MEETINGS
WHAT TO EXPECT AT A MEETING
image courtesy of idamkilde via Pixabay
First of all: deep breath. There’s nothing to be nervous about. You will be welcome. You’ll find you are not alone anymore. Everyone at the meeting knows where you’re coming from about food. Here’s what happens at a typical meeting, but all meetings are a little different.
Once you’ve found a meeting that you want to check out, you show up. Set aside an hour for your meeting. Consider this “you” time. You’ll meet others like you with a simple first name introduction and be genuinely welcomed. Get yourself settled with the group to enjoy various readings, members sharing their journeys, and learning more about OA. Participate as much or as little as you want. You are welcome to share but you don’t have to. If you have questions, you can talk with individual members after the meeting. Congratulations—you completed your first meeting!
But, wait. What about the weigh-in? What about paying a membership fee? There’s none of that. When people become members, they often voluntarily contribute, but it’s never required. We promise.
So, to recap, at OA there’s …
- No weigh-in
- No membership fee
- No judgment
- No religion (we’re a spiritual group)
- A safe place for everyone (all genders, races, ages, sexual orientations, sizes)
- A program that works
- Hope
- …and there are people who will understand
Please note that there is no limit to how many meetings you can attend. Many members have found that attending more than one meeting a week has helped them to get and stay abstinent.
If you can’t find a Face-To-Face meeting in your area, or need more meetings than your area offers, OA offers online, telephone, or non real time meetings. These meetings can be located at the appropriate link on the Find a Meeting page on the main OA website (www.oa.org).
GPI MEETING LIST
GPI OA has about 35 meetings within our intergroup area.* Each meeting occurs weekly and is one hour long unless otherwise noted. Many Face-To-Face meetings are wheelchair accessible; please confirm wheelchair access info with the meeting contact person before attending. All Face-to-Face meetings are non smoking.
If you will be observing an OA meeting, please read our Observers' Etiquette beforehand.
In accordance with our traditions, our meeting list is only to be used to find meetings, not for any solicitations or other purpose.
GPIOA Meeting List Key
Anorexic/Bulimic/Compulsive Overeater
Face-to-Face Meeting
Hybrid Meeting
Online Meeting
Phone Meeting
* The geographic area of Greater Pittsburgh intergroup consists of portions of Western PA (Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Bedford, Blair, Butler, Cambria, Clarion, Crawford, Erie, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Jefferson, Somerset, Venango, Washington, and Westmoreland counties), the western WV panhandle and portions of northwest WV (Brooke, Hancock, Harrison, Marion, Marshall, Monongalia, Ohio, and Taylor counties), and bordering portions of OH (western Belmont and Jefferson counties).
START A MEETING
If you're interested in starting a new meeting, please see the following links from oa.org for helpful information:
- Start a New Meeting
- Meeting Formats under "Categories" select "Meeting Formats"
Meeting Formats include the following readings: Abridged Tools of Recovery, Our Invitation to You, 12 Steps, 12 Traditions
Members of GPI who have started long lasting (ten years or more) urban or suburban Face-to-Face meetings have some additional suggestions:
- Consider open days/times on the meeting list in your area
- Consider how the new meeting will impact existing meetings during that time in the same geographical area
- A minimum of 3 people who currently attend other meetings (virtual or Face-to-Face) and are committed to the new meeting are ideal
- committing to the new meeting means being both willing and able to attend the meeting three out of four (or four out of five) weeks of the month for the first 6 months of the meeting's existence
- Decide on a day and time before looking for possible meeting places
- When considering meeting places, keep in mind the following factors:
- wheelchair accessibility (including the bathrooms)
- parking availability
- adequate air conditioning
- public transportation access, if relevant
- can the group store their materials on site, or will you have to bring them back and forth every week?
- cost of the space (even if a facility offers a meeting room for free, the 7th tradition requires that a meeting make some kind of donation for the use of the space)
- Once you've found a meeting place that is available on the desired meeting day at the desired meeting time, determine a start date for your meeting
- Let GPI know about your meeting by emailing webmaster@gpioa.org with all the details so that we can post it on our website
- Have a great meeting!
MEETING UPDATES
Please send any meeting changes or announcements to webmaster@gpioa.org.
If you'd like to start a new meeting, see Start a New Meeting. If you need to cancel a meeting, see Cancel a Meeting.
NEW MEETINGS
- Starting January 7, 2025, there is a Face-to-Face meeting in Ligonier on Tuesdays at 5:30p at the Ligonier Valley Library, 120 West Main Street, Ligonier PA 15658; both the meeting and bathroom are wheelchair accessible.
MEETING CHANGES
- Effective October 12, the Saturday 10a Johnstown meeting is temporarily suspended until spring; the meeting contact has additional information.
- The Thursday 6p Meadville meeting will only meet via Zoom for January and February
CANCELED MEETINGS
- Effective December 10th, the Tuesday 10a Zoom meeting meeting is closed (permanently canceled).
- Effective December 15th, the Sunday 5p Zoom (former Pittsburgh-Shadyside) ABC Zoom meeting is closed (permanently canceled).
HOLIDAY SCHEDULES
Please note that this list is not exhaustive. For meetings not listed here which meet on or near a given holiday, reach out to the meeting contact for details.
Send any upcoming holiday meeting information to webmaster@gpioa.org.
CANCEL A MEETING
Sometimes there is no longer enough support for a meeting and it is time for that group to close permanently. Given the lack of guidance in OA literature regarding proper procedure when closing a meeting, GPI suggests that, should a meeting need to dissolve, the group conscience consider the following:
- Who will notify GPI and the World Service Office (WSO) that the group is disbanding as of a given date?
- Who will distribute the group’s funds to the meeting place for any rent due, or to GPI, Region 7 and WSO for final contributions?
- Additional issues for Face-to-Face meetings:
- Who will notify the meeting place that the group is disbanding as of a given date?
- Will the group donate any leftover literature to GPI or another local meeting?
- Who will return any keys to the meeting place?
ETIQUITTE FOR OBSERVERS AT OA MEETINGS
The members of Greater Pittsburgh Intergroup of Overeaters Anonymous welcome visitors to OPEN meetings. You may wish to attend to learn about OA to complete a school assignment, to expand your professional knowledge, or to support a loved one.
However, as per our Twelve Traditions, in particular tradition #6, Overeaters Anonymous does not affiliate in any way with outside organizations. Therefore, you may not attend any OA meeting for the purpose of recruiting people for any purpose, either for profit -- such as looking for new clients for your business -- or non profit -- such as looking for research study participants.
We ask that you observe the following courtesies:
- Confirm in advance that the meeting is an OPEN meeting. Members of open meetings have decided by group conscience to welcome anyone who is interested in the OA program for any reason. Every OA meeting has at least one contact person whom you can call to confirm that the meeting is OPEN and, if possible, set the date you plan to visit.
- If you are attending as part of a class assignment, do not assume your class can attend the meeting as a group. Rather, call the meeting contact person to see how many students the meeting can accomodate at one time, and plan accordingly.
- Please identify yourself as a visitor or observer before (or as soon as) the meeting begins.
- Remember that you are observing an anonymous 12-step meeting, and that the principle of ANONYMITY is the bedrock of our program. If you are attending to complete a school assignment, for example, we ask that you not use names in your report. Neither audio nor image recording of any kind are permitted in OA meetings.