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Here is how our Ocean & Bay Intergroup serves OA members in our area
- We typically do at least one workshop a year and a retreat every other year.
- We currently have about 25 meetings, and we are sending three delegates to the Region 6 assembly and two to the World Service Business Conference.
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We do an inventory of meetings every 6 months to ensure that all of our meetings are still active and that their information is current on our website and on oa.org.
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We are doing amazing work with ads in local college newspapers - directing young people to check out our young people’s page. We’ve gotten about 80 hits so far.
- We recently participated with Connecticut Intergroup in an expo for health care professionals and we’re planning to do that again with Cape Cod Intergroup in the coming year.
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We are very blessed to have 3 graphic designers who are active in our intergroup who create great work including our newsletters, and they are wonderful. You can see them here: https://oceanandbay.org/newsletter/
- We have a team that does social media posts on Facebook and Instagram.
- We participate every year in the Region 6 convention by doing service and selling our journals in the boutique. In 2026, we’ll be hosting the literature table at the convention.
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We produce a beautiful journal which we sell on Amazon: https://a.co/d/avXqg4H
- We also sell literature “on the road.” We have a service member who manages our mobile literature table and happily attends all of our events and will show up for events sponsored by other nearby intergroups.
- Our bylaws committee just reviewed and revised the bylaws.
- Our 7th tradition is in excellent shape and we make regular contributions to Region 6 and World Service. We have a prudent reserve of 12 months' worth of expenses.
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I have a vivid recollection of a moment early in recovery: I’d just arrived at an OA meeting, a regular meeting I considered “home.” On the way to this meeting, I’d binged. Before exiting my car, I was fearfully and intently stuffing my wrappers and trash into the armrest storage space. And though I was alone in my car, I clearly heard: “Who are you hiding that from?”
Oh, snap. That’s right; there’s no more hiding in HP’s world. There never was, then or now, any hiding that is truly real. I credit OA for my spiritual awakening, which gave way to my ears hearing and my eyes seeing HP in my life, binge by binge, moment by moment. In that instant, HP nudged me to ask, “Who are you hiding that from?”
Sorrow, elation, relief, and frustration, but no more hiding. This proved to be my gateway to living honestly, hopefully, faithfully, with courage and integrity, willingly and humbly, with discipline, with love and forgiveness, perseverance, awareness of HP, and service.
OA ruined my hiding. I’ve been working the solution since October 2000, free from bulimia since November 2006, free from anorexia since February 2007. Thank you, OA. Thank you, HP.
— Maggie
Source: oalifeline.org
| The following "ad" is a tongue-in-cheek parody | Surrenderol® is an amazing new state of mind achieved by working the 12 steps of Overeaters Anonymous to the best of our ability. Ask your sponsor if Surrenderol® is right for you. Some side effects include: | Awaking each morning feeling happy, joyous and free. An honest desire to live a useful life. The ability to help others. The desire to try new things. To stand up for ourselves without being abrasive. The ability to accept others exactly as they are. The occasional peaceful feeling to the core. The ability to listen to others without planning what we are going to say. The loss of interest in being right all the time. When angry at other drivers, we no longer chase them past our exit. Fear of people will disappear. The return of good relations with family and friends. The ability to bypass the dessert table without feeling we are missing something; it’s no longer a sacrifice--we are happy to not overeat, enjoying events for what they are, not for what they can give us. The ability to sit back and enjoy the journey of life without the need for anything to be different. The disappearance of irritability, anxiousness, depression, anger, sadness, guilt, and shame, enjoying the good feeling of unconditional support. A sense of connection and belonging. A loss of interest in weight loss and dieting replaced with an honest desire to be there for others, both in and out of OA. The ability to turn off the TV and get to a meeting. Feeling satisfied, no longer arguing in my mind with someone who’s not even in the room. The elimination of the need to control everything. No longer looking for opportunities to be offended. | |
I once heard the following analogy about desperation:
Imagine you are in a small airplane and the pilot next to you drops dead. So you get on the radio and explain your problem and soon another plane identical to yours with a pilot well trained begins to instruct you as to what to do. Ask yourself, how close would you pay attention? Would you deviate in any way from the instructions being radioed to you? Would there be any doubt in your mind that your life was hanging in the balance? If your instructor told you to turn the red dial one click to the left, would you turn it two clicks to the right just to see what happens? Probably not. The seriousness of the situation would automatically create an attentive, serious student.
When I was new, my denial was so strong that I didn’t really believe my life depended on working the steps so closely. I know now that this is a life and death disease and it will kill me if I don’t work the steps as they are laid out to the best of my ability.
—Anonymous
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Find connection, recovery, and growth at our Overeaters Anonymous events: Step Studies, retreats, anniversary celebrations, and interactive workshops exploring fellowship, humility, relapse prevention, spiritual experiences, and more. Whether you’re new to the program or deepening your journey, these meetings offer shared experience, practical tools, and compassionate support to help you stay well.
Ready to join the next meeting that could change your day—or your life? Click here to see upcoming OA events and reserve your spot: discover a supportive community, meaningful conversation, and the next step on your recovery path.
| | Instead of directing the show for my benefit and letting self-will run riot, I will stop today and put aside thoughts of what I want and listen to God’s word for me. God’s will for me is not greedy or envious, dependent or complaining. To be free of the clamor of the world, its vanities and egos, I put myself in God’s hands and my path is secure. I need not waste time on worry and fear, but find a new joy in living. Prayer is the only means of truly opening my mind and spirit, once clamped shut by pain and self-pity. A once grim and stony path is now lightened by love. For today: I begin and end this day in conscious contact with God as I understand God.
Source: For Today, February 19 | | |
oa.org has such an extensive document library that we've decided to feature a new document each month. This month's featured document is a free download called: To the Young Person
To the Young Person has been thoughtfully modernized to include all-new recovery stories—plus a classic testimonial—submitted by young OA members, for young OA members. This pamphlet covers a broad range of disease manifestations, including anorexia, overexercising, and compulsive food behaviors, and explores how these have adversely affected the physical, mental, and emotional health of the young OA authors. The fulfillment of OA’s promises of recovery is foregrounded and the life stories of the authors varied, making this pamphlet meaningful for OA members of all ages. The questionnaire preceding the stories in the pamphlet has been rewritten to be more engaging and personal, intending to make it easier to help young people decide if they have a problem with food. Copyright 2020.
You can download it here
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November 21
There is no more mistaken path to happiness than worldliness, revelry, high life.
—Arthur Schopenhauer
Many people spend their lives yearning for the “good life” they imagine is being lived by those who are written about in the gossip magazines.
Contrary to popular opinion, worldliness, revelry and high life are the enemies of happiness because each of them represents excess—too much of a good thing. Certainly, it is a good thing to celebrate joyous occasions, to mark the passage of time with festivities; but these events are valued precisely because they are indulged in with moderation. A party every day would mean the total extinction of happiness.
For today: Good and bad times come and go, but the only real and lasting happiness is feeling good about myself. The first requirement for this condition is abstinence.
Source: For Today
| | Monday mornings just got a lot easier | | |
We’re adding a new 2‑way prayer meeting on Mondays at 8:00 AM EST, in addition to our existing Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday meetings. Same meeting format, same Zoom link (see below)— just an extra opportunity to connect with HP. All are welcome.
Click here to join in ZOOM
https://zoom.us/j/81121616083 {Hope!}
Zoom Meeting ID: 811 2161 6083, passcode Hope!
or dial 1-646-558-8656 (same Meeting ID & Passcode)
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- 80 = Countries with OA
- 6,400 = Meetings worldwide
- 54,000 = Active Members
- 60% = Members struggling with food before the age of 16
- 73% = Members who have lost weight
- 45 pounds = Average reported weight loss
- 54% = Members maintaining a healthy weight
- 45% = Members maintaining a healthy weight for more than five years
- 80% = Members reporting various overall life improvements since joining the fellowship
Statistics are based on a 2017 membership survey. Additional details may be found here.
Source: https://www.oamilwaukee.org/
| | Attention fellows! The One Purpose Only meeting in Plainville, Massachusetts needs your support! Our meeting is seeking more consistent attendance. We meet every Saturday morning from 8:30 to 9:30. We’re located at Plainville Methodist Church, 16 E. Bacon St., Plainville, MA 02762.
Our contact person is Cher 617-835-4417 or you can email Nancy at durmur@aol.com
Please join us. We’d love to see you. | | Serene Recovery Goes Hybrid | | |
The format of this meeting changes every week of the month.
The schedule is as follows:
Week 1: Read one of the 12 Steps from the OA Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions book; step number read is according to the month of the year (for example, step 1 will be read in January). The leader will share for about 10 minutes, followed by open sharing.
Week 2: OA speaker who will share their experience, strength, and hope for about 20 minutes followed by sharing from our membership. Abstinence requirement of 6 months to speak.
Week 3: Leader will choose a story from the Abstinence book and share their experience based on the story for about 20 minutes, followed by open sharing.
Week 4: Tools of OA -- Leader will share on a tool for about 10 minutes, followed by open sharing.
Week 5: OA Literature – Leader will share on selected OA literature for about 10 minutes, followed by open sharing.
We meet in person every Thursday night from 6:00-7:00 p.m. at Kingston Congregational Church, 2610 Kingstown Rd., Kingston, RI 02881
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Volunteer to Speak
Add your name here. (scroll down)
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Enhance Your Program with a New Journal
| | Tranquility Retreat - Living in Balance | | |
June 19, 20, & 21, 2026
18th Annual Retreat
Incarnation Conference Center
253 Bushy Hill Road, Deep River, CT 06417
Enjoy the serenity in a beautiful, natural setting situated on 700 wooded acres with hiking trails, farm and a lake. Hiking, canoeing, kayaking, craft activities available.
View the flyer/Registration Form
Or register online Here:
| | Every OA meeting in the Ocean & Bay Intergroup is expected to send a meeting representative to the monthly Intergroup meeting. In the 7th tradition spirit of being self-supporting, this includes giving service. At your next business meeting, choose a member to represent your meeting at the Intergroup monthly meeting. Let your meeting’s voice be heard. Please contact Nancy at chair@oceanandbay.org if you have any questions. | | |
The PIPO Committee meets on the 3rd Monday of every month at 10 a.m. This month that’s Monday, February 16th. All are welcome.
Here is the Zoom info:
Zoom ID: 875 7170 5051
Passcode: 776158
We’d love for you to join us.
| | It's not as hard as it seems | | Please consider writing down your thoughts and sending them to us. We’d love to print them in our newsletter. Thanks a lot. | | Service Bodies here to help with your recovery. | | |
SPECIAL FOCUS MEETINGS
You are welcome at any OA meeting, and we hope you’ll try many of the meetings on our Intergroup and oa.org meeting lists! Some of our members find they also benefit from OA meetings with members who share similar experiences, so we are sharing this list of some of the special focus resources that are available in OA.
100 Pounders: Click Here
American Sign Language & Closed Caption – This meeting offers ASL interpretation Tuesdays at 8:00 p.m. Eastern: ASL Tues 8pm
Anorexics and Bulimics in OA – special focus meetings: Anorexics/Bulimics in OA
Asian-Pacific Islander OA: Click Here
Atheist, Agnostics, Secular - special focus meetings: Click Here
Bariatric Surgery: Click Here
BIPOC (Black, Indigenous & People of Color) – special focus meetings: BIPOC Intergroup
Health Issues: Click Here
LGBTQ special focus meetings for OA: bit.ly/ckslist and Click Here
OAMen.org is dedicated to distributing information about meetings, resources, and support for men in OA: Men in OA
Young People in OA – resources for those under 30 who suffer from compulsive eating include Meetings for young persons and https://oayoungpeople.org/
For more special focus meetings, you can go to OA.org:
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go to Find a Meeting
- select a type of meeting (face-to-face, online, telephone, or non-real-time)
- click on "additional search options" and select the desired special focus
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Mission & Vision Ocean & Bay Intergroup is dedicated to supporting individuals in need of recovery from compulsive eating (e.g.: overeating, bulimia, anorexia) through carrying the OA message and empowering all meetings within the Intergroup.
Strategic Goals
1. Help members strengthen their personal recovery
2. Increase the number of sponsors
3. Increase the number of newcomers
4. Increase the retention of newcomers
5. Help those in relapse
6. Inspire people to give more service
7. Increase outreach activities, including outreach to members and healthcare professionals
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Please note that every effort has been made to adhere to OA's policy for newsletter publications. Opinions and experiences expressed within are those of the individual writer and not OA as a whole.
SUBMISSIONS: This is your newsletter! We welcome your contributions of news items or commentary.* Deadline: 15th of each month. Example: Deadline 2/15 for March newsletter.
Please email : newsletter@oceanandbay.org
*May be edited as space allows.
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Ocean & Bay Intergroup
PO Box 2243, East Greenwich, RI 02818
Note: Make checks payable to Ocean and Bay Intergroup
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