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 Jones 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)

Click for page of snapshots from the 2001 Congress

Click for the former bylaws, superseded by the new bylaws.