Our Thursday evening talks will be devoted to an in depth study of the Yogacara Buddhist model of consciousness. Click to see the full schedule..
SCORE (Search Committee on Real Estate) UPDATE
Deep Bows and Greetings Red Cedar Zen Sangha Members-
Just after we returned from 8 days at Samish with 60 fellow dharma friends and our Guiding Teacher Zoketsu Norman Fischer, a property we just missed making an offer on earlier this year was miraculously re-listed. The 3, 750 sq. ft. commercial office building, located at 2509 Cedarwood in the Birchwood neighborhood (north Bellingham) was back on the market at $799,000.
On Friday, July 1, we offered the seller $800,000 and quite favorable down payment terms. He accepted our offer and countered with a seller-financing proposal with a lower interest rate than current bank charges and no bank loan fees. In an incredibly tight and competitive market with other offers in the wings, we accepted, subject to inspection and other necessary evaluations. We are now in a mutually binding contract with earnest money in escrow. We are scheduled for closing on August 15, all subject to the findings of our due diligence investigations over the next 3 weeks.
This is not yet a done deal. Subject to what we find out, we are not obligated to consummate this transaction. However, it appears to be a quite workable location for a zendo space with associated offices that will generate a steady income stream to help cover our mortgage. The currently leased office on the ground floor offers the opportunity to expand our zendo footprint in the future. Upstairs are two offices totaling 1,500 sq. ft. that will be immediately available for rent.
The largest section of the building (about 1300 sq feet) can work as a good basic zendo providing us with the essentials:
While not in the central part of Bellingham, as stipulated in our original search criteria, the building is on a high-frequency bus line (Route 50) from downtown, has 12 paved parking spaces, and is set back from the road with a large yard. Squalicum Creek and Cornwall Park are nearby, and the Birchwood neighborhood is a focus for City of Bellingham future investment.
As a religious organization, we must receive from the city a Conditional Use permit. During the estimated 6-month review and approval process we can happily continue to practice at BUF. while we carry out any interior modifications.
You can take a virtual tour here:
https://www.loopnet.com/Listing/2509-Cedarwood-Ave-Bellingham-WA/25754442/
OR you can join us tomorrow (July 7) at 5 PM for a tour of this building. If you plan on attending, please RSVP to Bob Rose @ basilbob1@gmail.com.
With most of our Practice Leaders away at sesshin this will be the schedule for June 19-27:
We'll pick up our One Day Sit schedule after the sesshin. Vegetarian breakfast and lunch will be served to in-person participants, and you can join us in our virtual zendo as well. There is a minimal registration fee to cover our costs.
More information and to register:
July 30th: Beginner's mind
August 27th: Opening to Joy
September 274h: No Gaining Idea
Red Cedar Zen Community's Wilderness Dharma Program emphasizes the practice of mindfulness and compassion through intimacy with a sense of place. Through mindful awareness and ritual enactments on our seasonal hikes and journeys we confirm the wholeness of ourselves, our home here in Pacific Cascadia, and the intrinsic Buddha Nature of all things. We walk in peace with every step.
Our schedule has a full slate of hikes and programs this year that offers something for almost everyone. From full backpacking trips to moderate day hikes, to our new short and easy Opening to Nature Walks in local parks, participants can engage with our travels in whichever format works for them. Red Cedar's Wilderness Dharma Program committee of Bob Penny, Bob Rose, Tim Burnett, Terrill Thompson, and Talus Latona each take turns leading the various programs.
To begin our season we warmly invite the community to join us Saturday, March 26th at Larrabee Beach for our Receiving Water/Hills and Streams hike program. This beachside ritual has become a poignant starting point for our season, and we hope you can attend. We carry the water we receive from the Salish Sea at this ritual with us throughout the season, exchanging it during our other hikes with mountain source water from the three headwaters of the Nooksack River, and return that mountain water to Larrabee Beach in the fall. In this way we follow what Eihei Dogen describes in his Mountains and Rivers Sutra as "the path of water" as our guide to practice being settled in this place. Each of us contributes to the whole season-long ritual by attending any part of it along the way, beginning with the Receiving Water ritual.
The Hills and Streams hike which immediately follows is optional. Talus Latona will lead the hike, which features a landscape level recitation of Dogen's Genjo Koan, in a ritual we call "sutra mapping" - the Hills and Streams hike being a mini day hike version of our full Mountains and Rivers backpack ritual.
A full description of the Wilderness Dharma Program can be found here.
The first two hikes for the season are ready for registration - the Receiving Water/ Hills and Streams hike, and next month's popular annual Mt. Eire Circumambulation hike led by Bob Rose. The other programs will come online for registration shortly, and announcements will also be in upcoming editions of Bending Bough, the Red Cedar Zen Community's monthly newsletter. A full list of the season's programs can be found below. Registration for all events is at redcedarzen.org.
We hope to see you at Larrabee Beach on March 26th to help with our beachside ritual of Receiving Water, or at another Wilderness Dharma Program event this season.
In Wildness, Bob Penny Wilderness Dharma Program Coordinator Red Cedar Zen Community
March 26th with Talus Latona and Bob Penny Receiving Water Ceremony – Larrabee Park Hills and Streams Hike/Genjo Koan – Lost Lake or Fragrance Lake
April 9th (Buddha’s Birthday) with Bob Rose Meeting the Mountain/Poet’s Tree Ritual – Mt. Erie Circumambulation
May 7th with Bob Penny Opening to Nature Walk – Tennant Lake
May 14th-15th with Bob Penny and Talus Latona Hidden Mountain Spring Retreat – Hidden Mountain Zendo
June 4th with Terrill Thompson Opening to Nature Walk – Stimpson Forest Reserve
July 2nd with Tim Burnett Opening to Nature Walk – 100 Acre Woods
July 16th with Bob Penny Opening the Mountains Hike/Dividing Water Ritual – Skyline Divide
July 31st with Bob Penny Sacred Earth Fair/sponsored by Multifaith Network for Climate Justice – Center for Spiritual Living
August 6th with Bob Penny Opening to Nature Walk - Old Growth Ceremony
August 22st-27th with Bob Penny, Terrill Thompson, Tim Burnett, and Talus Latona Mountains and Rivers Backpack/Exchanging Water Rituals – Hidden Mountain Zendo/Mt. Baker
September 3rdwith Bob Penny Opening to Nature Walk – Cornwall Park
September 10th with Terrill Thompson, Tim Burnett, and Bob Penny Sauk Mountain Full Moonrise Hike
September 24th (Fall Equinox) with Terrill Thompson Journey to the Source/Exchanging Water Ritual – Nooksack Cirque
October 1st with Bob Rose Heart Sutra Walk – Heart Lake
October 15th with Bob Penny Closing the Mountains/Returning Water Ceremony – Oyster Dome/ Larrabee State Park
Responding Gate
Words from our Guiding Teacher
Dear Sangha, Like many of us, I've really appreciated our Shuso Seiu Hannah's leadership in exploring the Diamond Sutra this Practice Period. It was especially moving to read and share Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings around the sutra as he passed from this world after so many years of teaching and sharing this wisdom. The odd repeated logic of prajna paramita emptiness teachings in the sutra do feel strange at first. "It exists, but it doesn't exist in the way you think it is does, and that's why we call it what it is." The sutra reminds us of the power of our minds to define and create the world. It reminds of the power of perspective. That all views are narrow and that a bigger more inclusive understanding is always right here. Right here. These teachings remind of us of the absolute necessity of radical flexibility, deep acceptance, and compassion. But, this world. Glancing at the news just now: Russian tanks roll towards Kyiv, Ukraine; another dire climate change report coming out while, and meanwhile the Supreme Court is hearing a legal challenge that might undermine the EPA's ability to regulate the emissions that contribute to climate change. Yet again that Joni Mitchell line rolls through the mind, "I read the news today and it all looked bad, they won't give peace a chance, it was just an idea a few of us had." And yet there is love; there is family; there is community. There is practice. There is this life with support of sangha. Every tiny shift towards more awareness, more clarity, and more kindness is significant. It helps me so much to remember that everyday throughout the world billions of people wake up, have breakfast with their families, go to work, take care of things, take care of each other, feel joy along with the sorrows, and are willing to keep going. That's this world too. This gift of practice we've received - a line from one of our chants: "now you have it so keep it well." And we keep it together. Thich Nhat Hanh reminding us again and again in his teachings of the importance of practicing together as sangha. As the Omicron wave fades and living with Covid shifts again we're returning to in-person practice. I'm grateful for Zoom - it's really helped us stay connected and broadened the field of practice - and I'm looking forward to feeling again, in the body, the value of being together in space. We're starting modestly with weekly Thursday evening practice. Saturday morning to follow as we get our routine down at the Unitarian church. Some programs (weekday morning, Sunday Zen Alive) are staying just on Zoom. And I'm thrilled that we'll be able to return to Samish Island for our week-long sesshin with Norman in June. Many friends join us from near and far for this retreat, Samish has become a sangha of it's own over the years and I'd love for you to be a part of that. As you'll see we're opening registration first to Red Cedar members. It's likely to fill so please consider if you can come. Another joy is this year's Wilderness Dharma program is in the works and will include more accessible close-by walks and gentle hikes along with the usual day hikes and the classic Mountains and Rivers backpack in August. Lastly I want to add a thank you to all of our supporters as we seek our ultimate home. Thank you not only for the generous donations but also, now, for trusting the Board and our real estate advisors as we take the unexpected step of buying into the market initially with a building that we probably won't turn into a zendo. This took me a minute to get my mind around, but it makes sense. It should lead to a good outcome. And wow, also another opportunity to practice flexibility and letting go as plans, predictions, and ideas meet the rapidly changing world. Thank you for all of it. May we heal and grow together. And may our practice of awareness and compassion benefit this world. Nomon Tim
Dear Sangha,
Like many of us, I've really appreciated our Shuso Seiu Hannah's leadership in exploring the Diamond Sutra this Practice Period. It was especially moving to read and share Thich Nhat Hanh's teachings around the sutra as he passed from this world after so many years of teaching and sharing this wisdom. The odd repeated logic of prajna paramita emptiness teachings in the sutra do feel strange at first. "It exists, but it doesn't exist in the way you think it is does, and that's why we call it what it is." The sutra reminds us of the power of our minds to define and create the world. It reminds of the power of perspective. That all views are narrow and that a bigger more inclusive understanding is always right here. Right here. These teachings remind of us of the absolute necessity of radical flexibility, deep acceptance, and compassion.
But, this world. Glancing at the news just now: Russian tanks roll towards Kyiv, Ukraine; another dire climate change report coming out while, and meanwhile the Supreme Court is hearing a legal challenge that might undermine the EPA's ability to regulate the emissions that contribute to climate change. Yet again that Joni Mitchell line rolls through the mind, "I read the news today and it all looked bad, they won't give peace a chance, it was just an idea a few of us had."
And yet there is love; there is family; there is community. There is practice. There is this life with support of sangha. Every tiny shift towards more awareness, more clarity, and more kindness is significant. It helps me so much to remember that everyday throughout the world billions of people wake up, have breakfast with their families, go to work, take care of things, take care of each other, feel joy along with the sorrows, and are willing to keep going. That's this world too.
This gift of practice we've received - a line from one of our chants: "now you have it so keep it well." And we keep it together. Thich Nhat Hanh reminding us again and again in his teachings of the importance of practicing together as sangha.
As the Omicron wave fades and living with Covid shifts again we're returning to in-person practice. I'm grateful for Zoom - it's really helped us stay connected and broadened the field of practice - and I'm looking forward to feeling again, in the body, the value of being together in space. We're starting modestly with weekly Thursday evening practice. Saturday morning to follow as we get our routine down at the Unitarian church. Some programs (weekday morning, Sunday Zen Alive) are staying just on Zoom.
And I'm thrilled that we'll be able to return to Samish Island for our week-long sesshin with Norman in June. Many friends join us from near and far for this retreat, Samish has become a sangha of it's own over the years and I'd love for you to be a part of that. As you'll see we're opening registration first to Red Cedar members. It's likely to fill so please consider if you can come.
Another joy is this year's Wilderness Dharma program is in the works and will include more accessible close-by walks and gentle hikes along with the usual day hikes and the classic Mountains and Rivers backpack in August.
Lastly I want to add a thank you to all of our supporters as we seek our ultimate home. Thank you not only for the generous donations but also, now, for trusting the Board and our real estate advisors as we take the unexpected step of buying into the market initially with a building that we probably won't turn into a zendo. This took me a minute to get my mind around, but it makes sense. It should lead to a good outcome. And wow, also another opportunity to practice flexibility and letting go as plans, predictions, and ideas meet the rapidly changing world.
Thank you for all of it. May we heal and grow together. And may our practice of awareness and compassion benefit this world.
Nomon Tim
Our in-person sesshin this week at Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship where they are not yet allowing meals has several impacts on our usual schedule and there are also special end of Practice Period events. It’s a little complicated!
Here’s the run down:
For the rest of March:
Looking forward to practicing with you soon, Nomon Tim, Shudo Chris and your sangha practice leaders.
p.s. Our Samish Island 7-day Sesshin with Norman Fischer is on (in person only) with registration opening to members on March 12 and the rest of our friends on March 19.
Dear Sangha Friends,
We want to thank you for your continued support throughout Our Journey Home Campaign and now into our Search for a New Home. This Journey is centered on our three treasures: Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. It has always been about how our Red Cedar Zen practice can serve our greater community. A building is a means to that end.
The process has not unfolded as we initially expected. We set out with the intention that money raised would be sufficient to purchase a building that we could remodel and occupy. Unfortunately, during the past two years, the Bellingham real estate market has become, like many small cities, quite attractive. Numerous outside investors are making full price and above, cash offers for unseen properties. In these circumstances, our money simply won’t go as far as we had envisioned. But as our teachings show, expectations should be held lightly and to embrace the opportunities that arise.
In our search for a future zendo, we investigated multiple properties and found an ideal commercial building that meets most of our search criteria, 3 blocks from the Mt. Baker Theatre. It is in excellent condition, well outfitted, and used as healing arts treatment space. It is available to purchase and would be a prudent and wise investment in this challenging market.
However, to be a successful buyer, we must offer a multi-year lease to the current owner/tenant. With a substantial down payment from our successful campaign, the monthly lease payments more than cover our projected mortgage. Investing in this building now provides us with a safe place for our sangha treasure and allows that treasure to grow while providing great stability to respond to future opportunities.
This will be a temporary holding space so that we can calmly take the time to find our future home while building equity with the money all of you have so generously offered. We can take deep breaths and not feel pressured or rushed. When we do find the proper home for Red Cedar sangha, we will be able to sell this building, if we choose, and purchase a new space that will fit our growing sangha's needs.
We are still looking for our home and will continue that search. There are many opportunities your Board of Directors’ Special Committee on Real Estate (SCORE) can see on the horizon. In the interim, we will meet at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (BUF) and be able practice, in person, as a community, sitting together after two years of almost constant virtual practice.
Thich Nhat Hanh reminds us in his commentary on the Diamond Sutra (p.68) that establishing a “serene and beautiful Buddha field” is done in the “spirit of formlessness.” His cautionary words ring true: “Do not allow yourself to be burnt out in the process of setting up a practice center.”
We want to thank you all for your continued support and patience as we join together to take our practice from our cushions into our lives and into our community. We deeply appreciate each and every one of you and your heartfelt generosity. You are what makes Red Cedar Zen a living sanctuary.
We will have an all-sangha conversation about the next steps on our path for a permanent zendo home on Thursday, March 17 at 7 pm. Please feel free to call me or other members of the SCORE committee (Mary Durbrow, Nomon Tim Burnett or Richard Eggemeyer) if you have questions, concerns, or other issues we should consider.
Deep Bows.
On behalf of the SCORE Committee
Bob Rose, Board President
We are slowing opening our practices and events to in-person attendance. See the Home Page for current information.
When attending practices and events in our sangha space at the Bellingham Unitarian Fellowship (BUF), please adhere to the following safety protocols to help keep our members safe during the Covid pandemic.
Please send a photo of your vaccination card showing a completed vaccine series and one booster to registrar@redcedarzen.org.
Please stay home if you have any Covid symptoms, even if a home test is negative.
Please stay home if you have tested positive for Covid and refer to CDC Guidelines https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html
Please stay home if you have a known CoVid exposure and refer to CDC Guidelines https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/quarantine-isolation.html.
Please stay home if you have not completed a vaccine series, including one booster.
Mask up before you enter the building.
Sign in with the registrar and show the vaccination record if you have not already sent her a photo of your vax record.
Proceed to the hand-washing station.
N 94 or N 95 (not cloth!) masks are required and there will be a small supply at the door.
Maintain social distancing of 6 feet when sitting, walking, in restrooms, on stairways and anywhere we tend to cluster.
Wear masks continually during service.
Chanting while masked is acceptable.
Wipe down chairs and other hard surfaces.
Congregate outdoors for socializing.
Please let the registrar know at registrar@redcedarzen.org.
Using the registrar’s check-in list, we will follow best practices to notify individuals who may have been exposed. You will remain anonymous.
If you have been exposed please refer to the CDC website:
Update from the SCORE Committee
Dear Sangha, Your generous practice of dana paramita has given RCZC's search for a practice home a breath of life. We will be able to make a down payment exceeding $500,000 when a suitable property is found. Your SCORE committee (Bob Rose, Richard Eggemeyer, Nomon Tim, and Mary Durbrow) with Bob Penny's help with construction and design feasibility continues to browse the commercial and residential listings daily and physically visit anything that meets our criteria of: 2000-3000 ft sq Bellingham city limits, preferably downtown core Accessible by multiple modes of transportation ADA accessible Walking distance to amenities like coffee shop and greenspace Manageable mortgage for sangha now and in the future To date we have toured ten properties - none so far has been suitable. Our exploration has revealed that this is a fast-growing real estate market, and according to a real estate broker we are working with, we are competing with buyers from all over the world who are making cash offers on residential and commercial properties, sometimes sight unseen. The Bellingham market feels very expensive to us locals, but investors from other cities see Bellingham as a bargain. We are ready to take the leap off the 100-foot pole if the right property presents itself, thanks to funds that are now available and which will make a handsome down payment. We are meeting with lending institutions this week to prequalify for a loan, a step that will help us move more quickly when the time comes to present an offer. As no suitable property has presented itself in the past year, we are beginning to consider another alternative such as investing the sangha treasure in an interim property with a positive rental income stream, whose value will grow with the market, and whose positive income stream will make the mortgage payments for us. If we find a desirable property that meets these new criteria, we could remodel and move in in two years, or resell. Meanwhile, we will meet at BUF, as planned, and as Congregation Beth Israel did, while their new synagogue was being built. Our initial investment will have grown at the current real estate growth rate of 15%, far beyond what it would earn in a money market or savings account. Not investing the money we have, whether in a permanent or interim property, will leave us farther behind as the market continues to grow. This requires great patience paramita practice on all our parts, dear sangha. It seems fair to say that whatever we do, it could be two years or more before we settle into our new home. Even if we found the perfect property tomorrow, we will need to go through a conditional use permitting process, design and permitting for a remodel, then the actual remodel. That alone can take two years. We are so fortunate that BUF has welcomed us to their beautiful practice hall for as long as we need to be there, at a very fair price. Let's all take a couple of deep breaths, one in gratitude for BUF and the sangha's generosity and another to help us practice patience with so much uncertainty. Your SCORE team will continue to work relentlessly until our beloved sangha is settled together once again. With Gratitude, Mary Durbrow On behalf of the SCORE team
Your generous practice of dana paramita has given RCZC's search for a practice home a breath of life. We will be able to make a down payment exceeding $500,000 when a suitable property is found. Your SCORE committee (Bob Rose, Richard Eggemeyer, Nomon Tim, and Mary Durbrow) with Bob Penny's help with construction and design feasibility continues to browse the commercial and residential listings daily and physically visit anything that meets our criteria of:
2000-3000 ft sq Bellingham city limits, preferably downtown core Accessible by multiple modes of transportation ADA accessible Walking distance to amenities like coffee shop and greenspace Manageable mortgage for sangha now and in the future
To date we have toured ten properties - none so far has been suitable. Our exploration has revealed that this is a fast-growing real estate market, and according to a real estate broker we are working with, we are competing with buyers from all over the world who are making cash offers on residential and commercial properties, sometimes sight unseen. The Bellingham market feels very expensive to us locals, but investors from other cities see Bellingham as a bargain.
We are ready to take the leap off the 100-foot pole if the right property presents itself, thanks to funds that are now available and which will make a handsome down payment. We are meeting with lending institutions this week to prequalify for a loan, a step that will help us move more quickly when the time comes to present an offer.
As no suitable property has presented itself in the past year, we are beginning to consider another alternative such as investing the sangha treasure in an interim property with a positive rental income stream, whose value will grow with the market, and whose positive income stream will make the mortgage payments for us. If we find a desirable property that meets these new criteria, we could remodel and move in in two years, or resell. Meanwhile, we will meet at BUF, as planned, and as Congregation Beth Israel did, while their new synagogue was being built. Our initial investment will have grown at the current real estate growth rate of 15%, far beyond what it would earn in a money market or savings account. Not investing the money we have, whether in a permanent or interim property, will leave us farther behind as the market continues to grow.
This requires great patience paramita practice on all our parts, dear sangha. It seems fair to say that whatever we do, it could be two years or more before we settle into our new home. Even if we found the perfect property tomorrow, we will need to go through a conditional use permitting process, design and permitting for a remodel, then the actual remodel. That alone can take two years.
We are so fortunate that BUF has welcomed us to their beautiful practice hall for as long as we need to be there, at a very fair price. Let's all take a couple of deep breaths, one in gratitude for BUF and the sangha's generosity and another to help us practice patience with so much uncertainty.
Your SCORE team will continue to work relentlessly until our beloved sangha is settled together once again.
With Gratitude,
Mary Durbrow
On behalf of the SCORE team
Buddhist Folk Painting, Free to a Good Home
Dear Red Cedar Zen Community Folks, Happy New Year of the Water Tiger! Two years after moving into a new (for us) home in Bellingham, my wife and I have decided that we do not have a suitable spot to hang a large Korean folk painting which we brought home with us after living several decades in Seoul. Measuring 51" wide and 41" high, the painting features an array of prominent Buddhist, Confucian and other personages from various Asian spiritual traditions. It was acquired by a fellow former Peace Corps volunteer in Korea in the 1970s, and handed down to us. Our Asian art connection cannot accept it, and we do not want to cast the fate of this special work to the fickle winds of E-Bay or Craig's List. We wonder, however, whether Red Cedar, or anyone associated with your Center, might have an interest in, or a place for, this painting. We would be delighted just to know that it has found an appreciative new home. Thank you for considering, and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and safe 2022! Ken Kaliher and Mary-Lee Mooney 430 S. Garden St., Bellingham, WA 98225-6117 (360) 734-2096 If a problem can be solved, why be unhappy? And if it cannot be solved, what is the use of being unhappy? - The Abbott, in Khyentse Norbu’s 1999 film, "The Cup"
Dear Red Cedar Zen Community Folks,
Happy New Year of the Water Tiger!
Two years after moving into a new (for us) home in Bellingham, my wife and I have decided that we do not have a suitable spot to hang a large Korean folk painting which we brought home with us after living several decades in Seoul. Measuring 51" wide and 41" high, the painting features an array of prominent Buddhist, Confucian and other personages from various Asian spiritual traditions. It was acquired by a fellow former Peace Corps volunteer in Korea in the 1970s, and handed down to us.
Our Asian art connection cannot accept it, and we do not want to cast the fate of this special work to the fickle winds of E-Bay or Craig's List. We wonder, however, whether Red Cedar, or anyone associated with your Center, might have an interest in, or a place for, this painting. We would be delighted just to know that it has found an appreciative new home.
Thank you for considering, and best wishes for a healthy, happy, and safe 2022!
Ken Kaliher and Mary-Lee Mooney 430 S. Garden St., Bellingham, WA 98225-6117
Ken Kaliher and Mary-Lee Mooney
430 S. Garden St., Bellingham, WA 98225-6117
(360) 734-2096
If a problem can be solved, why be unhappy? And if it cannot be solved, what is the use of being unhappy?
If a problem can be solved, why be unhappy?
And if it cannot be solved, what is the use of being unhappy?
- The Abbott, in Khyentse Norbu’s 1999 film, "The Cup"
Board Forms New Financial Future Committee
As you all know, we are entering into new financial territory and some uncertainty as we prepare to purchase a future home for the sangha. Our finances have remained quite stable and predictable for a very long time. Right now we have a robust financial position. But as the Board of Directors bears fiduciary responsibility for RCZC we need to assure we keep it as such. So, we are inviting 2-3 sangha members to look into the future with a couple of board members (John and Mary for now). Some data we might look at would be: How is the gain/loss of members trending? How do our membership dues and registration fees compare with other sangha's our size? What new income streams can we imagine, given our limited human resources? How can we keep our fees low and be financially sustainable in the future? What grants are out there that might be a good fit? What ideas do YOU have? This will be an ad hoc committee, hopefully winding up with a report with recommendations to the Board in a few months, maybe in time for the Annual meeting with Board and Sangha in April. If this sounds interesting to you, please contact Mary (mdurbrow1@gmail.com) or John (Johnmw47@gmail.com). Deep bows, John and Mary
As you all know, we are entering into new financial territory and some uncertainty as we prepare to purchase a future home for the sangha. Our finances have remained quite stable and predictable for a very long time. Right now we have a robust financial position. But as the Board of Directors bears fiduciary responsibility for RCZC we need to assure we keep it as such.
So, we are inviting 2-3 sangha members to look into the future with a couple of board members (John and Mary for now). Some data we might look at would be: How is the gain/loss of members trending? How do our membership dues and registration fees compare with other sangha's our size? What new income streams can we imagine, given our limited human resources? How can we keep our fees low and be financially sustainable in the future? What grants are out there that might be a good fit? What ideas do YOU have?
This will be an ad hoc committee, hopefully winding up with a report with recommendations to the Board in a few months, maybe in time for the Annual meeting with Board and Sangha in April.
If this sounds interesting to you, please contact Mary (mdurbrow1@gmail.com) or John (Johnmw47@gmail.com).
Deep bows,
John and Mary
Red Cedar Zen Community is a 501(c) non-profit organization.
