What is a sponsor? How do I get one?

Sponsors are OA members who are living the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions to the best of their ability. They are willing to share their recovery with other members of the Fellowship and are committed to abstinence.

We ask a sponsor to help us through our program of recovery on all three levels: physical, emotional and spiritual. By working with other members of OA and sharing their experience, strength and hope, sponsors continually renew and reaffirm their own recovery. Sponsors share their program up to the level of their own experience.

Ours is a program of attraction: find a sponsor who has what you want, and ask that person how he or she is achieving it. A member may work with more than one sponsor and may change sponsors at will.

In each monthly issue of the ReachOut is a list of members willing to be sponsors. If you can't find someone at your meeting that you can identify with, you may consider calling one of these members.

When am I ready to sponsor?

Sponsoring can begin at any time. Simply sponsor up to the level of your experience, sharing as much recovery as you have. It may be helpful to discuss sponsoring with your own sponsor first, then begin sponsoring when you both feel it's right. Ask your group to introduce you as a new sponsor, or identify yourself as one.

We have found that sponsors are most effective when refraining from compulsive eating. Many of us believe clarity of mind comes with abstinence. Having a sponsor is the best way to learn to be a sponsor; we all learn by example. We also learn to sponsor by doing it (adapted from A Guide for Sponsors). The Sponsorship Kit contains helpful resources to get you started.

Sponsors by Mail/Email

The WSO provides a Service by Mail/Email program, designed to help OA members reach one another. Participating members correspond by mail or email to share recovery and to discuss working OA's Twelve-Step program of recovery with other OA members around the world. Participating members can find an OA pen pal or a sponsor by mail or can sponsor another member by mail. Members who register in the Service by Mail/Email program receive a list with other participants' names, addresses and email addresses.

The WSO provides an updated list three times per year. Each time the list is released it includes the names of new members eager to participate, along with the members who have been successfully using the Service by Mail/Email program throughout the year.

You may correspond with any or all members on this list. Each person listed is looking forward to sharing experience, strength, and hope with the other OA members who are participating in the Service by Mail/Email program. You will find OA members from around the world. Service by Mail/Email members are men and women of all ages; some are new to OA, some have many years of abstinence. Each member's listing indicates how they would like to participate in Service by Mail/Email: as a pen-pal, as a sponsor by mail, or as someone who would like to be sponsored by mail.

This page maintained by San Diego County OA Intergroup.
Last update: 26 July 2010
Please address all homepage questions/comments to our Webmaster.