The experience, strength, and hope of Al‑Anon members as shared in their own words is at the heart of Al‑Anon Conference Approved Literature (CAL), and The Forum is no exception. For our French- and Spanish-speaking members, we publish Le lien and Al‑Anon y Alateen en acción, bimonthly French and Spanish magazines, which use translated excerpts from The Forum.
Thanks to the Forum Editorial Advisory Committee (FEAC), submitted sharings undergo a review process, although an abbreviated one, that qualifies all three of our magazines as CAL. Each month, FEAC volunteers read 50 sharings and provide recommendations for publication to the Magazine Editor. Once a manuscript has been developed, it goes through multiple additional reviews by World Service Office Staff and a final approval by the Director of Programs and the Executive Director. For each issue of Le lien and Al‑Anon y Alateen en acción, the WSO Translation Team translates selected articles into French and Spanish. This process ensures that each issue of our magazines is consistent with Al-Anon policies and perspective.
According to our service tools:
- “The Forum can be used, and is encouraged to be used, by all members and groups for meetings. The Forum, as a concept, is Conference Approved.” 2018–2021 Al‑Anon/Alateen Service Manual (P-24/27), version two (2), p. 114.
- “The Al‑Anon y Alateen en acción magazine is a handy, readily available resource. We’ve had meetings in our [Spanish-speaking] group using topics from this magazine that led to great discussions and much recovery.” – Rosie M., Vice‑Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, 2020 World Service Office Annual Report, p. 21.
- “The idea of presenting Steps, Traditions, and Concepts in advance . . . allows members to use Le lien for monthly workshops on the Legacies.” – Thérèse S., Member of the Board of Trustees, 2020 World Service Office Annual Report, p. 21.
Consider reading a member sharing from this magazine to start the discussion at your next meeting or use the “Instant Meeting” section by reading the two short member sharings and discussing the questions that follow.
The Forum, December 2021
Feel free to reprint this article on your service arm website or newsletter, along with this credit line: Reprinted with permission of The Forum, Al-Anon Family Group Headquarters, Inc., Virginia Beach, VA.
What a great idea. I have also a meeting later in the yr, it is open to the public. I also go into a detention centre, as a volunteer and with another member we have an introduction meeting to introduce the women to Al-Anon, we also pass out the Forum to the women. They all love the Forum.
This post in so timely. I chair for our group this month. Our group does a Step and Tradition meeting on the first meeting of the month so I was planning on using Step 12 and Tradition 12 for our meeting next week. I love the Forum so I will be using the “Instant Meeting” from the December Forum for that meeting. I also plan to use the sharing on Tradition 12 from the Forum. We tend to pick our meeting topics from the 3 daily readers so it will be nice to try something different for a change. Thank… Read more »