Fellowship of the Spirit Mission Statement
The Fellowship of the Spirit Conference is dedicated to carrying the message of Alcoholics Anonymous, as set forth in the book Alcoholics Anonymous, to both alcoholics and to those who are either members of alcoholic families or those who are in emotional relationships with alcoholics.
For four days at the end of each July, we meet to encourage each other to continue to work the program of recovery found in the Big Book and to offer concrete examples of success in our lives so that others will be inspired to incorporate this program of recovery into their own lives and to carry this message of recovery into their own communities.
Our mission is to foster the following spiritual principles:
- To live free of alcohol and grow in understanding and effectiveness, an alcoholic must abandon himself or herself to a power greater than themselves. That power can be sought effectively through the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Positive results have been established by thousands of alcoholics using this program over more than half a century of our fellowship’s existence.
- To continue to grow, alcoholics must enlarge their spiritual lives through repeated use of the spiritual principles contained in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous.
- Our very lives as ex-problem drinkers depend on carrying the message of Alcoholics Anonymous as set forth in the book Alcoholics Anonymous to those who still suffer from the disease of alcoholism.
- These principles of recovery and spiritual growth apply as well to families and others in relationships with alcoholics.
We recognize that, in a very real way, we belong to a spiritual fellowship, a family, born of our individual work in the 12 Steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. This Fellowship of the Spirit is celebrated during the last four-day weekend in July each year – and practiced throughout each day of the year in between. We look forward to continuing growth, individually and as a family, and we welcome new members and old back to our reunions in the Colorado Rocky Mountains each year.
Respectfully submitted Sunday, July 30, 1995 at Breckenridge, Colorado
Mickey Mussett, Chairman of the Board
Wording updated with the author’s permission, October 11, 1997 by Gary Archer, Conference Archivist; additional revision by the Board of the Conference, May 2014.
The Committee
Each year approximately 28 volunteers are organized by the Conference Chair to work on the details of the FOTS Conference. They meet monthly and in between they work diligently coordinating the different aspects of a 500 – 700 person conference. Duties include building relationships with the venue, ensuring we are meeting our contract deadlines, organizing the banquet, workshops and other events like the campfire meeting, dance, jam session, etc. The Conference Chair selects AA speakers for the conference while the Al-Anon Conference Chair selects the Al-Anon speaker and builds an Al-Anon committee to participate on the Conference Committee.
It is the responsibility of the Conference Committee to ensure that all aspects of the conference are in line with our spiritual aim, adhere to the FOTS Guidelines and uphold the FOTS Mission Statement. The Conference Committee has some autonomy in building the program for the conference such as deciding whether or not to include Traditions as part of the conference; selling or providing coffee at the conference; having a picnic or not, among other details.
We encourage all who would like to participate to join a committee. If you would like to give back to the conference that may have impacted you, serving on a committee is a great way to do that. There are many positions to fulfill and we hope that you feel inspired to put your contact information on the volunteer list at the conference for the following years’ committee.