoDA’s First Six Years,” written by CoDA’s founders. The story explains the “Birth of CoDA,” the spiritual nature of the Fellowship, and how it flourished from one group to a vast number of groups, leading to the need for incorporation. As CoDA blossomed nationally and internationally, the founding members and their team of trusted servants saw the need to provide structure and organization to the groups they so lovingly nurtured. In 1996, CoDA was incorporated as Co-Dependents Anonymous, Inc.

To this day, the Articles of Incorporation provide the legal framework and outline the rights and responsibilities for the Board of Trustees to act for the Fellowship “in certain situations.” The Articles also reaffirm CoDA’s spiritual principles and guidelines outlined in the CoDA Twelve Steps, Twelve Traditions, and Twelve Service Concepts, as well as the power of the annual CoDA Service Conference derived “from the pre-eminent authority of the group conscience decision-making process.” They also include the rights of the Delegates and the responsibility of trusted servants to provide spiritual and emotional assistance to those who still suffer.

It is the responsibility of the Delegates at the Conference to determine how CoDependents Anonymous, Inc. will continue to function from year to year. At the Conference, Delegates can suggest changes to the By Laws as they currently exist. Each motion will be seriously considered by the voting Delegates and Trustees using the group conscience decision-making process, as outlined in the Fellowship Service Manual.

The structure CoDA established to organize and handle its legal and financial responsibilities, help carry the message, and empower members to become trusted servants is available to all CoDA members and local CoDA groups. CoDA is no longer two people or one group, as it was in the beginning. CoDA has become a Fellowship that permits its members to decide what is best for their local home groups, Intergroups, Voting Entities, and CoDA as a whole, according to a Higher Power as expressed to their group conscience.

The Fellowship strives to practice and encourage spiritual principles in all its material, financial, and business affairs, including fairness, equality, and respect for individual rights. Every member within CoDA has a voice and is encouraged to use it. Every member has the right to know what is happening within our organization. To honor this right, and in the spirit of CoDA unity, our CoDA, Inc. organization publishes and distributes group conscience decisions, such as minutes of our service boards and motions from our CoDA Service Conferences, in the most inclusive and timely manner possible.

We each arrive at our first CoDA meeting in different ways and for different reasons, but we usually come because our personal dysfunctions have finally caused enough pain for us to realize things cannot stay the same, and we want our lives to change. Someone carried the message to us, and we decided to attend our first meeting. Our life journey and our experience, strength, and hope with CoDA have brought us to the moment when we are now ready to carry the message to those who still suffer.

The spiritual principles practiced throughout CoDA—of fairness, equality, and respect for individual rights—become principles we begin to practice in all areas of the Fellowship and our lives. Our relationships within CoDA and our personal lives begin to change, and we come to “experience serenity, strength, and spiritual growth” in our lives (Promise Twelve).

As Step Twelve and Tradition Twelve guide us, we begin “to carry this message to other codependents and to practice these principles in all our affairs,” making sure that we place “principles before personalities.”

As Service Concept Twelve states, in CoDA we have a voice and are encouraged to express ourselves in healthy ways in our meetings, in our service work, and in our personal lives. If we do not understand something, we ask questions. If something seems wrong to us, we check with our HP or our sponsor and then share our opinions openly, without fear of judgment or criticism. If we are concerned about what is happening in CoDA, we have a right to speak up and to be heard. We have learned to express ourselves in safe and respectful ways (Promise Eight).

Every member has the right to know about what is happening in CoDA. To honor this right, the organization publishes and distributes group conscience decisions, such as service boards’ minutes and motions. We do this in a timely manner that is easily accessible to the public and all CoDA members. CoDA Board Minutes and Policy and Procedures documents are posted on the website, as are all Conference Motions from the first Conference in 1987 onwards. CoDA also provides regular announcements to members who sign up to receive them. Practicing transparency and timely disclosure teaches us effective communication skills, and we carry these over into our personal relationships.

If a CoDA member does not have access to technology, they can approach any trusted servant regarding what is happening at all levels of the Fellowship. If the trusted servant does not have the answer, it is that trusted servant’s responsibility to find the answer or to direct the seeker to the right person for an answer. This is one of the responsibilities of the Group Service Representative as stated in the Fellowship Service Manual.

As codependents, we need to be careful that we do not provide information to those who have not asked for it. Newcomers may need some help finding out how things work, but for those who have been in recovery for a while, it is their responsibility to ask for help when they need it.

As noted above, Service Concept Twelve is the final piece of CoDA recovery—a spiritual program that gives the codependent guidelines and principles that they did not learn in their family of origin. We learn to love ourselves first; then we learn how to have healthy and loving relationships. We come to experience serenity, strength, and spiritual growth that we can share with others.

Summary: CoDA service work, when directed by our Higher Power’s will, ensures the continuance of the CoDA program through the collective conscience of the Fellowship and its trusted servants who carry the message.

Spiritual Principle(s): Carrying the Message in Unity and Authority

1. Which of the Twelve Steps does this encourage me to always practice while in service?
2. Do I participate in any form of service work? In what way?
3. If I do participate, what is my motivation for doing service work? If I do not currently do service work, why not?
4. As a trusted servant, what message do I carry into my recovery and my group? Into my relationships? To the CoDA Fellowship?
5. What are the benefits to me of providing service for my group? For the CoDA Fellowship?
6. In what way is service work carrying out the will of a loving Higher Power?
7. Are there reasons why I do not always follow my Higher Power’s will in my recovery, my relationships, or my service work?
8. Has my group had the opportunity to set up committees? If so, have I ever participated? Why or why not?
9. How do I carry the message to others? Has this helped my recovery? What do I believe is “the message”?
10. Am I doing so much service work that I am crowding out others, and building up resentment within myself? If so, why?
11. Is it possible that I feel a particular meeting task (setting up, opening doors, chairing, etc.) belongs to me?
12. How does doing my service work ensure the continuance of my recovery? My relationships? CoDA in general?

Summary: The group conscience of the Fellowship gives its trusted servants the spiritual authority and responsibility to carry out decisions regarding CoDA service work in an accountable way. The Fellowship is responsible for funding the work of trusted servants.

Spiritual Principle(s): Service & Responsibility

1. What do I believe is the purpose of the group conscience? When or where does a group conscience apply?
2. How do I participate in my group’s group conscience? What is my role in the group conscience process? Am I an active participant? Why or why not?
3. What is the ideal way to express oneself in a group conscience at any level?
4. How would I describe my experience with having a group conscience in my personal life/relationships? Was it positive or not? Explain.
5. How do I understand ‘authority’ and ‘responsibility’ as indicated in Service Concept Two? How do I explain “Authority carries responsibility” in all my affairs?
6. How responsible has my group been in supporting its group conscience decisions financially and/or morally? Has it been adequate?
7. In what ways is my group accountable to the Fellowship?
8. Whose authority is expressed in my relationships. My recovery?
9. How do partners/participants in a relationship express their accountability?

Summary: Decisions about service work in the Fellowship and all CoDA affairs are made through the participation of all members in the group conscience process.

Spiritual Principle(s): Group Conscience and Participation

1. What is an executive decision ? If I have experienced someone in the group making executive decisions outside of group conscience, how did this make me feel ? Why is this not appropriate?
2. Why is the group conscience decision-making process referred to as democratic? Is this different from the Community Problem Solving method ?’
3. How do I feel about sharing my opinion/thoughts during a group conscience?
4. How do I feel about sharing my opinion/thoughts in a discussion with a loved one (partner, child, sibling, parent, etc.)?
5. Why is unanimity a preferred result when voting? How is a tie resolved in a twoperson relationship?
6. What are the consequences to my personal recovery if I proceed without unanimity?
7. How can I encourage a person to speak or discourage someone who monopolizes the discussion, either in relationships or in the Fellowship?
8. What truly permits members to participate, consider, listen, reflect, pray, meditate, and deliberate respectfully when determining the proper course of action?
9. What system of checks and balances does CoDA use to protect the democratic process?
10. Are there such checks and balances in relationships with loved ones?
11. What is your experience with them?

Summary: Trusted Servants do not govern but participate in the group conscience process, thus ensuring equality.

Spiritual Principle(s): Equality & Higher Power’s Will

1. Can I describe a situation where I had an experience with a trusted
   servant whose motivations were not ideal? What impact did this have on me? My group?
2. What solution does CoDA recommend if a trusted servant is not trusted?
3. Am I intimidated by a trusted servant’s involvement in my group? If so, what solution does CoDA provide as support for individuals and groups or Voting Entities? How do I see this as being helpful for me?
4. What are some ways that I may be of service to my group? What are my motivations for doing service?
5. What role do The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions play in relation to the Twelve Service Concepts?
6. What are some of the gifts I have received from CoDA, and how have they been of benefit in my recovery and my relationships?
7. What qualifications do I have as a trusted servant? What about in my relationships? How many can I name?
8. How does my recovery support being a trusted servant? How about in my relationships?
9. When and where might I need outside help in recovery, in relationships, and in service work?
10. How do I come to terms with the understanding that there are no actual authority figures in CoDA when referring to Group Service
    Representatives, Committee Chairs, and Trustees?

Summary: We honor group conscience decisions and respect the right of individuals to petition for their point of view. When the group conscience is contrary to an individual’s own truth, we respect their right to express their minority opinion and to act according to their Higher Power’s will for them.

Spiritual Principle(s): Honor and Truth

1. How do I seek my Higher Power’s will when participating in group conscience decisions? How does Higher Power’s will apply in my recovery and in my relationships?
2. Do I have a trust issue with my Higher Power or with others? Where do I believe this originated?
3. How do I know that I am in tune with my Higher Power’s will in group conscience, in my relationships, and in my recovery?
4. When would it be important for a service worker to terminate their service commitment if they disagree with the group’s decision?
5. Is relinquishing my position the only resort if the group conscience does not agree with my opinion? Have I ever relinquished a service position when a vote went against my position?
6. What does the idea of ‘common welfare’ mean to me?
7. How openly do I honor and share my experience, strength, and hope at meetings, in relationships, at work? What would I like to improve?
8. To whom are trusted servants responsible? How would this apply in relationships?
9. Do I uphold decisions with those I am in a relationship with? What causes me the greatest struggle to do so?
10. In recovery, what resort do I have if my own truth is violated while being a member of a CoDA group?
11. Which is more important in a relationship: to honor the decisions made by the other participant or to abide by my own truth? Is there a solution to resolve that issue?

Summary: The Fellowship authorizes its trusted servants to make group conscience decisions on their behalf when necessary.

Spiritual Principle(s): Integrity and Free Choice

1. Have I had cause to express disagreement with a group conscience or personal group decision-making process? How did this make me feel? How was it received? Was I respectful and respected?
2. What does it mean to me to lose personal integrity? What is an example of when my personal integrity may not have been honored in my group, my relationships, or at work? How did this affect me? ?
3. What is my understanding of the purpose of a group conscience?
4. What is my experience of presenting or withholding my opinion of an issue for group conscience at a regular meeting? Did the situation get resolved as a result?
5. What is the best way to present an issue I wish to bring forward? Why is this important? How is this method applicable in all areas of my life?
6. What one character asset do I find most useful when I express myself openly and honestly in a relationship? How do I “honor my own integrity as well as the integrity of the other?”
7. In recovery, which character defect must I learn to moderate to best serve as a trusted servant?
8. How do I “safely express a grievance without singling out the other” in my group or in other relationships?
9. How does service work help my relationship issues?

Summary: Trusted servants given responsibility and authority, do not seek personal power through their service work, nor do they govern or control others to advance their personal agendas.

Spiritual Principle(s): Practicing Humility in Service

1. When have I witnessed emotional sobriety — including anonymity, humility, tolerance, gratitude, making amends, or forgiveness — being practiced by others? Did this bring about changes within me? If so, how?
2. What level of emotional sobriety do I feel I have achieved in my program? What helps me determine this?
3. How do I feel Service Concept Seven applies to myself, my service work, and my personal life?
4. What are some ways in which authority, will, money, property, and prestige have been an issue for me in my service work, my personal life, or at work?
5. Have I experienced situations where others have abused their power, control, authority, or prestige in their service work? In my personal life? How did this make me feel? How do I cope with this in a healthy way?
6. When has someone’s personal agenda caused me discomfort in my service work or in my relationships?
7. What tools have I learned to help me practice anonymity, humility, tolerance, gratitude, making amends, or forgiveness?
8. Is my group a safe place to practice my service work? Why do I feel this way?
9. What are the major shortcomings that prevent me from maintaining emotional sobriety in service work and in relationships? How does recovery help in this regard?
10. What gifts of recovery can I bring into my service work and my relationships?

Summary: Although the Conference holds no authority over decisions of individuals or groups, sanctions may be imposed on those who consistently violate the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions.

Spiritual Principle(s): Tolerance & Consequences

1. What is the spiritual connection between myself and my Higher Power as a member of a group and in the Fellowship as a whole? What is the connection in my personal relationships and with other trusted servants?
2. What does it mean to take ownership of my responsibilities in the group or CoDA as a whole? To my family and friends? Do I meet my responsibilities better in one relationship than another? Why would this be?
3. Does my group take ownership of its responsibilities to its members and to the Fellowship?
4. Why is it important for Traditions One, Two, and Four to be respected in my group, in service work, and in my relationships?
5. What can I do if a loved one does not honor ‘unity’ and our ‘common welfare?’ What about my group or colleague?
6. Am I ready to ask my group to honor the First Tradition? Why or why not?
7. Do I understand the full impact when Traditions are broken and what consequences may result? What can I do as a CoDA member if I see our Traditions not being honored?
8. What can I say about the presence of a Higher Power when the messages of our Steps and Traditions are not being honored in service work or in my relationships?
9. What is my role when guidelines accepted by Conference are violated in my home group and subsequently affect service work?

Summary: Through the CoDA Service Conference, the Fellowship assigns tasks to committees and boards to be completed in a timely and effective manner.

Spiritual Principle(s): Wisdom and Delegation

1. What service work do I currently do (committee, trusted servant, board, etc.)? Who am I answerable to?
2. What is my understanding of the meaning of ‘common welfare’ and CoDA unity?’
3. What do I see as the role of the group and its importance within the Fellowship?
4. What effect does my service work have on my recovery? On my group and the Fellowship as a whole?
5. What do I think would happen if I decided to start doing service work for my group or for the Fellowship? What if I stopped doing service work?
   What if everyone stopped doing service work?
6. What is preventing me from volunteering to do service work? What keeps me volunteering to do service work?
7. Delegation is a useful tool to help complete specific duties or roles. How can I use this in my service work? In the context of a relationship, how does delegating help?
8. When responsibilities are delegated in relationships or the Fellowship, how does this process ensure the greater good?
9. In a relationship, as compared to a committee, is the scope of the work the partners do determined by a group conscience?
10. How are the spiritual principles of responsibility and wisdom
    expressed in my recovery?

Summary: When the CoDA Service Conference is in session, the CoDA Board of Trustees is directly responsible to the Conference. Between CoDA Service Conferences, the Trustees are assigned decision-making authority on Fellowship material matters (money, property, management) which must be ratified at the next
CoDA Service Conference.

Spiritual Principle(s): Prudent Management and Mutual Trust

1. What is this ‘inverted pyramid’ and how does this reflect the spiritual purpose of CoDA?
2. How are the Steps, Traditions and Service Concepts interconnected?
3. What is the role of Higher Power in the group, the Fellowship, and
   my recovery?
4. How can I carry or share the message within the group? Worldwide?
5. What role do I play in furthering the growth of my group?
6. What is the role of the CoDA Board of Trustees? What would be the equivalent in my home group, Intergroup, or standing committees?
7. Which Traditions are represented at the Board level of CoDA’s service structure? Why should these Traditions matter for a home group?
8. Which of the Twelve Steps reflects service work at the Conference, Board, and standing committee level? What does this mean for each member?
9. How can service work enhance individual recovery?
10. How can ‘prudent management and mutual trust’ be applied to personal relationships? What other spiritual principles might be applicable?

Summary: The CoDA Service Conference has pre-eminent authority over how CoDA is structured and determines the scope of work for the Board of Trustees and all committees.

Spiritual Principle(s): Structure and Empowerment

1. How does CoDA’s incorporation protect me, my group, or CoDA as a whole?
2. Why was CoDA incorporated? Why are the By Laws important?
3. How may the need for structure of a small CoDA group be different from that of a larger group?
4. How does my group’s organization reflect the larger CoDA Fellowship? What examples come to mind?
5. The Board has rights and responsibilities. What are my rights and
   responsibilities relating to structure and organization?
6. What would happen to my life and my relationships if structure did not exist? What would happen in CoDA?
7. When referring to rights, why do I also need to consider responsibilities? What about the other way around? Which of the Twelve Steps does this reflect? Which Tradition?
8. If any member is concerned about CoDA’s structure, how can they suggest changes?
9. Are certain powers, rights, and responsibilities enunciated here
   applicable to a relationship? Two examples are: 1) “the powers… derived from the group conscience” and 2) “Law(s)… gives legal rights and responsibilities in certain situations.”

Summary: Every CoDA member has the right to know what is happening within our organization and has a voice which they are encouraged to use.

Spiritual Principle(s): Individual Rights and Transparency

1. What have I learned about the CoDA recovery program and its spiritual principles and guidelines?
2. How would I describe the level of transparency in my home group or service group?
3. Do I feel safe to express my opinions in my groups? If not, why not?
4. How am I encouraged to use my voice within the Fellowship? In my relationships? With my Higher Power?
5. As a CoDA member, do I recognize my right to know what is happening in CoDA as a whole? How well does my group share such information?
6. Do I listen when things are shared about what happens within the
   Fellowship?
7. Do I listen to others who share at meetings, in my relationships, and with my Higher Power?
8. Do I keep myself informed about what is happening in my
   relationships?
9. Does my group promote the spiritual concepts of fairness, equality, and individual rights? Do I observe these in my relationships?
10. What does recovery teach me about those who do not practice
    equality or fairness? What is it I can do, in a healthy way, for myself?