The 1999 Secular Recovery Convention

Originally titled the SOS Convention, the event grew out of preliminary discussions in Mexico and Florida.  Held in Berkeley, it had to be renamed the Secular Recovery Convention a few months before the event because of the court injunction against use of the SOS name in Northern California.  

Despite the obstacles, it came off.  There was a successful Saturday of workshops, morning and afternoon.  The highlight was the testimonial banquet in honor of SOS founder Jim Christopher on Saturday evening.  

But Sunday morning's business meeting [photo below] revealed some irritable personalities and major differences over policy.  Should we unite around one name, or stay with a divided image?  Should we aim for autonomy from our financial sponsor, or remain forever the sobriety tail on the Humanist dog?  Should we begin to organize ourselves in a democratic way, or stifle ourselves for the sake of the founder's well-being?  What should be the priorities of our organizational work?  

Skillful and energetic chairing by Valerie W. kept the discussion mostly within the bounds of civility and punted the major issues to an ad hoc study committee.   

Documents included here are the Delegate's Packet distributed to all then-known SOS meeting secretaries at the end of June, an outline of issues and FAQs distributed at the meeting, the signup sheet from the business meeting with a list of the Study Committee members, and two reference documents: The Certificate of Incorporation of SOS Inc. and the Bylaws of SOS Inc.

Photo by Bill C.