The meeting opened at 7:05 pm with the Serenity Prayer and Introductions.

Introductions

Chair, IR Seekers of Compassion Al-Anon
Alternate Chair, IR Summit Hill Wednesday 5 pm Al-Anon
Assistant Treasurer, Midway Wednesday 6:30 pm Al-Anon
Literature Chair, IR Summit Hill Monday 6 pm Al-Anon
Group Liaison Chair, IR Inner Peace Thursday 11 am Al-Anon
Speaker Chair, Fireside Al-Anon
IR Fireside Al-Anon
IR Your Are Not Alone Al-Anon

It was noted a quorum (5% of 111 groups = 6) of Intergroup Representatives (IRs) was present.

Reports

Chair

Fellowship Weekend Hospitality Suite expenses for food were approximately $135 with $55 in contributions.

Vice Chair

Annual Gratitude Night flyers (Nov. 10) were made ready for mailing. The theme will be “ Name That Tune” and speakers have been arranged. A decision was made not to provide child care this year due to liability and expense issues.

Secretary

Minutes from the August meeting were approved without objection. The chair will continue oversight of secretary responsibilities until such time as a candidate is elected to serve out the remainder of this term.

Treasurer

She was not present but a report was handed out.

Assistant Treasurer

The Assistant Treasurer gave an overview of both income and expense reports in the absence of the Treasurer. Both reports were approved without objection. It was noted that our reserve fund remains unchanged and contributions continue to trend stable while increasing from recent past.

Event sales

Upcoming events are MN South Area Assembly (10/6), Gratitude Night (11/10) and Founder’s Day Weekend (11/25). Also noted was the District 20 annual potluck in January.

Group Liaison

She raised the question about what, if anything, could be done when group meetings use outside literature or conduct meetings that do not comply with the practice of our Twelve Traditions. It was clarified that Intergroup is not a policing agent. As individual members, we use our own judgment as to whether or not to confront practices we find harmful to Al-Anon as a whole.

Liaison to Minnesota South Area

The Chair will attend Minnesota South Area Assembly on October 6th.

Literature

Orders are being made about every 2 weeks and we are continuing to build our inventory to accommodate general group needs and upcoming event sales. An inventory of medallion needs is in process.

Newsletter

No report. It was noted we are hoping to publish another newsletter by the end of this month. All were encouraged to submit sharings specific to their service experience.

Office Volunteers

We have an updated list of office volunteers numbering 23 at this time. There have been 3 new members trained in the past month. Note was made of the need for Home (Remote) volunteers to take calls forwarded to them after business hours. Contact Judy (952-920-3961) at the Minneapolis Information Services for further information/training.

Public Outreach

We have been invited to participate with a table at the Health and Wellness Fair sponsored by the Hamm Clinic, NAMI and Landmark Center on October 10th.

Speaker Chair

He reported that St. Paul Intergroup and the Minneapolis Information Services are cooperating in filling requests for speakers.

Web site/Directory

He encouraged all to visit the Intergroup Home Page (www.al-anon-alateen-msp.org/pages/SPIGHome/) for information about Intergroup meetings, events, service opportunities and more!

Business

Questions and concerns

See the Group Liaison Report above

Insurance

We now have insurance covering general liability, business inventory and equipment for the office.

Spring Open House

Due to time constraints, the issue was tabled.

Bylaws review

A review of a By-Laws draft took up a substantial portion of our meeting time. Overview of consensus agreement by members present at Intergroup meetings these past months were presented. A 2/3 vote of approval after at least one month notice is needed by Intergroup Representatives to amend the by-laws. The two substantive remaining issues are:

1. Whether or not to include language specific to responsibilities for officers and committee chairs as an appendix to the by-laws or refer such inquiries to documentation updated as needed and kept in the office. Because the by-laws are reviewed for amendment every 3 years, it was suggested service positions were too fluid to be constrained or misrepresented in detail included in the by-laws document. Previous appendices were noted to be as long as the by-laws themselves and very much outdated.

2. The issue of whether or not to require a bond to cover replacement of stolen funds by elected officers and/or other check signers. The primary issues for consideration on this topic are standard business practice vs. the expense and potential for individual anonymity breach at the public level as well as the possibility of bringing the Al-Anon name into public controversy by activating a claim for loss. The draft proposal would state “all may be bonded” rather than “all must be bonded.”

After discussion there was a motion made and seconded “That the proposed draft be circulated to all groups and a vote be called for at the November 13th meeting.” This notification is in keeping with current by-laws which call for “written notification to all groups of pending changes.”

Note: The current By-Laws (2004) are available on our website. Go to www.al-anon-alateen-msp.org/pages/SPIGHome/SPIGBylaws.html. A decision will be made by current officers about whether the draft proposal needs to be printed and mailed to all groups or if notification might be made in the upcoming newsletter which would direct members to the website for review.

Reserve (ample/prudent)

This is ongoing.

Open Secretary and Service Committee positions

Due to time constraints, this issue was tabled.

The meeting adjourned with the Al-Anon Declaration at 8:20 pm.