2018/08/23 VIMS council meeting minutes

VIMS Council Meeting Minutes (approved)

Thursday, August 23, 2018 at 7:00 p.m.

Brock and June’s home

Present:                                                                                

Brock, June, Sandra, Brian, Rhonda, Bruce

Absent with Regrets:

None.

Agenda Items:

  1. Review and Approve Council Meeting Agenda:

Motion from Brock to approve the agenda. Carried.

  1. Approve Minutes of Previous Meeting (July 12th, 2018):

There were no changes to the distributed draft minutes from the July 12th council meeting.  Motion from Bruce to approve the minutes.  Carried.

  1. Business arising from the Minutes and Updates:
  • Ajaan Geoff’s public talk on Wednesday September 12th, 2018 has been finalized. Goward House has been booked for this event. The evening will be co-sponsored by Victoria IMS and the Aranya Refuge (Aranya refuge will cover the rental of the space and Victoria IMS will provide the sound system and volunteers to support the logistics of the evening).

 

  • Brock’s retreat on September 15th, 2018 – registration has opened and Rhonda Duncan will coordinate.
  1. Finances:
  • June reported on the July financials prepared by Wei (reports were distributed to council members prior to the meeting).

Account Balances as of August 1st, 2018:

Chequing:         $5,962.08

Savings:           $6,791.29

TOTAL:           $12,753.37

The total above includes a cheque made out to Tisarana for dana which was cashed on Aug 3rd, 2018 for the amount of $2,110.45 (dana was given at Ajahn Viradhammo’s retreat on June 23/24).

Motion from June to receive the July 2018 Financial Report. Carried.

  1.  Sunday Night Community Sit:
  • Council discussed options for the 2019 year for modifying the Sunday Night Community Sit. The need for modification has been indicated during the current year due to several factors such as the availability of resources to facilitate the evenings as well as the observed need of some participants to attend only the sitting. The current organizers are also wanting to step down from coordinating this program.

 

  • The discussions resulted in the following go-forward plan for 2019:

 

  • June, Sandra and Rhonda will develop a schedule for the first six months of 2019.
  • On the first Sunday of each month (except for August and September which are long weekends) we will hold a 2hr session as we have done in the past – a 45 minute sit followed by a teaching. Sandra will contact Heather and Margo to determine their availability to facilitate some of these evenings. Brock will contact Ayya Nimmala to ascertain her availability.
  • The balance of the Sundays will consist of a one hour session which will be led by one of our regular facilitators.
  • Rhonda and Sandra will share the role of checking in with everyone the month prior to their facilitation to remind them of their schedule and, in the event of cancellations, will find replacements.

 

  • The new schedule will be reviewed in April to determine its viability.

 

  • Some discussion was also held around the idea of a Friday evening program (e.g. chanting). Council agreed that if we went ahead with something like this, it would fall into the category of ‘special event’ and may be sponsored by the individual who is leading it rather than by Victoria IMS.
  1. Communications:  
    • Some suggestions for content for the September newsletter included notification of our events for the coming month – Ajaan Geoff’s talk, Brock’s retreat, Christina Feldman and Carol Wilson’s retreats as well as a reminder, with details, of the home sitting groups.
    • David Axon who monitors and responds to the Victoria IMS email has suggested developing a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page for the website. He has developed an initial draft which is currently under review by Council.

 

  1. 2018 Programs:
  • Upcoming retreats/events:
    • September 15 – Brock Brown.
    • October 13/14 – Christina Feldman.
    • Nov 10/11 – Carol Wilson.
  • Completed retreats/events:
    • January 20/21 – Heather Martin.
    • February 23 – Margo McLoughlin – evening public talk.
    • February 24/25 – Margo McLoughlin.
    • March 31/April 1 – Pascal Auclair.
    • May 26/27 – Susie Harrington.
    • May 27 – Susie Harrington – facilitation of Sunday Night sit.
    • June 23/24 – Ajahn Viradhammo.
  1.  2019 Programs:

There are some changes to the 2019 program schedule. These are highlighted below.

 

Goward House has been reserved for all the retreats with the exception of the August 17/18 retreat which will be held at the University of Victoria.

  • January 19/20 – Heather Martin.
  • February 23/24 – Margo McLoughlin.
  • April 27/28 – Tuere Sala.
  • May 25/26 – Adrianne Ross.
  • August 17/18 – Ajaan Geoff.
  • September 14 – Brock Brown.
  • October 12/13 – Steve Armstrong – due to Steve’s health this retreat will likely need to be reassigned. Council is considering possible options.
  • November 9/10 – Howard Cohn.
  1. Meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.

Next Council Meeting

September 20th, 2018 7:00-9:00p.m.

June and Brock’s home.