Mary opened the meeting at 9:40 AM with a 10-minute period of Centering Prayer. This was our first hybrid meeting, held at Linda Dollins’ home with a Zoom option.
Reports:
COSD update: Janet Hagen, treasurer of COSD, read our SLT minutes from April and noticed that there might be a possibility for chapters to receive volunteer website technical assistance from CO National. COSD is also interested in this assistance. Mary will keep both chapters updated on any information that emerges on this.
Registration: Mary reported that when we send out the final link to registered participants for Zoom events, not everyone receives it. About 10 people experienced this for Chris’s presentation. Did the link go to spam or trash? Thus, we should send the link out several days prior to the event and again on the night before (or morning of) the event. Linda also said that not everyone who registered for the Day at the Mission sent their telephone number and email address with the check they mailed in. It was suggested that we include a registration form on the flyer to accompany their check.
Hospitality: Joan will provide morning hospitality for our Day at the Mission July 22nd. Thank you, Joan!
Facilitator Enrichment: Mary reported that CO National now has an enhancement offering on Zoom for facilitators twice a year. October 14, 2023, is the next one. One idea is to recommend that prayer group facilitators attend the Zoom meeting and then, at an ensuing local meeting, discuss the ideas and information presented by CO.
Financial: Linda reported that we have a current balance of $17,202.34. We have paid for both deposits on our Day at the Mission and our October Prince of Peace retreat. Included in the current balance are the checks for our Day at the Mission retreatants.
--Possible future expenses: CONSD needs a designated laptop and between an Apple and PC, Mary thinks a PC would be more useful for communications.
--Chris suggested that we provide a copy of Open Mind Open Heart for each of the Introductory Workshop participants who complete the entire program in recognition of their effort.
Communication: For the August Newsletter, Mary needs an article on Chris’s event and Kathy’s Day at the Mission. Kathy Agnew suggested Mary use some of the articles sent out by CO in the Newsletter. We might also re-post an essay about the closing of the monastery in Snowmass, CO, originally shared by the Contemplative Society.
--Rick and Diane, our Media Library team, are storing the library in their homes and wondered what to do with the CD’s and DVD’s. At one point Rick was going to transfer our media material to video to be used for web content, but CO already has a good collection and YouTube offers many related videos as well. A recommendation is that we offer for free the media at our Day at the Mission.
--Chris reminded us that the intent of the library was to make info available to our membership and asked, “Do we still have responsibility to do that?” Discussion afterward included our need to provide information to guide people to resources on our website. Mary said some was already there, but we could expand upon it. Rick said he would like to work on that.
--Mary suggested that we could curate lists of materials for people at different levels of experience with Centering Prayer.
CP Intro Team: On May 5, a small group attended CONSD’s Introductory Workshop on Zoom. Format options enabled us to hold the entire workshop on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One unanticipated glitch was that May 5 was the same weekend as King Charles’ coronation, the Kentucky Derby, and Cinco de Mayo, which might have impacted sign-ups. Reviews from the participants were positive. Afterward, the team of Patti Smith, Mary, and Kathy Mendoza (presenters) and Jan Simpson, Rick Martin and Patti (follow-ups leaders) agreed that the Intro might work even better if begun on Saturday for a two-day rather than 3-day commitment. Linda asked if we followed-up on participants to see if they had linked to a group, and Chris cautioned that in doing so we take care not to proselytize.
Mary asked about dates for another Intro and suggested Lent, maybe the February 24 weekend in 2024. She thinks two Intros a year is a desirable goal, however, this year Mary will be gone in September, October is the Prince of Peace Retreat, and the next two months are impacted with holidays. Rick suggested that we consider advertising the Intro in our churches, offering it as Lenten enhancement. [Afterthought from Mary: We could also advertise it on the CO National website].
Events, Workshops, Recent and Future
Seek and You Will Find. On June 17, 2023, Chris Hagen presented “Seek and You will Find” on Zoom. He observed that talking to a screen, the mechanics of the presentation, and the pacing are getting better. Nichola agreed saying the pacing was good and the presentation well-received. Mary agreed, calling it “contemplative pacing.” Nichola also liked the 20-minute segments that Chris intentionally incorporated for use in our prayer groups. Mary recorded and edited the presentation for formation use in mind.
[NOTE: A few days after the meeting, Mary saw that she had forgotten to ask if Chris would be available for another Zoom event in 2024. It turns out that Chris is willing to present again, and after an email inquiry, the SLT unanimously agreed to invite him back for a mid-to-late June 2024 retreat/presentation].
A Day at the Mission. Kathy Mendoza reported that her program is taking shape. Personal, meditative time will be the emphasis, allowing participants the freedom and space for this rare opportunity to experience the Mission itself. Joan Thompson is providing morning hospitality and Susan Wheeler is taking care of registration. The day is 9-3 and includes lunch. There is room for 40, and we have 37 sign-ups. Virginia Erickson created the flyer.
Prince of Peace. On October 20-22 we will again offer a silent retreat at Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside. Linda will not be able to help Mary, but Susan Wheeler, Joan Thompson, and Kathy Agnew have volunteered to fill in. Mary will lead the program as she did last year.
Elena Bertran Retreat. Elena, at this point, is uncertain about her retreat in November or December. Kathy Mendoza said that in last year’s retreat, Elena and Mary’s readings and responses were inspired and flowed into one another artfully.
Possible Lectio Divina Event. Kathy Agnew shared her experience with a long-time Washington D.C. prayer group which only used Lectio at their meetings. Recently, Kathy met a centering prayer practitioner who didn’t know about Lectio and wondered if we have an obligation to introduce it. A discussion followed: CO is training people to become presenters of Lectio Divina. Facilitators might invite a commissioned presenter to their prayer group. Nichola said her group does Lectio once a month with Diane, a group member, who follows the Lectio format and also gives Biblical background. Kathy A. said she has only done Lectio using the more Zen-like format. Chris said that many years ago the chapter had talks on Lectio. John Wavrick did it once a month for years. Today, CO’s Leslie Terpey teaches it.
Future Possibilities. Mary suggested two possible event presenters: Cynthia Bourgeault and Joy Hayter. Mary contacted Cynthia B about a possible retreat here in February 2024, which would follow her Wisdom School in Tucson. Cynthia already has another obligation then, so we have tabled this idea. She will, however, hold another Wisdom School at Mercy Center in February 2025. Mary will see if she could add a visit San Diego after that retreat.
--Mary met Joy Hayter at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA, on two recent Wisdom/Centering retreats. Joy (along with Heather Ruce and Catherine Regan) facilitated centering prayer, chant, and Wisdom practices there. Joy is a scientist and helps facilitate retreats at the Mercy Center on a regular basis. She will have a book on science and spirituality coming out this Fall. Possibly she could also come our way, perhaps in 2024.
Needs
We need to form a Retreat Team and a Communications/Newsletter Team. Kathy Agnew volunteered to assist with the Retreat Team when she is able to. Thank you, Kathy!
Other Concerns/Miscellaneous
Chris has noticed in the two prayer meetings he attends that people who visit or are new to Centering Prayer have not had the opportunity to learn about it in any depth. The span between experienced practitioners and new practitioners is too great and the new practitioners do not want to attend an Intro. A few years ago, Chris put together a folder with documents giving detailed information about CO, centering prayer, prayer group guidelines, as well as who we are and what we do. We agreed that this resource should be made available to facilitators again to share with beginners or just those wanting more information. Kathy Agnew suggested sharing the material should be a personal, one-on-one experience. Mary could also post some of this material on the CONSD website.
Calendar Items: Next SLT meeting is October 7, 2023. Prince of Peace retreat: Oct 20-22, 2023.
Closing Prayer: Graciously offered by Mary.
The meeting ended at 12:15 PM.
COSD update: Janet Hagen, treasurer of COSD, read our SLT minutes from April and noticed that there might be a possibility for chapters to receive volunteer website technical assistance from CO National. COSD is also interested in this assistance. Mary will keep both chapters updated on any information that emerges on this.
Registration: Mary reported that when we send out the final link to registered participants for Zoom events, not everyone receives it. About 10 people experienced this for Chris’s presentation. Did the link go to spam or trash? Thus, we should send the link out several days prior to the event and again on the night before (or morning of) the event. Linda also said that not everyone who registered for the Day at the Mission sent their telephone number and email address with the check they mailed in. It was suggested that we include a registration form on the flyer to accompany their check.
Hospitality: Joan will provide morning hospitality for our Day at the Mission July 22nd. Thank you, Joan!
Facilitator Enrichment: Mary reported that CO National now has an enhancement offering on Zoom for facilitators twice a year. October 14, 2023, is the next one. One idea is to recommend that prayer group facilitators attend the Zoom meeting and then, at an ensuing local meeting, discuss the ideas and information presented by CO.
Financial: Linda reported that we have a current balance of $17,202.34. We have paid for both deposits on our Day at the Mission and our October Prince of Peace retreat. Included in the current balance are the checks for our Day at the Mission retreatants.
--Possible future expenses: CONSD needs a designated laptop and between an Apple and PC, Mary thinks a PC would be more useful for communications.
--Chris suggested that we provide a copy of Open Mind Open Heart for each of the Introductory Workshop participants who complete the entire program in recognition of their effort.
Communication: For the August Newsletter, Mary needs an article on Chris’s event and Kathy’s Day at the Mission. Kathy Agnew suggested Mary use some of the articles sent out by CO in the Newsletter. We might also re-post an essay about the closing of the monastery in Snowmass, CO, originally shared by the Contemplative Society.
--Rick and Diane, our Media Library team, are storing the library in their homes and wondered what to do with the CD’s and DVD’s. At one point Rick was going to transfer our media material to video to be used for web content, but CO already has a good collection and YouTube offers many related videos as well. A recommendation is that we offer for free the media at our Day at the Mission.
--Chris reminded us that the intent of the library was to make info available to our membership and asked, “Do we still have responsibility to do that?” Discussion afterward included our need to provide information to guide people to resources on our website. Mary said some was already there, but we could expand upon it. Rick said he would like to work on that.
--Mary suggested that we could curate lists of materials for people at different levels of experience with Centering Prayer.
CP Intro Team: On May 5, a small group attended CONSD’s Introductory Workshop on Zoom. Format options enabled us to hold the entire workshop on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. One unanticipated glitch was that May 5 was the same weekend as King Charles’ coronation, the Kentucky Derby, and Cinco de Mayo, which might have impacted sign-ups. Reviews from the participants were positive. Afterward, the team of Patti Smith, Mary, and Kathy Mendoza (presenters) and Jan Simpson, Rick Martin and Patti (follow-ups leaders) agreed that the Intro might work even better if begun on Saturday for a two-day rather than 3-day commitment. Linda asked if we followed-up on participants to see if they had linked to a group, and Chris cautioned that in doing so we take care not to proselytize.
Mary asked about dates for another Intro and suggested Lent, maybe the February 24 weekend in 2024. She thinks two Intros a year is a desirable goal, however, this year Mary will be gone in September, October is the Prince of Peace Retreat, and the next two months are impacted with holidays. Rick suggested that we consider advertising the Intro in our churches, offering it as Lenten enhancement. [Afterthought from Mary: We could also advertise it on the CO National website].
Events, Workshops, Recent and Future
Seek and You Will Find. On June 17, 2023, Chris Hagen presented “Seek and You will Find” on Zoom. He observed that talking to a screen, the mechanics of the presentation, and the pacing are getting better. Nichola agreed saying the pacing was good and the presentation well-received. Mary agreed, calling it “contemplative pacing.” Nichola also liked the 20-minute segments that Chris intentionally incorporated for use in our prayer groups. Mary recorded and edited the presentation for formation use in mind.
[NOTE: A few days after the meeting, Mary saw that she had forgotten to ask if Chris would be available for another Zoom event in 2024. It turns out that Chris is willing to present again, and after an email inquiry, the SLT unanimously agreed to invite him back for a mid-to-late June 2024 retreat/presentation].
A Day at the Mission. Kathy Mendoza reported that her program is taking shape. Personal, meditative time will be the emphasis, allowing participants the freedom and space for this rare opportunity to experience the Mission itself. Joan Thompson is providing morning hospitality and Susan Wheeler is taking care of registration. The day is 9-3 and includes lunch. There is room for 40, and we have 37 sign-ups. Virginia Erickson created the flyer.
Prince of Peace. On October 20-22 we will again offer a silent retreat at Prince of Peace Abbey in Oceanside. Linda will not be able to help Mary, but Susan Wheeler, Joan Thompson, and Kathy Agnew have volunteered to fill in. Mary will lead the program as she did last year.
Elena Bertran Retreat. Elena, at this point, is uncertain about her retreat in November or December. Kathy Mendoza said that in last year’s retreat, Elena and Mary’s readings and responses were inspired and flowed into one another artfully.
Possible Lectio Divina Event. Kathy Agnew shared her experience with a long-time Washington D.C. prayer group which only used Lectio at their meetings. Recently, Kathy met a centering prayer practitioner who didn’t know about Lectio and wondered if we have an obligation to introduce it. A discussion followed: CO is training people to become presenters of Lectio Divina. Facilitators might invite a commissioned presenter to their prayer group. Nichola said her group does Lectio once a month with Diane, a group member, who follows the Lectio format and also gives Biblical background. Kathy A. said she has only done Lectio using the more Zen-like format. Chris said that many years ago the chapter had talks on Lectio. John Wavrick did it once a month for years. Today, CO’s Leslie Terpey teaches it.
Future Possibilities. Mary suggested two possible event presenters: Cynthia Bourgeault and Joy Hayter. Mary contacted Cynthia B about a possible retreat here in February 2024, which would follow her Wisdom School in Tucson. Cynthia already has another obligation then, so we have tabled this idea. She will, however, hold another Wisdom School at Mercy Center in February 2025. Mary will see if she could add a visit San Diego after that retreat.
--Mary met Joy Hayter at the Mercy Center in Burlingame, CA, on two recent Wisdom/Centering retreats. Joy (along with Heather Ruce and Catherine Regan) facilitated centering prayer, chant, and Wisdom practices there. Joy is a scientist and helps facilitate retreats at the Mercy Center on a regular basis. She will have a book on science and spirituality coming out this Fall. Possibly she could also come our way, perhaps in 2024.
Needs
We need to form a Retreat Team and a Communications/Newsletter Team. Kathy Agnew volunteered to assist with the Retreat Team when she is able to. Thank you, Kathy!
Other Concerns/Miscellaneous
Chris has noticed in the two prayer meetings he attends that people who visit or are new to Centering Prayer have not had the opportunity to learn about it in any depth. The span between experienced practitioners and new practitioners is too great and the new practitioners do not want to attend an Intro. A few years ago, Chris put together a folder with documents giving detailed information about CO, centering prayer, prayer group guidelines, as well as who we are and what we do. We agreed that this resource should be made available to facilitators again to share with beginners or just those wanting more information. Kathy Agnew suggested sharing the material should be a personal, one-on-one experience. Mary could also post some of this material on the CONSD website.
Calendar Items: Next SLT meeting is October 7, 2023. Prince of Peace retreat: Oct 20-22, 2023.
Closing Prayer: Graciously offered by Mary.
The meeting ended at 12:15 PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Linda Dollins with Mary Williams
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