Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon The Recovery Group's unity.

The Recovery Group's loops and meetings are set up for the specific purpose of sharing experience, strength and hope with one another. We ask that there be no posting of disruptive messages. Anything that one would share in a face-to-face meeting is welcome here. Anything not appropriate to share in a face-to-face meeting is not appropriate on our loops or in our meetings. We also ask that no chain letters, commercial messages, virus warning hoaxes or things of that nature be sent. In our loops and in our meetings, our members are lovingly guided to keep the needs of the whole group in mind. We are not alone anymore. We are connected to our fellow human beings around the world. The Recovery Group's unity is a life and death matter for us and we take these guidelines very seriously.

In addition, we speak the language of The Recovery Group here. Religion, food talk and politics are three subjects which seem to cause controversy; so, we ask that members confine their sharing to their own experience, strength and hope. Inspirational literature is found in many places and as long as it doesn't offend, violate our guidelines, or infringe on a copyright, our members are free to use whatever they like in expressing their experience, strength and hope. We have created some Twelve Step loops for compulsive overeaters with secondary issues. Some compulsive eaters find that these loops enable them to work a better Twelve Step program where they can address these secondary issues in harmony and peace with others. And, finally, we do unto others as we would have them do unto us.

For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority ~ a loving God as He may express Himself in our informed group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.

The ultimate authority of The Recovery Group is a loving God as He is expressed in our informed group conscience. Each member of our fellowship is important and each member shares a responsibility for the operation of our group. When there is a need, The Recovery Group as a whole, or as individual loops, will have a group conscience whereby each loop member is entitled to vote. The group will abide by the collective decision of its members. The Recovery Group is served by an Intergroup composed of Trusted Servants of our fellowship. Trusted Servants assume their assignments from year to year, beginning on the first day of January, and serve in whatever position they and the Intergroup together deem best. There is also a List Manager required by the List Server and this is usually the creator of the list. The List Manager is a volunteer and has special skills related to a broad spectrum of the technical aspects of running a list smoothly.

The only requirement for membership in The Recovery Group is a desire to stop eating compulsively.

The only requirement to be on our lists or to attend our meetings is a desire to stop eating compulsively. No person who has this desire will ever be barred from the group. The Recovery Group is where we learn to open our hearts and where we have unconditional acceptance. And, if we so desire, The Recovery Group can become our recovery home. The Recovery Group is a fellowship specifically for compulsive eaters; however, as mentioned in the implementation of Guideline One, some of our loops stress a second issue which is exacerbated by being a compulsive eater. Nevertheless, first and foremost, these loops are here for the main purpose of providing compulsive eaters a safe and serene place to work a Twelve Step recovery program and to carry the message to others who suffer.

Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or The Recovery Group as a whole.

The Recovery Group is not affiliated with any other group or organization. Because Guideline Four gives the loops in our community the freedom to do what works best for them, The Recovery Group has set up guidelines and procedures which work best in cyberspace. Our discussion groups and meetings are unlike face-to-face meetings because we serve thousands of compulsive eaters 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are technical skills demanded here of Trusted Servants that face- to-face meetings do not require. But because we are all compulsive eaters, we are more alike than different and our guidelines serve us the same as they serve our brothers and sisters in the face-to-face meetings we also attend. The Recovery Group strives to always live by the principles embodied in our guidelines.

Each group has but one primary purpose ~ to carry its message to the compulsive eater who still suffers.

Our primary purpose is to bring the message of recovery to the compulsive eater who still suffers and is reaching out for help in cyberspace. This is a vast medium which has great potential for carrying the message of our program of recovery to those who still suffer. The Recovery Group members realize we cannot keep the precious gifts of our own recovery unless we give recovery away by sharing the message of the Twelve Steps.

In keeping with our primary purpose, The Recovery Group is a recovery home; therefore, flames, attacks and unkind words are not welcome here. Those who persist in doing this will be disallowed to post until they can commit to the Trusted Servants that the guidelines will be honored.

The Recovery Group should never endorse, finance, or lend its name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary spiritual aim.

The Recovery Group as a whole is neither for nor against any outside issue or enterprise. We know that to deviate from our primary spiritual aim of carrying the message, we would no longer be able to keep the simplicity and wonderment of our beloved group; thus, we dedicate ourselves to "first things first." We are blessed to enjoy this miracle in cyberspace and, as a whole, it is to our advantage not to express an opinion on issues outside of our Fellowship. This way, we avoid public controversy and give The Recovery Group the opportunity to thrive.

The Recovery Group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.

The Recovery Group has no need for, nor accepts any outside contributions. We urge members instead to contribute financially to organizations which have a similar mission of that to The Recovery Group. Our Trusted Servants volunteer their time, skills, and energy to this endeavor. Our staff and administrators are The Recovery Group members who use their skills both technically and otherwise to help their own recovery through service to others. Our operations are simple and our members send any contribution they desire to make directly and privately to any organization they choose. Because the collection of money is precedent setting and dangerous in cyberspace, we ask that all contributions by members be handled privately with organizations the individual member chooses.

The Recovery Group should remain forever nonprofessional. We do not employ any workers, skilled or otherwise. We are maintained strictly by volunteers.

The Recovery Group has no need for service centers; thus, no one is employed by us. While we have many "professionals" among us, there are no professional Recovery Group members; therefore, we all have an equal opportunity to do service. Since we have found no need to have paid professionals in The Recovery Group and because there is no exchange of monies, there is no need to have a Treasurer among the Trusted Servants. All contributions have been and will continue to be made directly and privately to those organizations for whom our members deem to have a need.

The Recovery Group, as such, should never be organized; but, we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those we serve.

The Recovery Group has Trusted Servants who serve with other Trusted Servants in an Intergroup. This Intergroup is responsible for dealing with all business matters. Because of this Intergroup and the opportunity for its members to participate in business matters, our loops and meetings are left free for discussions of experience, strength and hope. Our emphasis is on fellowship .. not organization. We live by the spiritual principles embodied in the Twelve Steps and Twelve Guidelines. Our personal and group survival depend on this.

The Recovery Group has no opinion on outside issues; hence our name should never be drawn into public controversy.

Our world thrives on controversy. The Recovery Group does not. We are a diverse group and have members coming to us from all over the world representing different backgrounds, cultures, political persuasions and religions. While the world around us may be in turmoil, we have found a haven. The Recovery Group takes no position on those controversial matters. Recovery is where we learn to live and let live. Seeing someone come into our rooms hopeless and finding the miracle of the Twelve Steps of recovery provides us with our own miracles day after day. So we carefully guard this Tenth Guideline of having no opinion on outside issues.

Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion. We need always to maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television, and other public media of communication.

The Recovery Group loops and meetings are open only to people who have the desire to stop eating compulsively and who request membership on the list or attend our meetings. We are not a public medium of communication. Members may use their real names or screen names, whichever they choose. Any archives we maintain are closed to the public with the exception of our Working The Steps and Big Book Studies. Members are encouraged to respect the anonymity of those they meet on the lists and in our meetings. We have faith in this program that provides attraction and not promotion.

Traditionally, anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these guidelines ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

We ask each member of The Recovery Group to respect anonymity and confidentiality. Anonymity is one of our most prized possessions. We know that what we see, do and say here must stay here. We know that we must always place principles before personalities if our fellowship is to remain alive and well so that others who follow us may find recovery. Breaking a fellow member's anonymity is not an option. And, in the fellowship of The Recovery Group, blessed with our Higher Power's help, it will never be an option.

The Recovery Group is a recovery home and flames, attacks and unkind words are not welcome here. Those who persist in doing this will be reminded of the guidelines and asked to stop. If necessary, they will be disallowed to post until they can commit to the Trusted Servants that the guidelines will be followed.

We speak the language of The Recovery Group here. Religion and politics are two subjects that seem to cause controversy and we ask that members confine their sharing to their experience, strength and hope. We do unto others here in the Recovery Group as we would have them do unto us.