Background

The Group Booklet (including IP #2, The Group) and A Guide to Local Services are the three pieces of NA service material that best describe what an NA group is and how it functions. Both publications are dated, and many members are unfamiliar with their contents. Revisions to both are already underway, and the input gathered through this survey will be used directly in the revision projects—so please respond even if you are not able to attend a workshop on this topic.

Please answer as many or few of the questions as you choose. Even if you don’t have time to respond to the whole survey, any input you can provide will be helpful.

What do these two pieces of literature currently cover? The Group Booklet answers practical questions about running an NA group: What is an NA group, and what is a home group? Who can be a member? What's the difference between an open and closed meeting, and where can a group meet? What kinds of meeting formats and literature can a group use? What is a group business meeting, and how does a group choose and rotate trusted servants (secretary, treasurer, GSR, alternate GSR)? What responsibilities does a group have to the wider service system, and how does a group solve its own problems? A Guide to Local Services picks up from there, describing how groups connect to areas, regions, zones, and the World Service Conference.

Why is this project happening now? At WSC 2026, participants agreed on a goal to create a contemporary guide to service in NA to replace A Guide to Local Services, considering a modular approach (similar to the Service Basics series) that could include guidance on incorporating virtual groups into the service system, information on zones, and more, with the possibility of alternative-format content in the future, such as videos.

Groups are at the heart of this effort. Our Traditions remind us that groups are autonomous, and they can look very different from one another—but there is a lot we can learn from each other about how we create NA groups that are vital, sustainable, and effective at carrying our message. This survey is about gathering groups' best practices and current needs as input for the revisions to these two pieces of literature.

A discussion at WSC 2026 revisited the question, “What makes an NA group an NA group?” Participants agreed that the following points from The Group Booklet still hold true as a baseline:
  • All members of a group are drug addicts, and all drug addicts are eligible for membership.
  • As a group, they are self-supporting.
  • As a group, their single goal is to help drug addicts recover through application of the Twelve Steps of Narcotics Anonymous.
  • As a group, they have no affiliation outside Narcotics Anonymous.
  • As a group, they express no opinion on outside issues.
  • As a group, their public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion.
The majority of delegates at WSC 2026 added one more idea about what makes an NA group an NA group: As a group, they use only Fellowship-approved NA literature in their meetings. (added by WSC 2026 participants)

For workshop materials on this topic and information on the other Issue Discussion Topics this cycle, visit na.org/idt.

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