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Codependents Anonymous Service Structure

 

CoDA is structured according to our Twelve Traditions. When you hear at CoDA meetings that "CoDA ought never be organized", this does not mean that we are disorganized. It means that each group is allowed to function autonomously to meet its own needs, as long as it has no other affiliation except CoDA, and as long as it does not affect other groups of CoDA as a whole. Needs of the group are expressed by the group as a matter of its "Group Conscience". A "Group Conscience" is basically the consensus of opinion of the people in the group. Forming and expressing the Group Conscience is the basis for our service structure in CoDA

Each meeting is encouraged to select a Group Service Representative (GSR) to carry their group conscience to the Intergroup and/or the Voting Entity. VEs provide services to Meetings and/or Intergroups.  Meeting and/or Intergroup Service Representatives (GSRs) attend the VE meeting to attend to the material affairs of the VE and elect/select Delegates and Alternate Delegates. Integroups provide services to the local meetings.  These services may include meeting lists, news letters, speaker’s lists, sponsoring workshops or recovery events.  Intergroups may send one or more Group Service Representatives to the Voting Entity as determined by the group conscience of the fellowship Integroups provide services to the local meetings.  These services may include meeting lists, news letters, speaker’s lists, sponsoring workshops or recovery events.  Intergroups may send one or more Group Service Representatives to the Voting Entity as determined by the group conscience of the fellowship VE Delegates carry the will of their Fellowship to CoDA’s annual business meeting (CoDA Service Conference [CSC]).  They review and approve Committee reports and planned activities, review and approve the CoDA Budget, discuss and set policy, and elect the Board of Trustees for CoDA and CoRe.  Delegates also provide CoDA program guidance to the Trusted Servants doing 12th Step service on CoDA Committees National service committees are made up of members who donate their time and talents to focused efforts in support of CoDA Inc.'s goals and priorities national service committees are made up of members who donate their time and talent to focused efforts in support of CoDA Inc's goals and priorities Trustees are trusted servants who make up the Board of Directors of CoDA Inc. a corporation developed by the fellowship to handle our legal  and business needs CoRe publications Inc. handles the printing and distribution of CoDA approved literature for the fellowship

CoDA Groups

In CoDA, each group that meets on a particular meeting day and time is a different group. As groups get larger, another level of service responsibility is added. Service is needed within each group to pay bills, set literature out on the table, be a meeting facilitator, and other responsibilities. Officers may also be elected by the group to serve as Group Service Representative, Treasurer, and Secretary. Our leaders are Trusted Servants, they do not govern.

CoDA Communities or Intergroups

CoDA communities are area-wide groups that may elect their own officers to see that area-wide service functions get done. The Group Conscience of the individual groups is carried to the community group by the Group Service Representative (GSR). Typical functions of the community group may include publishing area meeting lists, manning CoDA information phone lines, and organizing area-wide picnics and conferences. To see what some of our communities are doing, visit our Communities page.

Voting Entities

CoDA is allowed to structure itself by electing its own officers and delegates. These officers are intermediaries in the transmission of the Group Conscience from the local groups to the CoDA service structure and vice versa. The CoDA board carries out service work such as providing CoDA literature, supporting programs such as H & I, and other task-oriented work determined by the Group Conscience.

Service Committees of Co-Dependents Anonymous

CoDA Service Conference (NSC) Committee: conf@coda.org
The function of the CoDA Conference Committee is to develop plans and coordinate activities necessary to provide for CoDA’s annual CoDA Service meeting. The committee is formed by members of the local groups of the host city and has as a minimum the following service leaders: Chairperson; Co-Chairperson(s), Treasurer, Secretary, and sufficient other members to accomplish all work required.

Finance Committee: finance@coda.org
The CoDA Finance Committee provides financial oversight, analysis, tracking, and advice to the Board of Directors and Fellowship of CoDA with respect to cash flow, prudent budgeting, financial stability, and monetary resources of the CoDA Fellowship.

Issues Mediation Committee (IMC): imc@coda.org
The Issues Mediation Committee facilitates dispute mediation for states/regions, communities, liaisons, and other CoDA entities as needed, using the Twelfth Tradition as our guide.

Hospitals and Institutions Committee (H&I): hosp@coda.org
The Hospitals and Institutions Committee develops materials and methods to support meetings in institutions, such as prisons and mental health facilities.

CoDA Literature Committee (CLC): lit@coda.org
The CoDA Literature Committee's function is to encourage and facilitate the creation of new literature written by and for the Fellowship of Codependents Anonymous.

Outreach Committee: outreach@coda.org
The Outreach Committee’s primary task is answering outreach@coda.org e-mail. The committee answers newcomer's and the Fellowship's questions, provides contact from CoDA to all meetings currently listed in the database, maintains connection of local meetings with CoDA, Inc. and State groups, and reminds all meetings to update their meeting information on a regular basis.

Service Structure Committee (SSC): ssc@coda.org
The Service Structure Committee’s function is to serve the will of the Fellowship, as expressed through the Conference, in keeping with the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions. Its purpose is to serve in an advisory capacity to determine the implications of motions to modify, alter, or amend the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, CoDA Service Manual, Twelve Steps, and Twelve Traditions, and other foundation documents, and to support, maintain, and create CoDA fundamental structural documents, including the Articles of Incorporation, Bylaws, Fellowship Service Manual, Twelve Concepts, and other documents, as directed by the CoDA Service Conference.

Convention Committee: convention@coda.org
The Convention Committee serves the Fellowship by facilitating the planning and execution of each CoDA Convention. Conventions are primarily spiritual in nature, similar to workshops and retreats. The Convention Committee’s goal is to provide the Fellowship with a CoDA Convention every two years.

Co-NNections Committee: connections@coda.org

Connections® is the on-line newsletter of Co-Dependents Anonymous bringing original stories, poems, and cartoons from CoDA members about their journeys through recovery. The committee reviews all submissions for compliance with the editorial policy.

CoDA Service Boards and Trustees

To provide continuity of CoDA's work between Conferences, Delegates at the CoDA Service Conference (CSC) elect members to serve on two service boards [Co-Dependents Anonymous, Inc. (CoDA, Inc.), and CoDA Resource Publishing, Inc. (CoRe)].

Participation on either board excludes participation on the other. Trustees serve as volunteers and are not paid. Trustees are responsible for the legal and business needs of CoDA or CoRe. Each board has but one purpose: to serve the Fellowship. Trustees are elected by the will and through the consent of the Fellowship as expressed through the group conscience of the conference. Each CoDA trustee has a vote at the CSC; the CoRe Publications Board has two voting members at CSC.

CoDA Board Conference Calls: First Sunday every month at 5:00 pm Eastern Time

All members welcome, see guidelines for participation.

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