In attendance: Mary, Chris, Diane, Jan, Kathy M, Nichola, Vicki, Parth, Linda
9:30am—Opening
Prayer and 10 minutes of Centering Prayer
REPORTS
•
Facilitator Enrichment: Mary, Nichola, Parth, Chris
When
might we schedule a Zoom meeting for facilitators to share ideas &
materials about shepherding prayer group members who have never attended an
Intro Program. Sometime in May?
●
Parth:
May doesn’t work. Mid-June or later is
better for her.
●
Mary:
Maybe in July or August? Or suggested we discuss this later in our meeting (see
Events below). Does CO have a training video for this topic? Suggested the
Facilitator Enrichment Team research this potential.
●
Nichola:
We have the psychology and the theology arms of what we do within CP. We need
to offer people something blended between the two.
●
Mary:
There are videos on CONSD’s Youtube channel. And if you are signed in to CO as
a volunteer, there is a page that includes training videos we’ve used before
in our facilitator gatherings. You may need to ask CO what’s needed to sign in
on their website as a volunteer. Mary will try to remember how it’s done and
let us know.
● Parth: She’s had new people who she meets with personally to orient them to CP, but more videos and knowledge contained within the Intro workshop would be helpful to have to share with such folks.
•
Financial Report: Linda
●
Credited
Mary with doing 95% of the work of the Chapter. Our chapter agreed to be the
vehicle for the funding of the BIPOC retreat in Connecticut. They are totally
independent, but needed a place for a nonprofit to hold this money that would
be tax-free because of the grant received. Colleen Thomas is leading the
retreat with Mary assisting as one of the facilitators. In our SD County Credit
Union account you will see two holdings: one for CONSD and the other for the
BIPOC retreat.
●
We
are now at $10,000 in the BIPOC fund and they are handling it.
●
Susan
Elmore has renewed her gift to CONSD this year - a sizable contribution that
she wants us to use to promote the prayer: scholarships, retreats, buying
better equipment.
●
Linda
hasn’t been in touch with St. George’s Riverside group for a while, but she
thinks that we could help another group become a chapter with our funding.
We’ve been blessed by the Hagens’ work with setting up our funding. We now may be able to help some other groups
grow as well. Let’s think big!
●
We have $18,454 in our account. The new computer will
cost about $700. We have had some
expenses in scholarships.
●
Kathy
M.: Some people in her group have received scholarships from us and have been
helped greatly by this in their CP practices. Kathy’s words: “The fruit is
quite stunning.”
•
Communications (Website and Newsletter): Mary
●
Newsletter
coming out in May.
●
Mary
tries to keep the website updated; Mary has added some
things on the Be Still and Know blog
as well as to the CONSD website.
●
From
CONSD Resources on Be Still blog for
more material: Check out Facilitator Resources; she has created Useful
Links and Websites with such things as a listing of CO podcasts; CAC
archive (daily meditations); Christian Classics Library (books...some you can
read online); Notable Upcoming events; and more.
●
Mary:
Her intention is to have these things at our fingertips so as to to find and
use them more readily.
●
Mary:
We will be getting a new computer that will be
dedicated to CONSD - Lenovo Idea Laptop - that is good for video recording for conferences;
it has a Windows system with which Mary is familiar. We should be able to use
the new laptop to record Chris’ presentation in June.
●
We
have a projector we’ve used before for showing video or film. It’s old. Mary is looking into a new projector that has a built-in DVD player; costing around
$100.
•
Events / Workshops, recent & future:
●
We
had an Intro in Feb: 12 people registered and 9-10 attended. Most people
attended all of it. It was held on a Saturday and Sunday. Patti Smith and Mary
were the presenters. Thank you to Kathy Mendoza for helping with follow-up
sessions. Follow-up sessions took place on Saturday and Sunday afternoons.
●
Mary:
Advantages and disadvantages to holding the follow-ups on Zoom.
-
The
easy access of virtual attendance is a plus.
-
For
new people, follow-ups coming so quickly one after the other on two afternoons
doesn’t really give enough time for folks to digest the material. When done once a
week, people have more time to take it all in more deeply. They also have more
time to practice the prayer and allow facilitators to address any questions
that come up. It takes time to receive
contemplative teachings. Keating has said that we need to hear something at
least 7 times to begin to absorb the teaching.
-
Towards
the end of the follow-up sessions, people tend to miss some of them when they continue on once a week for several weeks.
●
Let’s
rethink new ways to present these sessions.
-
One
option is to record follow-up sessions for people to watch if they have missed
a session. (We have done this before).
●
Jan:
better to space out with more time. Maybe take two weekends.
●
Chris:
Earlier Intro workshops in our chapter lasted all day. There were 15-minute
breaks in between conferences to allow people to absorb the teachings more. He
is seeing other chapters trying to adapt in getting things done ‘quicker’ -
influenced perhaps by the shorter attention spans of younger generations. We need to look at everything we do as
teaching something very sacred and profound. How do we balance this against the rapid pace people are getting used
to? We want to be sure we are communicating the sacred spirituality that we are
teaching. This will take time. Chris is not sure what the balance is, but he
sees a lot of people scrambling to fit what we are teaching to the pace of our modern
times. He acknowledges that we need to
do that while also not losing sight of the sacredness of what we are teaching. Like confirmation periods in a church, one
needs to attend to learn about the teachings/the organization/the
practice. He says we need to be sure
that we’re not doing things just to get more people in. We may start out with a certain number of
interested folks, and then be left with a few - similar to Jesus’ comment of
having “2 or more gathered together” - who are ready to go at a deeper
level. This depth will spill over into
our prayer groups.
●
Vicki:
agrees with Chris. This is not just a box we need to check. She doesn’t know
what the balance is, but acknowledges that the prayer practice is not a quick
thing to absorb. There is a sacredness
of it: you don’t just quickly do it and say you’ve got it.
●
Jan:
Acknowledged the importance of finding the balance. People have so many
distractions these days. We need to
condense the Intro to an extent to hold their attention, while spreading out
some of it for better absorption.
●
Chris:
if people don’t come, they may not be ready for it. Who are we appealing
to? CP is oriented towards those seeking
something deeper in their life. Not for
those who are looking for something ‘helpful’ in their life. This is how Chris
understands the original intentions of Fr’s Keating, Pennington, and Menninger.
CP is for those people seeking to move into a more contemplative network on
their path. We shouldn’t be afraid if people don’t come back. Or even attend to begin with.
●
Diane:
It's in God’s timing who comes to us. Like a lifestyle change.
●
Chris:
Some people come to an Intro because they are curious. Out of 10 people, maybe 4 will stay. Those 4
are who CP is aimed at.
●
Mary:
Maybe the Intro plants a seed for later.
●
Vicki:
We can’t water it down so much that it’s not what it really is.
●
Mary:
We might have refreshers that are structured differently. Like Closer Than Breath – which has
occasional morning refresher sessions for people who have been practicing
Centering Prayer for a while.
•
Chris Hagen Zoom presentation on June 8 or 22—Chris
●
June
22
for Chris’ presentation on Happiness and
the Experience of Non-Dual Consciousness.
●
Chris:
Regarding the title: He reflected on the movement in the 70's where non-dual
consciousness in eastern traditions became tied up with the idea of happiness. The
presentation is on the relationship between the two with the focus on CP and
Keating’s teachings.
●
He
sent Mary material for flier and newsletter article.
●
Mary
received them and the flier and info in the newsletter will come out soon.
•
Wisdom/CP Day at Mission San Luis Rey with Susan Latimer in July or
August—Mary
●
Will
likely take place in late July.
●
Susan
has given morning presentations at Christ Church Coronado. They sometimes
include CP sits.
●
Wisdom:
brings in practices of attention. CP: focuses on intention. The retreat will bring our
intellectual/physical/emotional parts together. Wisdom is not knowing more, but
knowing with more of yourself and more depth of your being.
●
July
27 or 17,24,31 of August are available with Susan. Mary will check with the Mission.
Thinking of how many people we might have.
●
Linda: We need to check to see who else is there on the same day as
us. Our major consideration is to find a quieter group, rather than a
more interactive, noisy one sharing the space with us. Even so, they can’t
assure us that they won’t schedule someone at the last minute closer to our
event.
•
Chapter Enrichment/Visioning Day in Aug/Sep 2024? Or 2025?
●
Mary
is now thinking of us holding off until next year. We would get an outside
facilitator for this.
●
Maybe
having this in spring of next year (2025).
●
Linda:
We haven’t been on the other side of the pandemic for very long, so a delay is
not necessarily a bad thing.
●
CO
Ltd. has suggested that chapters have these every 5 years.
●
Mary:
with Zoom and pandemic, so many changes have happened.
●
Linda:
This could be either in person or a hybrid gathering; or, perhaps a two-part
Visioning with an in-person part and a zoom part.
•
CP Intro Program: In person in September or early Oct?—CP Intro Team
●
Mary:
If it takes place in October, it’s better if it's early October because of the
weather and the prevalence of respiratory diseases later in year.
●
Kathy:
Where could we have it?
●
Mary:
Ramona can have us next year.
●
Kathy:
How many people might there be?
●
Mary:
No idea. Varies from Intro to Intro. Usually at least 10, maybe more if we
publicize with enough lead time to advertise in churches.
●
Linda:
Likes the refresher aspect. Since it’s been long, it may be a good thing also
for seasoned practitioners. We may need
a large space. In person Intros are so different. There’s a lot of activity, in
the meeting area and in the kitchen, food prep; a lot of moving parts. The
church has to be welcoming as well.
●
Kathy:
How was the Del Mar church (St. Peter’s for Fr. Vincent Pizzuto’s
presentation)?
●
Linda:
There have been different responses to Intros within inland and coastal areas. This
is another consideration.
●
Nichola:
Which gets a bigger response?
●
Linda:
It can go either way.
●
Vicki:
At Del Mar, there were several people who traveled on the 5.
●
Nichola:
She can approach St. Peter’s about this. It’s changed a bit since the Fr.
Vincent event. Some people have left. Admin has changed. Nichola will float the
idea to them.
●
Vicki:
She liked St. Peter’s. We could eat lunch and chat outside.
●
Mary:
St. Peter’s had a beautiful room in which we met. Large enough and not super large. There are
lots of places to eat nearby; the ocean is close. Mary said that we need to be
more aware of the parking needs and availability of St. Peter’s.
●
Nichola:
They have some people that meet there once a month. We just need to pick a date
where she can troubleshoot around this reality.
●
Mary:
Since we’re not having a Chapter Enrichment Day, we could hold it in the first
half of September or early October.
●
Mary:
St. Bart’s is a good location as well.
●
Parth:
will check on it.
●
Linda:
We’re talking about a long morning event. Linda has a slide projector, screen
and all of that in her home.
●
Mary:
Informed Linda about the new computer and the possibility of getting a new
projector.
●
Linda:
Perhaps someone might want to buy the one she is storing??
●
Jan:
Let’s narrow the dates down.
●
Mary:
She is going east for a retreat she’s helping to lead on September 22-26 and a
little bit earlier. So, the last half of
the month is not good for her.
●
Nichola:
So we are saying in early Sept or early Oct? How will this be billed?
●
Mary:
As the CONSD CP Intro program - for new people and also as a refresher for
seasoned practitioners. We will later think of how to manage the follow-up
sessions (probably on Zoom).
●
Nichola and Parth will check into the availability of St. Peter’s and
St. Bart’s for the dates of September 7 or 14 and October 5 or 12 (from 9:00am
- 12:30pm.
●
Mary:
We could have our own Zoom gathering to plan the follow-up sessions.
•
Prince of Peace Retreat: Oct. 18-20. Might we add a day—Oct. 17?
●
Mary:
We have a lot of funding available. Could we add a day to this? Start on
Thursday instead of Friday? We could offer partial or full scholarships for
those needing them.
●
Diane:
Adding a day would be great.
●
Kathy
and Parth: Concur it is a great idea.
●
Mary: She will ask Prince of Peace if the extra day is available.
•
Elena Bertran Zoom Advent retreat: November?
●
Not
present, but she has said before that Nov is usually good for her.
• Calendar Items: Next SLT meeting, July 13, 2024 Calendar (to be updated) available here: https://bestillconsd.blogspot.com/2020/01/consd-calendar-for-2020.html
•
Other Concerns / Miscellaneous: All
●
Parth:
Brian Petersen and Chaparral Chapel. Parth will check on the possibility of Fr. Brian offering
such an event to our chapter (include COSD?)
●
Kathy:
lot of reaction to the eclipse
●
Parth:
Shared information on St. Bart’s event of the Missa Gaia (Earth Mass) on Sunday, April 21 at 4pm in St. Bart’s
sanctuary.
Click on Missa Gaia for more details.
•
Closing Prayer: Parth reading William Sloane Coffin
• Our meeting ended at 11:20am.
Respectfully submitted,
Parth Domke
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