The Tri-County Intergroup office came to be in the fall of 2006 after much debate and controversy over the role of an intergroup office versus the role of a clubhouse.
Originally, the services offered by an intergroup office were handled by the manager for “The Office” located at 341 Droste in St. Charles, MO. This was not a problem until the health of the manager became an issue and he was forced to resign his position. This man provided many years of dedicated service to AA; he would be very difficult to replace. This was the beginning of a period of tremendous growth for what was then known as “The Information Exchange.”
As the board of directors for “The Information Exchange” sought to find a new person to fill the former manager’s shoes, it became apparent that he did far more for AA in St. Charles than they were aware. As time wore on and a suitable replacement could not be found, the board members began to solicit the groups for help.
During this process, the board found that there were many misgivings about the role of “The Office.” People were confused as to what its purpose was, why they should support it financially, and who should make what decisions for which meetings that met at that location.
Many groups thought that “The Office” was more of a clubhouse than an Intergroup and therefore, should be financially supported solely by the groups that meet there. Other groups thought that “The Office” was an extension of their own groups’ 12th step work and that we had a responsibility to see that meetings were held there. Some groups withdrew entirely from the debate and thought that there was nothing wrong with the way things were. One thing was true – resentment, fear and frustration were rampant.
Meanwhile, the members of the board still did not have a full-time office manager or any idea of what the true purpose of “The Office” or “Intergroup” was.
It took several meetings and a lot of time and energy, but it was finally decided that an office separate from the Droste meeting hall would be incorporated. The decision was reached only after much review of the AA guidelines for both an intergroup and a clubhouse, and was met with resistance from some members.
The resistance was short lived, however, and soon a set of bylaws were written and a temporary location was found. With these major tasks undertaken, the board set out to more fully implement the mission called forth in the bylaws. A new board was elected and tasked with finding a more central and permanent location.
Once again after much debate the current location, 305 Depot St. Peters, MO 63376, was chosen and the work began of letting the groups know about what it is we do here.
That brings us to today, as we continue to expand upon our mission of making the message of Alcoholics Anonymous available to more and more people throughout the Tri-County region. Join us and help make the possibility of a sane, sober, happy and useful existence available to alcoholics and their families.