The following information will help guide you through the process of starting a new OA meeting.
Create a core team. Make sure you have a core team of at least three OA members committed to starting and attending this meeting on a regular basis. Core members should have attended a minimum of six Overeaters Anonymous meetings. At least one of these members should have at least six months of abstinence and is working toward achieving a healthy maintenance weight.
Find a location, day and time. If your group wants to meet in person, find a space where you can meet regularly, at a time that doesn’t conflict with another meeting in the same part of town. The 7th Tradition states that we must be self-supporting, accepting no outside contributions, so please consider making regular donations to the building in exchange for the use of the space. If you decide to meet virtually, either via phone or on Zoom, your group will need to purchase an account.
Register your meeting. Visit OA.org to complete and submit the OA World Service Organization (WSO) “Add a Meeting” agreement and form.
Contact Unity Intergroup. Use the Contact Us feature to let Intergroup know about your meeting, so we can add it to either the in-person or virtual meeting list and announce it in the newsletter. You can also request start-up funds by attending the monthly Intergroup meeting which is held on Zoom.
Determine how you’ll collect contributions. Open an account at a bank of your choosing where you can deposit 7th Tradition contributions or create a PayPal account. Once you have built up a small reserve, you can make 7th Tradition contributions to Unity Intergroup , Region 5, and WSO. Your meeting can decide how much to distribute to each entity.
Spread the word. Create a flyer to post at local community centers, libraries and the location of your meeting. If it’s at a church or synagogue, ask whether you can post an announcement in their bulletin.
Create a Leader’s Guide. Put together a binder with a script for the leader and readings for members. Check out the WSO Group Support page to find documents for different meeting formats, WSO 7th Tradition forms and more.