SLT Minutes from October 8, 2022

Present:  Chris Hagen, Jan Simpson, Diane Oldfield, Nichola Riggle, Vicki Rehkopf, Rick Martin, Susan Wheeler, Elena Bertran, Joan Thompson, Diane Langworthy, Mary Williams, and Linda Dollins

Mary greeted us and opened the meeting at 9:30 AM with a prayer and then a 10-minute period of Centering Prayer.

Reports:

COSD Update:  Karen Downs will have a Silent Saturday retreat on December 10.  She also facilitated an Introductory Workshop in September.  Mary said we appreciate these local opportunities hosted by COSD.

Media Library: Diane Oldfield reported that Rick Martin now has all of the CD’s and DVD’s, but if a facilitator wishes to borrow an item, she will get it from Rick and send it to them.

Facilitator Enrichment Team:  Mary reminded us of a Zoom opportunity for all facilitators from CO, Ltd. Designed from a recent facilitator survey/inventory of concerns facilitators have, it is called: “Enrichment Gathering for Centering Prayer Group Facilitators.”

Saturday October 22, 2022, 8:30-10:30 am Pacific Time
(9:30-11:30 am MT, 10:30 am-12:30 pm CT, 11:30-1:30 pm ET)
The Zoom link for gathering is:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4459094698?pwd=b0hoeWR4dTRoL0NGV3pIUjB5MFVVQT09

Financial Report:  Linda reported that we have currently have $18,523.00.  We have given $1,985 in scholarships since our last SLT meeting for retreats, both in-person and on Zoom.  The deposit we currently have with Prince of Peace for a former event that was interrupted by the pandemic will cover most of the cost of this year’s October retreat.

Communication:  Mary is continuing to update the CONSD website.  She is now able to post our flyers under events and include links where people can register.  Susan Wheeler asked about the website’s capability to accept donations or fees for events.  Mary said that we would probably need to do that through a PayPal button. Susan has a contact who could advise us when we’re ready.

Susan also reported that the registration link on the Pizzuto flyer is not working, and Joan said the Mailchimp sign-up on the website isn’t working either. Mary will check out those items. [These issues were later fixed].

The November 2022 Newsletter is forthcoming and will include articles on Simply Prayer and possibly: the Enrichment Gathering for Facilitators, the October 8, presentation by Fr. Vincent Pizzuto in Denver (or Fr. Pizzuto’s presentation to us November 12), the Prince of Peace retreat, as well as a flyer announcement for Elena’s Advent Morning of Prayer on December 3.

Events:

·       The Prince of Peace Fall Retreat is October 14-16 and 18 persons are registered [later, two were unable to attend].  Mary will lead a special ecumenical worship service on Saturday evening.  We will be wearing masks while indoors.

·       On November 12, Fr. Vincent Pizzuto will present at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church.  Light refreshments will be served at 8:30. The program will begin at 9:00 and end at 3:00 and includes two periods of Centering Prayer and a bring-your-own lunch break.  Fr. Pizzuto needs to leave very early on Sunday morning. The following volunteered:

o   Nichola will take Fr. Vincent to the airport Sunday morning.  She plans to advertise the event in St. Peter’s church notices and contact the Episcopal Diocese (St. Paul’s Cathedral) to advertise in our greater area. She will find out about the collection for the 5:00 pm service.

o   Kathy Agnew is hosting Fr. Pizzuto in her home. 

o   Vicki volunteered to help with hospitality [along with Kathy Mendoza].

o   Diane Langworthy volunteered to sell books. 

o   Susan said she can register and handle donations.

o   Mary will contact COSD to advertise with them.

 

Molly Stone of St. Peter’s is the property manager. Mary may contact her for facility questions. Streaming of the event might be possible and would require a technician at $30-$50 an hour. Mary said live streaming could add a layer of complexity to the presentation--more to go wrong. Planning for the Celtic Rite Liturgy service, Fr. Vincent and St. Peter’s rector and musical consultants recently illustrated the complexity of just adding music to the service. We decided that masks would be strongly encouraged, we would have some available, and we would provide hand sanitizer.

·       Elena Bertran, December 3, Advent Morning of Prayer.  Elena envisions a quiet morning with 2-3 periods of centering prayer, scripture, and chant from 9:30-12:00, to be held on Zoom. She will emphasize the pillars of advent: love, peace, faith, and hope.

Calendar Items:  We will have another SLT meeting on January 14, 2023

Chris Hagen will present on June 17, 2023. His possible title is “Seek and You Will Find: Experiencing a Closer Relationship with God.” His workshop comes out of a survey that CONSD took this past summer, in which people were asked what they had been seeking from centering prayer. The most frequent response was a closer relationship with God and inner peace. He will discuss what we mean by those terms and then focus on living the contemplative dimension of the Gospel in everyday life, emphasizing the “how to.”

Other concerns:  Mary Wavrick died, and her service is 2:00 pm Wednesday, October 12^th, at St. Peter’s.  John, her husband, is in a burn center from an electrical fire in his home.  John and Mary have been involved in Centering Prayer for many years, and John, at one time, was the St. Peter’s group facilitator.

Closing prayer: Diane Oldfield gave the closing prayer, a translation of the Lord’s Prayer from Aramaic.

The meeting ended at 11:10 AM.

Respectfully submitted,

                       Linda Dollins