August 2020 GSR Report

Bakersfield Step Study

Sundays at 1:00 p.m.

Group 131-117 (V)


The group began on March 19, 2017. This is a step study workshop. The group uses the Nar-Anon 36 workbook. We typically cover one or two pages in the workbook per week.


Due to the COVID restrictions, this group switched from meeting in person to meeting online. The membership in the group then quickly evolved. Few of the Bakersfield members attend any Nar-Anon meetings or events any longer. Instead, the members active in the Sunday group are now from scattered locations around the USA.


The group has been going through the growth process many other online groups are experiencing.

  • The group has been holding short business meetings after the close of regular meetings.

  • The members voted to change our group status with the World Service Office. This group is now registered as permanently virtual, with no physical address. The designation “(V)” found in the find a meeting list indicates this is a virtual-only group.

  • The group agreed to Robert’s suggestion that we create a website for this group - https://sites.google.com/view/nfg-step-study.

  • The group agreed to register this website with the World Service Website Committee. There is now a link on the Other Sites page connecting the world service website to this group’s website.

  • Once the new Virtual Meeting page was created on the world service website, this group was added to that list of permanently virtual meetings.

  • The group now has a dedicated email address set up with an out-of-office auto-reply - SundayNFGStepStudy@gmail.com. There are typically fifteen to twenty newcomer emails every week. The automated response invites newcomers to attend but also encourages them to consider the permanently online meetings hosted by other groups as a regular SESH meeting is easier for a newcomer to understand than is a step study.

  • The group has not yet determined an effective way to do the 7th Tradition but is watching the experiments other groups are conducting.

  • Since, for most members, this study workshop is a supplement to their regular homegroup, it is unclear if this group will vote on regional topics.

  • This group has not yet explored the benefits nor viability of a group member’s contact list. For now, all through the group website and the group email account.

  • The group has yet to address shared hosting duties and shared access to the group website and email account.


Our attendance is typically between five and ten.