Fridays at 7 pm Central US Time
This is a 1.5 hour Zoom meeting.
Tap or click here to join
Meeting ID: 833 2377 1344 Passcode: Compassion
To join by phone, call 346 248 7799,
enter meeting ID 83323771344, passcode: 5233736760.
One tap mobile in USA: +12532158782,,83323771344#,,,,*5233736760#
Tap or click here for worldwide local phone numbers
(a zoom.us page).
1. Introduction “Good day, my name is _____ and I will be your moderator today. Welcome to this VA 12 Step Study Group. This meeting is for persons who have been victims, persecutors and/or rescuers in the cycle of violence.
2. Serenity prayer “God grant me serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”
“You may mute and unmute yourself with the microphone button on your screen or by pressing * 6 on your phone. If you are not sharing, please make sure that you are muted.”
3. Read (or get a volunteer) the Preamble for Violence Anonymous
4. Read or ask a Volunteer to read: A word to newcomers (it’s on the Resources page too)
5. Read The VA 12 Steps & Traditions
6. Member Introduction (At about 5 past the hour) “At this time we introduce ourselves by first name only. This is not to embarrass you, but to get to know you.”
7. Reading and answering questions for each step before sharing (from our book And So We Begin)
8. Writing Time before sharing (10 minutes total with a 2-minute warning)
If someone joins the meeting during this portion, let them know that the group is writing and what the topic is.
9. Sharing (Until 20 minutes past the hour)
“Would someone be willing to be our timekeeper?” (Each Share is 3 minutes total with a 1-minute warning.)
“Now is the time to share our writing with the group or anything you wish to discuss on the Step. We ask that there be no cross talk – which means that we keep the focus on ourselves, address our remarks to the group and not to any individual. Please refrain from making remarks during another person’s share, and save questions and comments for after the meeting. Explicit descriptions of violence and/or violent fantasies can be triggering to other members of the meeting. When sharing about violent fantasies, we put our focus on our powerlessness over the fantasy and the feelings that trigger the belief of victimhood. If we get upset by what is shared we take responsibility for the feeling, and use the tools of VA to process the trigger and regain a neutral state of mind. Shares are 3 minutes in length. Please acknowledge that you have heard the time keeper give the one minute warning and the word “time” at the end of your share. You may mute and unmute yourself with the microphone button on your scree or by pressing * 6 on your phone. If you are not sharing, please make sure that you are muted. We are now open for sharing.”
10. 7th Tradition (At 20 mins past the hour) Our 7th Tradition states that every VA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. We pass a virtual basket and ask that you give what you can. The funds are used to pay the expenses of the fellowship. Contributions may be made on the 7th Tradition page on the website.
11. Contact Requests “Now is the time for contact (phone #, email, WhatsApp) requests. Please state whose contact info you would like and we will exchange info after the closing of the meeting.”
12. VA Related Announcements Now is the time for both VA and non-VA announcements.
First are there any VA announcements that affect this meeting or VA as a whole?
Are there any non-VA announcements about tools or outside resources that pertain to VA recovery?
13. Closing: “The opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you like and leave the rest. The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room. Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, but let there be no gossip or criticism of one another. Instead, let the understanding, love, and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time. The room will remain open after the meeting for fellowship. Will all who care to join me in the closing prayer?”
“My Creator, I am now willing that you should have all of me, good and bad. I pray that you now remove from me every single defect of character which stands in the way of my usefulness to you and my fellows. Grant me strength, as I go out from here, to do your bidding. Amen.”
14. Contact Exchange and Fellowship
Those persons whose contact info was requested can be shared now. We would like to encourage anyone who did not have an opportunity to share during the meeting to do so now. Also, if anyone has questions about the program this is an opportunity to ask them. Please keep your shares to about 3 minutes. The parking lot is open for fellowship.