What purposes do the
Twelve Concepts for World Services serve?
Answer
"The Concepts to be
discussed in the following pages are primarily
an interpretation of AA's world service
structure. They spell out the traditional
practices and the Conference charter principles
that relate the component parts of our world
structure into a working whole. Our Third Legacy
manual is largely a document of procedure. Up to
now the Manual tells us how to operate our
service structure. But there is considerable
lack of detailed information, which would tell
us why the structure has developed as it has and
why its working parts are related together in
the fashion that our Conference and General
Service Board charters provide.
"These Twelve Concepts therefore
represent an attempt to put on paper the why of
our service structure in such a fashion that the
highly valuable experience of the past and the
conclusions that we have drawn from it cannot be
lost.
"These Concepts are no attempt to
freeze our operation against needed change. They
only describe the present situation, the forces
and principles that have molded it. It is to be
remembered that in most respects the Conference
charter can be readily amended. This
interpretation of the past and present can,
however, have a high value for the future. Every
oncoming generation of service workers will be
eager to change and improve our structure and
operations. This is good. No doubt change will
be needed. Perhaps unforeseen flaws will emerge.
These will have to be remedied.
But along with this very
constructive outlook, there will be bound to be
still another, a destructive one. We shall
always be tempted to throw out the baby with the
bathwater. We shall suffer the illusion that
change, any plausible change, will necessarily
represent progress. When so animated, we may
carelessly cast aside the hard won lesions of
early experience and so fall back into many of
the great errors of the past.
Hence, a prime purpose of these
Twelve Concepts is to hold the experience and
lessons of the early days constantly before us.
This should reduce the chance of hasty and
unnecessary change. And if alterations are made
that happen to work out badly, then it is hoped
that these Twelve Concepts will make a point of
safe return." (GSC, 1960)
