Caretaking Council (CTC) Minutes - February 18, 2024
In Attendance: Mark Watson (our stand-in facilitator for Patrice Watson), Mike McGann, Tina Ray, Mike McMahon, Jim Cox, Dave Watts, Gina Matkin (Absent – Patrice Watson, Facilitator, and Juanita Rice, who is on a brief sabbatical from Sangha responsibilities)
We began with a short meditation followed by a heartfelt check-in. Mark read the contemplation before meetings.
1. Treasury Report – We have a total of $6301.16 ($2383.63 in PayPal and $3917.53 in our bank account).
2. Monday Night Sangha – how is it going?
3. Monday Night Sangha Facilitators
4. Honey Locust Sangha Library
5. Upcoming April 2024 Retreat Update 2025 Spring Retreat
7. Meetup Subscription
8. CTC Membership
Our meeting ended in harmony and with much gratitude for our time together.
~Respectfully submitted by Gina Matkin, True Transmission of Virtue
We began with a short meditation followed by a heartfelt check-in. Mark read the contemplation before meetings.
1. Treasury Report – We have a total of $6301.16 ($2383.63 in PayPal and $3917.53 in our bank account).
2. Monday Night Sangha – how is it going?
- We discussed the hybrid (Zoom and in-person) dynamics, and it was generally agreed that it is going smoothly and that it is good to have people able to attend who could not come to Omaha each Monday.
- It was mentioned that some people feel a bit disappointed when the Zoom attendees turn their videos off during meditation because it is nice to see all the faces of our Sangha. We discussed the various reasons some might choose to do this (turn off cameras), including background distractions from children or animals, not feeling well, etc., and decided that the issue of having your camera on is a personal choice and should be honored. But we also thought it might be good to add to the Sangha reminders each week, that we love seeing everyone’s faces, but understand if some need or choose to turn their cameras off. That way, new people won’t think that having cameras off is an expectation or norm.
3. Monday Night Sangha Facilitators
- We discussed the issue of asking more members of the Sangha to facilitate on Monday nights rather than relying on OI/Aspirant facilitators most of the time. Mike McMahon has been encouraging this for some time. We held a formal vote, and it was unanimous that all CTC members present supported working to get more Sangha members involved in facilitation, inviting the bell, etc.
- We discussed that we should keep the rotation schedule of OI/Aspirants for this year but that this is to be interpreted that on our night, we are responsible for making sure the night’s facilitation is covered and that we are encouraged to invite others (Sangha members) to facilitate in our place at times. We may revisit the rotation schedule later in the year and revise for next year.
- It was brought up that whoever invites a Sangha member to facilitate should make sure the person feels comfortable and prepared if they have not facilitated before, so they will be nourished by the experience. We might offer to invite the bell for them or meet with them ahead of time to go over any questions they have. Gina offered to send a handout she made for Anh Le that outlined our general schedule each week. She said she used it when Anh Le facilitated and even though Anh is a very experienced and skilled facilitator, she said it helped her feel more comfortable with the general outline of our evening practice so she could relax and enjoy the experience. Jim suggested that we might start out newer facilitators on the 2nd or 4th Monday since those nights are perhaps easier to navigate. We were also reminded that the 1st and 5th (when they occur) Mondays are considered open or “facilitator’s choice” nights and do not necessarily need to include dharma talks.
4. Honey Locust Sangha Library
- Since our dear sibling, Juanita, is taking a break from some Sangha responsibilities, we wondered what that meant for the library. We discussed that we mostly wanted to make sure the books we have were available to those who might benefit from them. Mark offered to check the crates and perhaps set them out each week at the Yoga Path.
- Mike McGann thought it was important to make sure the books are available at our April retreat. He offered to bring them and set them up so attendees might have a chance to look them over, peruse, read, or even take them home.
5. Upcoming April 2024 Retreat Update 2025 Spring Retreat
- Our dates for the 2025 retreat are May 15- 18, 2025. Prices from Creighton will increase considerably next year, so we will need to see how that affects our registration costs.
- Our Dharma Teacher for next year will be Joe Reilly (thanks, Tina, for getting this arranged). Joe is a Dharma Teacher in the Plum Village tradition and was an active member of the Wake Up movement from the very start.
- From his website – joereilly.org “Joe Reilly is a singer, songwriter, social worker, and educator who writes songs from his heart. Joe’s songs are playful, clever, engaging, joyful, and always have something meaningful to say. The core of his message is an invitation to heal our relationships with ourselves, with each other, and with the earth.”
- d.More information will be provided later.
7. Meetup Subscription
- Mark said that there are still issues with Jonathan’s name showing up on our Meetup account, even though it is supposed to be in his (Mark’s) name, and he pays for it. It has been a challenge to work this out. We discussed that it was not clear if anyone is finding us on Meetup anymore and that the cost (about $200 per year) might not be worth it.
- The CTC voted to cancel the Meetup subscription at the end of this year’s contract (about four months from now).
8. CTC Membership
- We talked about membership on the CTC and whether it was time to consider new members.
- We decided to add this topic to next month’s agenda, including a review of our CTC By-Laws to look at member terms and other details of membership. Gina offered to send a link to the By-Laws out in advance of our next meeting.
Our meeting ended in harmony and with much gratitude for our time together.
~Respectfully submitted by Gina Matkin, True Transmission of Virtue