VSS Daily Opening Script
Printable Copy (word)
6:30 AM
Good morning, and welcome to Virtual Sober Start! My name is _______________ & I am an alcoholic! We’re all happy to have you here! Please stay muted to help eliminate distracting background noise.
This meeting has grown out of a brick-and-mortar meeting in Sea Cliff, Long Island NY and we meet here on Zoom, 6:30am EST, seven days a week. Every day has a different format and is literature based. Please visit our website at VirtualSoberStart.org for free resources, including PDF versions of the Big Book, Living Sober and other AA-approved literature.
I would like to thank our two Gate Keepers ___&___ who help keep us safe. For safety, if disrupted, we may disallow unmute—simply raise your hand to share.
Part of sharing is sharing time. We use a 2-minute timer and ask for only one share per person. ________ will let you know when your time is up. Thank you ______. Please refrain from cross-talk. A definition of crosstalk is in the chat.
I would also like to thank our secretary ____________ for putting up all the readings and information in the chat.
We’d like to welcome anyone visiting for the first time or anyone with less than 365 days who would like to introduce themselves. Please raise your hand to share your name, homegroup, and day count.
If you are in need of a sponsor, please use the chat to contact one of our available members. Some of our members that are available to sponsor have a green checkmark in their square. However, you are welcome to reach out to anyone you’d like.
We follow the safety protocol of Alcoholic Anonymous. A link to the Safety Protocol will be posted in the chat by the Secretary. If you are contacted inappropriately, or the message is disrespectful, please message a gatekeeper.
I’d like to invite anyone who is celebrating a yearly anniversary this month to raise your hand and share.
Now I’d like to introduce our Anniversary Chairperson __________, please tell us who is also celebrating an annual anniversary this month.
Anniversary Chair: (shares anniversaries & this paragraph, not the chair) If you’d like to celebrate your yearly anniversary with us, please fill out the anniversary celebration form as seen on the screen. Anniversary forms should be completed annually. We celebrate anniversaries the first Friday of every month for the previous month’s anniversaries.
Thank you_______(Anniversary Chair)
If you would like to make Virtual Sober Start (VSS) your home group, we encourage you to attend our meetings regularly. Our optional membership form can be seen on the screen or by visiting www.virtualsoberstart.org. These forms are only visible to the group chair and group secretary.
Business meetings are held the first Saturday of the month, after the meeting has ended.
In accordance with the seventh tradition: “Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions”, contributions can be made via Venmo or PayPal as seen on the screen. Please give if you can. If you can’t, please keep coming back. We want you more than your money.
With the preamble, we have: ____________
With the closed meeting statement, we have: _____________
As The 12th Tradition states: “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” What happens here, stays here.
Are there any AA related announcements?
At 7:25 I will announce it is time for a Burning Desire. If you feel you are in danger of taking a drink and didn’t get an opportunity to share here today, please take that time to share.
The chat will remain closed until 7:20 at which time it will be reopened for inquiries and fellowship.
If you need a meeting verification, the secretary will be posting information around 7:25am today. We ask that you request email verification before 7:45am.
6:40 am
'Today is a _______________ meeting." .... Transition to "Daily Format" (Monday-Sunday below)
7:25 am
"Now is the time for anyone with a burning desire to drink to share. If you feel you are in danger of taking a drink and didn’t get an opportunity to share here today, please take this time to share."
7:30 am
"This brings us to the end of our meeting. (Choose someone) ___________ would you like to close the meeting with your choice of the we or I version of the Serenity Prayer?"
How to Log into zoom.us and start a meeting:
To start the meeting, go to https://zoom.us/signin ('uncheck' stay logged in)
You can watch a video here on how to do that: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lRx5wCYSNRtnynmMSOgeiVmHssUJkuns/view?usp=sharing
*Please use the login info only to start the meeting. Please do not try to add/modify meetings or make any global changes to the meeting formats etc. Any changes to the meeting format and/or global settings should only be made after being discussed with and by the group at the business meeting. And please try to communicate with your team or any regulars to make sure only one person is opening the meeting each day.
A.A. PREAMBLE©
Alcoholics Anonymous is a fellowship of people who share their experience, strength and hope with each other that they may solve their common problem and help others to recover from alcoholism. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop drinking. There are no dues or fees for A.A. membership; we are self-supporting through our own contributions. A.A. is not allied with any sect, denomination, politics, organization or institution; does not wish to engage in any controversy, neither endorses nor opposes any causes. Our primary purpose is to stay sober and help other alcoholics to achieve sobriety.
CLOSED MEETING STATEMENT©
This is a closed meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. In support of A.A.'s singleness of purpose, attendance at closed meetings is limited to persons who have a desire to stop drinking. If you think you have a problem with alcohol, you are welcome to attend this meeting. We ask that when discussing our problems, we confine ourselves to those problems as they relate to alcoholism.
The 12th Tradition states that:
Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
What happens in Zoom stays in Zoom!
OPEN MEETING STATEMENT©
This is an open meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. We are glad you are all here – especially newcomers. In keeping with our singleness of purpose and our Third Tradition which states that “The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking,” we ask that all who participate confine their discussion to their problems with alcohol.
Serenity Prayer ("I" version)
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Serenity Prayer ("We" version)
God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Secretary Meeting Timing (all times are listed in EST):
6:00 am
✓ Open Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/signin ('uncheck' stay signed in)
✓ Let in Members until Gatekeepers arrive
✓ Assign CoHosts & GateKeepers
✓ Go to Meeting Resources/Day of the Week and open each of your "Reading(s)" for the day in a separate tab so they are easily brought up when you 'zoom share screen' at that point in the daily script
✓ Set up your computer screens for sharing in the order that the script requires.
6:30 am
✓ You or the Chair Mutes All and Chair reads VSS Daily Opening Script
✓ You 'Zoom Share Screen' and mirrors as the Chair Opening Script while using the VSS Website:
✓ Home - Weekly Schedule/AA Slogans
✓ Contact Us - Membership/Anniversary Form
✓ 7th Tradition - QR Codes
✓ Meeting Resources (Under Secretary) Preamble/Closed Meeting/Twelfth Tradition
'Post' in Chat starting at approx. 6:30 am each underlined item below:
Website Resources:
Please go to https://www.virtualsoberstart.org/ for Newcomer Resources including links to AA Literature, the Grapevine, FAQ & Speaker Recordings
Crosstalk Defined:
Please refrain from cross-talk as defined by Grapevine October 2011 as:
Not interjecting a comment during someone else's share.
Not criticizing what another person said.
Not telling someone what to do about their problems.
Not analyzing anyone else's psyche or situation.
Safety:
Safety Protocol: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/f-211_en_0422.pdf If you are contacted inappropriately, or the message is disrespectful, please message a gatekeeper.
Sponsorship:
If you are in need of a sponsor please use the chat to contact one of our available members. Members that are available to sponsor have a green checkmark ✅ in their square.
Membership:
If you would like to make Virtual Sober Start (VSS) your home group, we encourage you to attend our meetings regularly. Our optional membership form can be seen on the screen or by visiting www.virtualsoberstart.org. This form is only visible to the group chair and group secretary.
7th Tradition Donations:
“Every A.A. group ought to be fully self supporting, declining outside contributions.” Donations can be made at: https://www.virtualsoberstart.org/7th-tradition
Attendance Verification:
Request attendance verification for today’s AA meeting before 7:45 AM EST. The email address will be posted at 7:25.
Chat Closed:
Chat is now limited so that you can chat with the Host and Co-hosts only.
Daily format keep using 'Zoom Share Screen' for any readings
(Readings can be found at: VSSWebsite/MeetingResources/DayOfWeek)
7:20 am
Chat reopens (On Tuesday Chat is opened at 7:15)
Chat Reopened:
Chat is now open for you to chat with Everyone and Anyone directly.
7:25 am
Chair calls for burning desire
Attendance Verification:
Request attendance verification for today’s AA meeting before 7:45 AM EST at soberstartverify@gmail.com
Website Resources:
Please go to https://www.virtualsoberstart.org/ for Newcomer Resources including links to AA Literature, the Grapevine, FAQ & Speaker Recordings
Serenity Prayer ("I" version)
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
Serenity Prayer ("We" version)
God, grant us the serenity to accept the things we cannot change, the courage to change the things we can, and the wisdom to know the difference.
7:30 am
✓ Chair chooses someone to close the meeting with the serenity prayer
✓ Keep meeting open to allow for 'after' meeting discussion OR reassign host role if you need to leave
7:45 am (or later if needed)
✓ End meeting in Zoom make sure you 'log out' of mtg, this will end mtg for everyone
Everyday Meeting readings except the first Friday (same as above but in Slide Show format)
These will be updated soon!
Anniversary Friday Meeting readings, 1st Friday of each month (Slide Show format with Open Meeting Statement)
First Friday VSS Secretary Annual Celebration Slides
These will be updated soon!
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions (Link to the book, scroll down to see chapters)
Monday Step Meeting Format:
• Steps are done weekly, last Monday of the month is Traditions.
• The synopsis is read before each step/tradition and is located in the contents section.
6:40 am
Chair: This is a ‘jump in’ meeting - members read and share at any time during the meeting. Anytime a meeting is disrupted, we will disallow ‘unmute’ for all participants. If this happens, simply raise your hand and reading/sharing will proceed in the order that hands are raised.
• Chair first reads aloud the step synopsis in front of step book for that week.
• All members then participate in reading the step, taking turns & passing the reading off to the next reader
• When someone ‘jumps in’ to share- Secretary exits zoom share screen
• If or when no one is sharing- Secretary go back to zoom share screen the reading
• At end of reading Chair/Secretary please note last step/page read, that is next weeks starting point
Monday Tradition Meeting Format: (LAST Monday of the month)
• Chair is responsible for securing a speaker to share on the tradition for 5-10 minutes
• Chair first reads aloud the tradition synopsis in front of step book (Secretary zoom shares screen of reading)
6:40 am
Chair: I would like to introduce ________ who will read todays Traditions reading and share on it for 5-10 minutes.
Upon speaker completion
Chair: ________ for the reading and your share. This is now an open meeting to a show of hands, please use your raised hand feature to share and I will call on you.
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Slogans: drive.google.com/file/d/1trU-7HJcuXVf5OxnNO3ZDNc3z-aXWX3p/view?usp=drive_link
Living Sober (by chapter): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/14Vk9lROK1J4Ua59aJxYgwj8QNJqEkFRI?usp=sharing
How it works: https://www.aa.org/sites/default/files/literature/assets/p-10_howitworks.pdf
Virtual Chips: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1ymO8XLlY5-db7fJO4yhkq8AJz1yXq4rgNvdHtEkTCAw/edit?usp=sharing
VSS Meeting for Tuesdays Only
6:00 am
Chair or Secretary open the Zoom meeting https://zoom.us/signin ('Uncheck' stay logged in)
Chair ensures the daily team knows their role and everyone understands the safety TIERED approach.
Decide ahead of time who will Mute All
If the DISALLOW UNMUTE ALL PARTICIPANTS is used, coordination of the "Ask to Unmute" will be needed.
Gatekeepers should have assigned roles:
• One let's people into the room.
• The other "watches the room."
• If there is a delay (and on Sundays during meditation) communicate/message the waiting room that the meeting is being prepared and people will be let in shortly.
6:15 am
Gatekeepers begin general admitting.
Chair obtains READERS (This is a great opportunity to get new people or those who don't often speak.)
6:30 am
Mute All and the Chair begins with the script below.
Good morning, and welcome to Virtual Sober Start! My name is _______________ & I am an alcoholic! We’re all happy to have you here! Please stay muted to help eliminate distracting background noise.
This meeting has grown out of a brick-and-mortar meeting in Sea Cliff, Long Island NY and we meet here on Zoom, 6:30am EST, seven days a week. Every day has a different format and is literature based. Please visit our website at VirtualSoberStart.org for free resources, including PDF versions of the Big Book, Living Sober and other AA-approved literature.
I would like to thank our two Gate Keepers ___&___ who help keep us safe. For safety, if disrupted, we may disallow unmute—simply raise your hand to share.
Part of sharing is sharing time. We use a 2-minute timer and ask for only one share per person. ________ will let you know when your time is up. Thank you ______. Please refrain from cross-talk. A definition of crosstalk is in the chat.
I would also like to thank our secretary ____________ for putting up all the readings and information in the chat.
We’d like to welcome anyone visiting for the first time or anyone with less than 365 days who would like to introduce themselves. Please raise your hand to share your name, homegroup, and day count.
If you are in need of a sponsor, please use the chat to contact one of our available members. Some of our members that are available to sponsor have a green checkmark in their square. However, you are welcome to reach out to anyone you’d like.
We follow the safety protocol of Alcoholic Anonymous. A link to the Safety Protocol will be posted in the chat by the Secretary. If you are contacted inappropriately, or the message is disrespectful, please message a gatekeeper.
I’d like to invite anyone who is celebrating a yearly anniversary this month to raise your hand and share.
Now I’d like to introduce our Anniversary Chairperson __________, please tell us who is also celebrating an annual anniversary this month.
Anniversary Chair: (shares anniversaries & this paragraph, not the chair) If you’d like to celebrate your yearly anniversary with us, please fill out the anniversary celebration form as seen on the screen. Anniversary forms should be completed annually. We celebrate anniversaries the first Friday of every month for the previous month’s anniversaries.
Thank you_______(Anniversary Chair)
If you would like to make Virtual Sober Start (VSS) your home group, we encourage you to attend our meetings regularly. Our optional membership form can be seen on the screen or by visiting www.virtualsoberstart.org. These forms are only visible to the group chair and group secretary.
Business meetings are held the first Saturday of the month, after the meeting has ended.
In accordance with the seventh tradition: “Every AA group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions”, contributions can be made via Venmo or PayPal as seen on the screen. Please give if you can. If you can’t, please keep coming back. We want you more than your money.
With the preamble, we have: ____________
With the closed meeting statement, we have: _____________
As The 12th Tradition states: “Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.” What happens here, stays here.
Are there any AA related announcements?
At 7:25 I will announce it is time for a Burning Desire. If you feel you are in danger of taking a drink and didn’t get an opportunity to share here today, please take that time to share.
The chat will remain closed until 7:20 at which time it will be reopened for inquiries and fellowship.
If you need a meeting verification, the secretary will be posting information around 7:25am today. We ask that you request email verification before 7:45am.
6:40 am
Today is a beginners meeting. We start by sharing some AA slogans that were helpful to us as newcomers, all are invited to shout out any that come to mind!
I have asked ___________________________ to read How it Works
We celebrate milestones by recognizing these accomplishments ...let’s start with:
This is a time for newcomers to be recognized for their milestones, not to share.
Anyone celebrating 24 hours or just coming back...
Anyone with 30 days today or in the last week....
Anyone with 60 days today or in the last week... (continue in increments of 30 days or in the last week up until a year)
Please raise your hand if you have over a year of sobriety to show this works!
The format of this meeting is to read a chapter from Living Sober. I will start today’s chapter and then members read sections in the chapter, taking turns and passing off to the next reader.
Those who would like to read next, please raise your hand and keep it raised. I will call on you after the previous reader says pass.
I will briefly share on the reading and then we will open the meeting to show of hands, beginning with newcomers. Sharing is optional but we encourage you to share to allow us to get to know you better.
Instructional, not read out loud:
• Members participate in reading the chapter, taking turns & passing the reading off to the next reader
• Once reading the one chapter has concluded meeting chair shares on reading for 5 minutes or less
• Chair gives only minimum feedback to beginners only as chair deems appropriate. Chair also reminds newcomers to come 15 minutes early and stay late to get to know other members and form community and a support network
• Chair then begins calling on people with ascending increments of time to share beginning with 1 month and under, 2 months and under, 3 months and under...all the way up to a year.
• Once beginners have shared the meeting is then opened to a show of hands to anyone with any amount of time (participants should use the raised hand feature)
Thank you to the shares from those with under a year of sobriety. Now is the time we will hear from those with a year or more of sobriety. Please raise your hands and I will call on you to share.
Chair/Secretary note chapter read to pick up reading next chapter the following week
7:15 am
Chat has been opened to share numbers and other AA information.
7:25 am
Now is the time for anyone with a burning desire to drink to share. If you feel you are in danger of taking a drink and didn’t get an opportunity to share here today, please take this time to share.
7:30 am
This brings us to the end of our meeting. (Choose someone) ___________ would you like to close the meeting with your choice of the we or I version of the Serenity Prayer?
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Big Book (Link to the PDF, scroll down on the site!)
Wednesday Big Book Meeting Format:
• This meeting alternates between a chapter in the first 164 pages with a story in the back (Chair/Secretary keep a weekly record)
• This is a ‘jump in’ meeting, sharing at any time during reading is permitted
6:40 am
Chair: This is a Big Book ‘jump in’ meeting. Members ‘jump in to read then hand off, by stating 'pass'. You can share at any time during the meeting. Anytime a meeting is disrupted, we will disallow ‘unmute’ for all participants. If this happens, simply raise your hand and reading/sharing will proceed in the order that hands are raised.
• Chair begins reading where group left off last week
• Members then participate in reading, taking turns & passing the reading off to the next reader
• When someone ‘jumps in’ to share- Secretary exit zoom screen share
• If or when no one is sharing, Secretary go back to zoom share reading
• If it’s the end of a chapter or story and no one is sharing, go back to the reading, even if it’s the next chapter or story
7:20 am
Secretary reopens chat & posts verification email
7:25 am
Chair calls for burning desire.
7:30 am
Meeting ends, Chair chooses someone (If invited speaker, it's good to choose them) to close the meeting with the serenity prayer.
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Thursday Daily Reflections (Link to the AA Daily Reflections)
Thursday Daily Reflections Meeting Format:
• Chair secures speaker prior to meeting
• Speaker reads that day’s daily reflection twice (Secretary Zoom Share Screen).
• Speaker then shares on reading for 5-10 minutes.
6:40 am
The Chair gives a short introduction for the speaker and let's them know to read the Daily Reflection twice and then share.
Chair: Thank you _________ for reading and your share. This Is A Round Robin Meeting I will call on people to share [try to pick members we usually don’t hear from] Anytime a meeting is disrupted, we will disallow ‘unmute’ for all participants. If this happens, you will be asked to unmute as you are called. Around 7:15 - we will go to a show of hands format for sharing.
7:15 am
Chair: This is now an open meeting to a show of hands, please use your raised hand feature to share and I will call on you in the order I see you.
Chair calls for burning desire.
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Promises: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1DjIIJBbv_h6M6W9OIeOxU9oVu8EC-f7ZzaEOcu6aR6Q/edit?usp=sharing
Friday Promises Meeting Format:
• Chair secures speaker prior to meeting
• Speaker reads introduction to promises, Speaker then reads promise for current week.
• Speaker then shares on reading for 5-10 minutes.
6:40 am
The Chair gives a short introduction for the speaker and lets them know to read the full 'intro' part to the Promises and then the Promise # VSS is on for that week.
Chair: Thank you _________ for reading and your share. This Is A Round Robin Meeting I will call on people to share [try to pick members we usually don’t hear from] Anytime a meeting is disrupted, we will disallow ‘unmute’ for all participants. If this happens, you will be asked to unmute as you are called. Around 7:15 - we will go to a show of hands format for sharing.
7:15 am
Chair: This is now an open meeting to a show of hands, please use your raised hand feature to share and I will call on you in the order I see you.
7:25 am
Chair calls for burning desire.
7:30 am
Meeting ends, Chair chooses someone (If invited speaker, it's good to choose them) to close the meeting with the serenity prayer.
Saturday Speaker Meeting Format:
• Chair secures speaker prior to meeting
• Speaker shares their experience, strength & hope for around 15 minutes
6:40 am
The Chair gives a short introduction for the speaker.
Chair: Today is a speaker meeting. I would like to introduce __________ who will share their experience, strength and hope for around 15-20 minutes.
Upon speaker completion...
Chair: Thank you ________ for your share. This is now an open meeting to a show of hands, please use your raised hand feature to share and I will call on you.
7:25 am
Chair calls for burning desire.
7:30 am
Meeting ends, Chair chooses someone (If invited speaker, it's good to choose them) to close the meeting with the serenity prayer.
Secretary 'Zoom Share Screen' Daily Reading materials:
Reading "As Bill Sees It": https://drive.google.com/file/d/1iZuULO2O4cFOniTYPFqd74IrqtPg5L6l/view?usp=sharing
Burning candle video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrDUTpeGW0A
NOTE: Secretaries should open the youtube video ahead of the meeting to make sure it's ready.
Sunday Meditation Meeting Format:
• Chair secures speaker prior to meeting
• Speaker will choose a passage from “As Bill See’s It." Be sure to advise them they will read the passage before and after meditation.
6:40 am
The Chair gives a short introduction for the speaker and lets them know to read their choice from “As Bill See’s It."
Chair: We will now have a 10 minute silent meditation.
• Secretary Zoom Share Screen burning candle.
Chair: _________, please read the passage again and share for about 5-10 minutes.
Upon speaker completion...
Chair: Thank you ________ for your share. This is now an open meeting to a show of hands, please use your raised hand feature to share and I will call on you.
Chair calls for burning desire.
Our Declaration of Unity
This we owe to A.A.'s future: to place our common welfare first; to keep our fellowship united. For on A.A. unity depend our lives and the lives of those to come.
Responsibility Statement
I am responsible when anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help, I want the hand of AA always to be there, and for that I am responsible.
Agenda (current and archived)
Meeting Minutes (current and archived)
Virtual SoberStart Group Conscience Reference Log
Virtual SoberStart Group Conscience Full Reference Log