Dear friends,
-- A day after Thanksgiving, it feels appropriate to share gratitude for this loving, wholesome community. Thank you for showing up each week to walk the path and support others in their journeys.
I'm also grateful that I had enough free time today to write everyone to share the survey results as well as some of the changes taking place in response to the collective wisdom. This email is fairly lengthy and full of information, so let me assure those of you who may not read the rest of it that the basic elements of the sangha are the same. We will still meet from 6:00 - 7:30 at Flow on Sundays. One minor exception is that once every three months (or so) we will host a potluck in lieu of a regular class. The time and location will be the same as if it were a regular class and we will still meditate for 30 minutes at the start, but unlike a regular class, we will eat and communue following the meditation. The first potluck will be 12/22.
Before I get to results and updates, a few more thanks are in order. Thank you to Vince Lampone for building the survey and helping us digest the information. Also thank you to everyone who responded. The responses struck us as careful, helpful, and kind - wise speech in action. As a teaching team, we have done our best to digest the new information, discuss what changes are possible, and set these changes into motion. This is, of course, an ongoing process and we ask for your continued input and patience as we develop as a community.
Survey Results
I have attached the full results to this email in the form of an excel spreadsheet. As you will see, they are anonymous. If you'd like a shorter version, please read the summary that Vince wrote below.
Summary:
What's working well?
Many people express appreciation for the space at Flow, seeing it as welcoming and appropriate for our community. They appreciate the wisdom, preparation, and diverse contributions of the teachers. And they like the sense of community that exists in the group.
What can be strengthened?
A number of folks want more time for group sharing and discussion after weekly dharma talks. Other items mentioned by more than one person: a desire for more diversity in the sangha; outside events to build community; peer-led sanghas; consistent weekly emails announcing the topic; discussions that apply the dharma to real life (e.g. social issues, personal challenges); and issues re: accessibility (e.g. stairs, seating options).
Sangha Updates
These are the changes that we have already made or are planning to make in response to the survey results.
Communication
* The teaching team has set the intention to be more diligent about emailing the listserv, on Fridays, with the teaching topic and relevant weekly announcements.
Community Building
* To further support community building, we will host a quarterly potluck at Flow in lieu of regular class. The time will be the same, 6:00 - 7:30 and the location will be the same. Many sangha members wanted more time to socialize and get to know each other, and we thought that this would be a helpful way of facilitating that, without asking people to squeeze another item into their schedules. As of right now, the plan is to meditate first and then eat. These events will usually be held around the solstices and equinoxes. The first potluck will be 12/22.
* We will continue to announce sangha-related events each week. Members have already organized two recurring events: a monthly dinner that typically meets after class on the first Sunday of each month and a monthly book club that meets at people's homes usually before class. We will do our best to remind everyone about these events. The next dinner is scheduled for 12/8. The organizers of the book club will send out an email with details about the next one.
* The teaching team has also agreed to dedicate 20-30 minutes for sharing after the dharma talk each week. We also intend to be more purposeful about how we structure sharing time, with the aim of making it a meaningful opportunity to explore the dharma and build community.
* Volunteers requested!!! We see a need for two volunteer positions to help build community. The first is someone who can greet newcomers to the sangha, explain how things work, and check in with them after class to see if they have any questions. The second volunteer position would be someone to help manage the FB page. Please let us know if you're interested or available.
* We are currently drafting a mission statement that states our purpose and our values, including those around diversity and inclusion. The intention here is to affirm our shared purpose, and to communicate our values to those who are thinking of joining the community. We also hope that these values become the foundation for wise speech and action, particularly in the areas of diversity and inclusion, so that our sangha is a welcoming community for all. Once the first round of drafting is done, we will solicit suggestions from the sangha as a whole.
* In an effort to improve both communication and a sense of community, Travis is putting more energy into the Facebook page, and we invite those of you who participate in social media to do the same. We see this as an opportunity to reach people who might not know about the sangha, to communicate relevant updates and events, and to allow members to share content and ideas that are wholesome and supportive of our efforts, but not necessarily appropriate content for the listserv.
Accessibility
* We will bring down the folding chairs each week so that sangha members who are not comfortable on the floor can sit.
* We share everyone's concerns about the inaccessibility of the space to individuals with limited mobility. We remain open to suggestions for how to best address this issue.
* We will be arranging the seating in curved rows going forward. This allows more people to fit comfortably in the room, and it makes it easier for individuals with hearing issues to sit closer to the teachers.
Peer Led Classes
* Some of you requested peer led classes and we would like to support this request. In the past, we scheduled specific dates for these, but stopped doing it because nobody volunteered to teach after a while. The teaching team found itself scrambling to find peer teachers and to cover classes when none were available. We would like to try out a new approach where peer-led sittings will occur on an "as requested" basis. If you want to teach a class, write one of the teachers with your topic and some proposed dates. Once a teacher approves the topic we will schedule you in. Some important details: if you lead a class, you are responsible for sending out the Friday email. You are also responsible for finding a sub if you cannot make it. (Sometimes a member of the teaching team can fill in, sometimes we already have other commitments.)
Thank you all for your intention and effort to cultivate such a loving, supportive, and dedicated community. May the fruits of these wholesome efforts bring peace.
Devin
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