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New LifeRing Opens

In Guelph, Ontario

Denver LSR Adjusts Meeting Time,

Renews Meeting Room Contract

LifeRing Learn-In Workshop

In San Francisco Sat. 9/29/01

A public workshop for everyone interested in learning more about how and why LifeRing Secular Recovery works will be held Sat. Sept. 29 from 9:30 a.m. to noon in San Francisco, CA.  The location is 1201 Fillmore, corner of Turk, in the Kaiser Permanente Chemical Dependency Recovery Program facility.  Look for signs with the room assignment when you get there.  Marty N., author of Recovery by Choice, the LifeRing Press workbook, will give a presentation on the basics of LSR philosophy, and San Francisco LifeRing meeting convenors will be present to speak and answer questions.  For more information, contact the LSR Service Center at 510-763-0779.  

Message from LifeRing 

On the Sept. 11 Atrocities

A message to our members and friends: 

At this time of awful tragedy in New York City and elsewhere, my heart goes out to all of you. At times of crisis more than any other, it is vital to keep uppermost in mind the Sobriety Priority. After we have done everything within our power to aid the survivors and to restore what is left of normalcy, it is time for sober reflection and meditation. 

The political schisms in the world will only deepen now and there is an unprecedented danger of worldwide conflict on the horizon. We of LifeRing are united by a common imperative to live our lives free of drugs and alcohol, and to reach out with open hearts to all of those who are afflicted by addictions. We will not permit political schisms to divide us. All who wish to become and remain clean and sober are our brothers and sisters and we embrace them in love and support. 

Nor will we allow these crises to sidetrack us from our individual practice of the Sobriety Priority. Neither our lives nor the lives of those with whom we are connected would be helped in the slightest by drinking or using. Disaster is never an excuse to relapse. To the contrary. At this time, more than at any other, only sobriety can permit us to play a meaningful role in the unfolding events if active participation is required of us; and if we are in the role of observers, only sobriety can permit us to see, to receive, to process, to heal, and eventually to grow in understanding from the images of these events. 

I also want to say as publicly and clearly as possible that in any LifeRing recovery meeting everyone who wants to get clean and sober is welcome, including Muslims, Arabs, Afghanis, Pakistanis, Palestinians, Saudis, Yemenis, Sudanese, Sikhs, and all the other targets of the current hatred. And if the local hatreds were to turn the other way, toward Israelis, Lebanese Christians, Russian Orthodox, Armenians, Serbs, Croats, or Whatever, the message would be exactly the same: Welcome, brothers and sisters, sit down with us and join in our ring of life. Here you are safe to say how was your week and here you will get support for going through your personal crises clean and sober.

In sobriety and with love,

-- Marty N., CEO, LifeRing Inc., 9/11-14/01

Portland OR Convenor

Plans Wednesday Meeting

Anyone in the Portland Oregon area interested:  we are trying to start a meeting downtown Portland on Wed nights if you would like to help get it off the ground or just participate in the meeting you can contact me at merphywasoptimist@yahoo.com or 503-289-5638
Thanks, Sam Elliott

Wenatchee, Washington LifeRing meeting goes from "under construction" to first meeting in one week!

On Monday June 11, Paul J contacted the LifeRing Service Center to notify us that he was working to get a meeting going in Wenatchee.   He has succeeded and the first meeting was held Tuesday, June 19.  The meetings will be held every Tuesday at 7 pm, at BSA Building, 215 North Chelan, Wenatchee.  Contact him at  509- 668-1269 for further information.   -- 6/19/01

"Choice" Workbook Author

To Appear in Sat. Eve Chat

Marty N., author of the new Recovery by Choice workbook, will appear as chat guest Saturday evening May 12 in the Lifering chat room on yahoo.com.  The hour begins at 7 pm Pacific, 10 pm Eastern.  

Starting LifeRing

In Portland OR

I'm interested in starting a meeting in Portland, Oregon.  Anyone else in Portland interested in getting a meeting going, please contact me.  

Sam E., 503 289-5638 merphywasoptimist@yahoo.com   -- 5/6/01

Calling South Bend IN

For LifeRing Meeting

People in the South Bend IN area interesting in helping to start a LifeRing meeting, please contact Mona H.  -- 4/2/01

Author Marianne Gilliam 

To Appear in LifeRing Chat

Author Marianne Gilliam (How AA Failed Me -- see Review) will appear in the LifeRing Club chat room on Yahoo on Wednesday evening, April 4, from 9:00 to 10:00 p.m. EST.  Click to enter the LifeRing Secular Sobriety Club chat room.  (3/27/01)

Calling Warrensburg MO

To Start LifeRing Meeting

I would like to start a meeting in Warrensburg Missouri (about 50 miles from Kansas City) and I am hoping that there are others in my area who would be interested in attending and/or helping to found it. If you are, please contact John P. at bonodonna@hotmail.com . Let's help each other stay clean and sober, and please, let's leave mysticism out of it. Thank you, and hope to hear from you soon.  -- John P.  (3/20/01)

New LifeRing Meeting

Opens In Marble Falls, TX

A new LifeRing recovery meeting has begun in Marble Falls, TX, near Austin.  The time is Tuesdays   5 pm - 6:15 pm,  and the location is the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Counseling center, 705 1st Street, Suite 206, Marble Falls 78654.  For more information contact Sue H.  (830) 798-2734, SHART3@mindspring.com (3/19/01)

Historian William L. White to Appear in Chat Room

On Topic of His "New Recovery Movement" Essay

Historian William L. White, author of the award-winning Slaying the Dragon: The History of Addiction Treatment and Recovery in America (see review), will participate in a chat room at the LifeRing Secular Sobriety Club on yahoo.com at 10 pm EST on Sunday March 25 to discuss his essay "Toward a New Recovery Movement."  Click for a copy of the essay in PDF format.  Click to enter the LifeRing Secular Sobriety Club chat room.  (3/15/01)

New York City LifeRing

Starts Saturday Meeting

The first meeting of LifeRing Secular Recovery in New York City will start Saturday April 7 2001 at 1:00 p.m. in the Cabrini Medical Center, 227 E. 19th Street (between 3rd and 2nd Avenues).  Please sign in at the front desk.  Contact jsnow@panix.com for details or visit the NYC-LSR web site.  (3/2/01)

LifeRing Constitutional Congress

Adopts Democratic Bylaws

"We the members of LifeRing Secular Recovery, in order to establish a free-standing, democratic recovery support network based on abstinence, secularity, and self-help, adopt the following Bylaws."

Thus begins the founding document that the Constitutional Congress of LifeRing Secular Recovery enthusiastically adopted at 7:29 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2001, at the UU in the Pines retreat center in Brooksville, Florida.

The historic vote capped a full day of reports from the meetings and debate of specific issues within the proposed bylaws. The atmosphere was lively, direct, and mutually respectful. Participants worked hard to reconcile differences of opinion and to reach consensus. The final vote adopting the Bylaws was 23-1 with no abstentions. Directly after the vote, the participants embraced in a spontaneous group hug and broke out in cheering, laughing and dancing.

When calm returned, the Congress reconvened and elected three members to the new LifeRing Board of Directors. They are Jacquie J. of Alexandria VA, Shirley B. of Ocean City, MD, and Marty N. of Berkeley, CA. Jacquie and Shirley join the Board for the first time. Marty was a founding member of the Board, resigned at the Congress, and stood for re-election. All three were elected unanimously.

In addition to making the LifeRing Board of Directors subject to election by the Congress, rather than self-selected as in the past, major features of the new bylaws include:

• Parity for Online Meetings. The bylaws place online meetings (such as LifeRing email lists, forums, and chat rooms) on the same footing as face-to-face meetings.
  
• Annual Congress. Each meeting is entitled to send one delegate to the annual LifeRing Congress, which meets face-to-face. Each delegate has one vote.
  
• Meeting Charters. Each LifeRing meeting is considered bound by the Meeting Charter contained in Article 11 of the bylaws, and is entitled to a written charter document.
  
• Service Center. With the mission "To Serve the Meetings," the LSR Service Center is mandated to maintain a current meeting list, provide information and referral, and perform other services to help new meetings get started and support those that exist.
  
• Quality Assurance. To preserve the good name of the organization, the LifeRing Board of Directors is empowered to revoke the charter of any group that "persistently and substantially" violates a fundamental principle of LifeRing as to abstinence, secularity and self-help. The Board must justify any such action to the next Congress.
  
• Amendments. The Congress can amend the bylaws by a two-thirds majority, but cannot amend the basic principles of the organization (abstinence, secularity, self-help).
  
• Sobriety. LifeRing directors must have a minimum of two years clean and sober, and relapse automatically constitutes resignation.
  
• Money. All LifeRing directors and officers serve as unpaid volunteers. None obtains a salary or expense reimbursement. The meeting charter calls on meetings to contribute to the upkeep of the national organization to the extent each meeting sees fit. There are no dues.

The new bylaws were the product of months of discussion and debate on the LSR convenors’ email list (LSRcon@yahoogroups.com), and on the Bylaws Committee email list. Members of the Bylaws Committee included Ben G. of Missoula, MT (chair), Roger L. of Rochester MN, Larry D. of Vancouver BC Canada, Kathleen O. and Will P. of Sea Isle City NJ, Jacquie J. of Alexandria VA, Jill P. of Kalamazoo MI, Paula B. of St. Petersburg FL, Gloria M. of Montrose MN, John S. and Don R. of Gray’s Harbor WA, Betts of Half Moon Bay CA, Shirley B. of Ocean City MD, C.A. of Sapporo, Japan, Ed C. of Baltimore MD, and Marty N. of Berkeley CA. Roger L. presented the proposed draft to the Congress. Marty N. chaired the bylaws discussion. Tom S. presided over the final vote.

Following the formal session, participants lined up and each signed the new bylaws document as amended and posed for a group portrait. The evening closed with impromptu musical entertainment featuring C.A. (voice), Robert B. and Bill S. (guitars) and Patrick B. (bass). Bill S. contributed a poem written specially for the occasion.

The next morning, Sunday Feb. 18, the new LifeRing Board of Directors met for the first time. Among other actions, the Board re-elected its current slate of officers, namely Marjorie J. (Chief Financial Officer), Tom S. (Secretary) and Marty N. (CEO). The Board also set the San Francisco Bay Area as the site of the 2002 LifeRing Congress and tentatively set the date for March 16-17.

In addition to the three directors elected at the Constitutional Congress, current members of the LifeRing Board are Marjorie J. of Oakland CA, Tom S. of St. Petersburg FL, Robert B. of Morgantown WV, and Bill S. of Oakland CA. Two of the four holdover seats will become elective at the Congress in 2002 and the final two in 2003.

Participating in the Congress were LifeRing members from California, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, South Carolina, Texas, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and from Hokkaido, Japan. The location was a rustic Unitarian-Universalist church retreat center about 60 miles north of Tampa.

-- Marty N. 2/19/01

Click for scanned image of new LifeRing Bylaws document with signatures (PDF)

New LSR Group

On Long Island, NY

The Stony Brook LSR group is holding their 6:30 P.M., Wednesday meeting in the classroom at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Stony Brook, 380 Nicolls Rd., E. Setauket, NY (near the SUNY campus). The first meeting will be on February 28, 2001. For directions and other information, please contact Kathy: (631) 689-1683, or email: cgkccc@aol.com.

Tuesday Noon Meeting Starts

In San Francisco Civic Center

A new noontime LifeRing meeting will start on Tuesday Feb. 20 in the Civic Center area of San Francisco.  The location for the new Civic Center Lunchtime LifeRing is 65 Ninth Street, between Market and Mission.  The meeting will start at noon and go to 1 p.m.  Phone Mark C. at 430-2160 xt. 7458 or email markrconnors@hotmail.com for details.  (2/10/01)

Toronto LifeRing

Starts Meetings

I'm happy to announce that LifeRing Secular Recovery meetings are starting in Toronto on Tuesday February 13th at 7:00pm. If you have a desire to quit using alcohol and drugs, please come to the meetings.

At Toronto's LifeRing meetings you will find a warm, supportive environment where those in recovery can talk freely and privately about their problems. One of the regular attendees will present a recovery-related topic each week, and we'll have an open discussion period afterwards. Water, coffee and tea should be available.

Please visit our web site for more detailed information about LifeRing Secular Recovery in Toronto.

We'll be meeting every Tuesday at 7:00pm at Cecil Community Centre, 58 Cecil Street near Spadina Ave. Cecil Street runs east-west and is one block south of College St., east of Spadina.

The best way to get there is to take the 510 streetcar to the College Street stop from Spadina subway station. Streetcar service is very frequent.

If you're driving, you can often find parking on the east side of Spadina north of Dundas. If you're coming from some distance, I would recommend that you drive to the Yorkdale subway station, take the Spadina subway south to Spadina station, and take the 510 streetcar to College Ave.

I hope I'll see all of you this coming Tuesday, February 13th.

Yours in sobriety,

Geoff R., liferingtoronto@canada.com 

Cincinnati LifeRing

Opens Weekly Meeting

We have a permanent home for our Cincinnati LSR meeting now, Monday nights at 7:00 in the Old St. George Community Center near the University of Cincinnati.  Click for map.  And we have our own domain at lsr-cincinnati.org! Check out the revised website at:

http://lsr-cincinnati.org 

I'm also working on a flyer that we plan to post around the University, and I'm going to do a small mailing to treatment centers in the city to let them know that we exist. 

I've also joined the board of a startup organization, Recovery Resource Center http://recoveryresourcecenter.org, which includes alternative recovery approaches in its perspective.

-- Richard B. 1/28/01

New York City LSR

Starts Web Site

Joe S., founding convenor of New York City LifeRing, has launched a web site to help the local organization get started.  Click to go there.    1/28/01

Toronto LifeRing 

Starts Web Site

Geoff R., founding convenor of Toronto LifeRing, has launched a web site to help the local organization get started.  Click to go there.     1/24/01

Scottsdale AZ LifeRing

Finds Meeting Place

I have a confirmation to the meeting that I'm starting up here in Scottsdale AZ. The meetings will be held at 6:30 on Wednesdays in a house located at 7802 E. Shea Blvd in Scottsdale. It is located close to the cross streets of Hayden and Shea Blvd. But the location is tricky so it would be good if people would contact me for more precise directions.   Contact info email:gregorymg@bungo.com phone: day 480-332-6269,  evening 480-945-7255. -- Greg G. (1/21/01)

LSR in Pittsburgh PA

Gets Meeting Place

LSR-Pittsburgh now has a permanent meeting time & place in the outpatient building at Western Psychiatric Institute:

Friday, 5:30 p.m., Room 629-B, 3501 Forbes Avenue, in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.

For directions call William McCloskey, 412-824-7650.

Half Moon Bay CA

Opens Sunday Meeting

A new LifeRing recovery meeting has opened in Half Moon Bay, CA, on Sunday evenings at 7:00 p.m., convenor Sally L. has announced.  The location is at the Half Moon Bay Airport, at The Three Zero, rear entrance.  For further information please call 650-726-6164.  (1/3/01)

San Francisco Tuesday Night Meeting

Moves to Wednesday Night at 7:00 p.m.

The Tuesday evening San Francisco LifeRing recovery meeting at Noe Valley Ministry has moved to Wednesday evenings at 7:00 p.m. at the same location, meeting secretary Gary E. has announced.  The change is effective the second week in January, 2001.  The meeting room is on the left side of the church, on Sanchez at 22nd Street in the Noe Valley district.  The meeting time was formerly 7:30 p.m.  (1/3/01)