SSJC-WR COMMITTEE MEETING – Minutes
2019 04 06
Prince of Peace Monastery Bookstore Lobby
650 Benet Hill Rd.
Oceanside, CA 92058
Present: Fr. George Morelli, Diane Alves, Lynda L Grasser, Mark Hartman, Anthony Porrello
The meeting opened at approximately 10:40 AM. Opening prayer was given by Fr. George Morelli.
Chairman’s Report: Fr. George Morelli opened the meeting mentioning that we have arranged to hold our June conference at St. Katherine’s College, a small Orthodox college in San Marcos. Diane had spoken to Dr. Frank Papatheofanis, the College President, who is a member of her parish, St. Anthony. Later Fr. George and Frank had a phone call. Fr. George mentioned that he had invited Dr. Frank to our executive board meetings; but his attendance isn’t as important as Fr. Steve’s attendance has been when we were preparing to hold conferences at St. Paul’s, Irvine. That is because Fr. Steve was so involved in arranging the various details, for example: meals.
Fr. George also told us that we were originally going to have the conference at San Rafael parish but then Msgr. Dennis discovered that his parish was completely booked all year. Fr. George mentioned that he had known Frank Papatheofanis some years ago in the Boston area. He went on to say that Frank P. was offering St. Katherine’s free of charge because it is God’s work. The college is very new and small, but it is accredited. Fr. George then called for a motion to finalize these negotiations and determine a date and time. Mark Hartman moved to authorize Fr. G to complete the negotiations. Diane seconded.
Discussion of dates followed. The last two Saturdays in June are June 22 and June 29. Unfortunately, Anthony and Sally will be out of town those dates. June 17th is the Orientale Lumen Conference in the Washington DC area. Bob sometimes attends. Lynda mentioned that June 29th is a good day for this type of conference because it is the day of Saints Peter and Paul who represent ecumenism. We decided on June 29th (Fr. George had previously received permission to set the date within these parameters from Frank P.) Mark can be there on that date and agreed to tape the speakers.
Additional items in the President’s report: Fr. George will submit a report to Anne for the newsletter. The report’s theme will be “Chaos in the world and the need for unity.” He also mentioned that Anne is continuing as Historian, and he hopes she will submit a Historian’s report to be read at future meetings.
Vice Chairman’s Report: Fr. James Bankston wasn’t present because he was serving in a parish.
Secretary’s Report: Diane Alves asked for any problems with the previous meeting’s minutes which had been sent out. She mentioned that we used to have a little brochure that people could pick up at our meetings (or elsewhere), but that pamphlet is now outdated due to our restructuring. The current list of officers with new titles and their current email addresses is up to date on the website, so can be used in the new pamphlet. The pamphlet should also explain our different organization defining supporting member, active member, etc. It should also mention that active members are automatically on the executive committee.
Lynda Grasser mentioned that her first name had been misspelled in the previous minutes. Since that was the only problem, Fr. George announced, “Without objection, the minutes stand approved.”
Treasurer’s Report: Bob Greenwell wasn’t present. He had relayed the information that there were no changes since last month, no money received or spent. Therefore, the balance is still $2,257.97.
Light of the East Newsletter: Jim Trageser was unable to attend the meeting. He has communicated his need for help to other members. Father George has asked (or will ask) Anne to help select articles and possibly do some editing. Jim has also sometimes received help from former Newsletter editor, Fr. James Babcock who may also be able to help.
Website Team Report: Fr. Bankston wasn’t present. We discussed the fact that there is a new version of WordPress which we haven’t yet installed. Fr. Bankston is researching it because he heard there might be “bugs” in it, and we don’t want the software upgrade to break anything on the website. Diane Note: A 3rd party add-on on our website did break when we installed a previous upgrade, so Fr. Bankston’s caution is warranted.
Fr. George mentioned posting his upcoming newsletter article on the website (after Anne edits). The newsletter itself will be on the website, but also posting Fr. George’s article separately would reach more readers.
Old Business
Upcoming Light of the East Conference 2019 on topic “Monasticism for the Rest of Us”
According to Fr. George, St. John Chrysostom described black and white monasticism where black refers to those who wear a black habit while white monasticism is about the spirituality of ordinary people. Fr. George will talk on this Orthodox tradition that is also called Interiorized Monasticism (from the writings of Paul Evdokimov).
Discussion of possible other speakers and schedule followed. One might be Brother Daniel of Prince of Peace. We were hoping he would stop by and talk to us today . . . Another possibility, Mother Melania who used to be Abbess of St. Barbara’s Monastery in Santa Paula. She is now Abbess of a Holy Assumption Monastery in Calistoga in Northern California. She has a PhD and is currently teaching at Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, an awesome speaker. Fr. George intends to call her.
As usual, we plan to have a Western speaker and an Eastern speaker. Chris O’Donnell, a parishioner of Msgr. Dennis, who is married with three children and a member of a Roman Catholic Franciscan 3rd order will be our Western speaker and our authority on monastic traditions for lay people. Brother Daniel and Chris O’Donnell are Roman Catholic, Fr. George Morelli and Mother Melania are Orthodox. Eastern Catholic monasticism is like Orthodox monasticism which means we don’t need an Eastern Catholic speaker. Alternate speakers might be Brother Daniel and Fr. Kyrillos Ibrahim, a Coptic pastor from Irvine. According to Fr. George Coptic priests, even those who are married, are required to spend several months in a monastery.
Details: We finalized the date as June 29th (see the President’s Report). Location is St. Katherine’s College in San Marcos, $75 stipends for local speakers – more for those who travel. The price for attending the conference will be $25 for an individual, $40 for a married couple, $10 youth, clergy free. No one will be turned away for inability to pay.
Schedule:
8-9 Registration, Coffee, and Bagels or Donuts
9-10 Speaker – Chris O’Donnell
10:30-11:30 Speaker – Mother Melania or alternate
11:30-Noon Prayer Service
12-1:30 Lunch – People can go out to local restaurants. Lynda might make and sell sandwiches for $10
1:30-2:30 Speaker – Fr. George Morelli
3-4 Speaker/Panel – Possibility of a 4th speaker. At the end there will be a panel consisting of all the speakers answering questions from attendees.
Advertising was discussed and agreed to at our previous meeting as follows: We should get our event into “The Southern Cross” local Roman Catholic Diocesan newspaper. Jim Trageser will get our conference in the newsletter which Diane will post on the website. Diane will also make an event website posting. Fr. James will do a flyer. Volunteers are needed to distribute flyers. Fr. George will contact Orthodox Clergy, Msgr. Dennis will contact Roman Catholic Clergy. (Who will contact the Southern Cross?)
Fr. George will talk to Mother Melania. He will also talk to Msgr. Dennis who is communicating with Chris.
Assuming Mother Melania will be a speaker, discussion ensued about her travel, housing, etc. We agreed to provide her with the stipend + travel expenses. Discussion included the possibility that she might stay in a private home nearby. The university might arrange something through some visiting faculty arrangement, or St. Katherine Orthodox Church (OCA) in Carlsbad might be a possibility for finding a parishioner she could stay with. Lynda suggested that we might help Mother Melania arrange a fundraiser for her monastery at a local parish.
Chris will receive a $75 stipend. Fr. Ibrahim would also be a local with a $75 stipend as would Brother Daniel if either of them becomes one of our speakers.
We should get going on the newsletter. Fr. George will ask Fr. Babcock to work with Jim. We need to hold another meeting in about a month, the 4th or the 18th of May avoid conflicts mentioned by the people present. Fr. George will see if we can meet at Msgr. Dennis’ parish which is mid-county minimizing travel for more of us, otherwise at POP again. Fr. G will email us with the When? Where? of our next meeting.
Motion to Adjourn: The motion was apparently made informally by Fr. George who, without waiting for a second, started the closing prayer.
Closing prayer around 12:05 by Fr. George Morelli
Respectfully submitted by Secretary, Diane Alves