Ventura County Interfaith Community – Core Committee Meeting

September 22, 2005

 

·        Frieda opened with a devotional

·        We welcomed Kim Hawkins from Soka Gakkai to our group.

·        We discussed upcoming visits

o       The group will visit the Soka Gakkai Gongyo chant for world peace on October 2nd at 10:00 AM

§         Hillcrest Arts Center, 403 W. Hillcrest, Thousand Oaks

§         Kim will confirm times with Tim tomorrow so that he can get the information to the various congregations

o       We are still on for the November 6th visit to the Hindu Temple

o       In Percy’s absence the group deferred discussion of attendance at a Quaker meeting in December or January

o       Tim reported that he was making progress on the Jainism PowerPoint.  He will ask about using St. Columba’s facilities for a presentation

·        Outreach

o       Kim Hawkins will contact a Muslim acquaintance about possible participation

o       Linda talked to a Mormon bishop and she will try to contact a Mormon layperson

o       Tim will check Muslim Websites in an attempt to locate another Islamic center besides Conejo Islamic Center

o       Susan contacted a Native American and Greek Orthodox priest

o       Susan will find out about visiting with the Los Angeles interfaith group

Frieda and Linda will also check about their faiths’ involvement in the LA group

o       The group agreed to do a forum on 1/24

§         Topic will be death

§         Location will be library

§         Format

·        10 minutes for each of 5-7 religions to present synopsis of faith and faith’s view of forum item (i.e. death)

·        Intermission with snacks

·        45 minutes for panel discussion

§         Preference will be extended to speakers from the faith communities represented by VCIC members

§         Panelists should prepare handouts

§         Handouts from other faith communities will be welcome

§         The group felt strongly that they would like Ferial to be one of the panelists and Tim will approach her

§         Everyone was tasked with finding a panelist to represent their community

§         Frieda will ask the head of the hospice program to be the moderator

·        Volunteerism

o       Tim will contact CLU to determine if they have an interfaith group

o       Frieda reported her discussions with Camarillo Health Care Center regarding meditation lessons

§         They have no times for sessions available until January ‘06

§         They must have e-mail by middle of October in order to arrange sessions in January

§         They need to know:

·        How often (once a week or more)

·        Cost

·        Which days of the week

·        Length of each session

·        Details of contents of program

·        Names and credentials of people to lead sessions

§         Susan will pursue putting a program together for use at the Health Care Center and/or on college campuses

§         Tim will make a stab at the Health Care Center’s red tape once a program has been designed

o       Teri reported that she had pursued the possibility of presentations to health-care providers and determined that the person to contact was Christina Fernandez.  Renee will contact Christina.

o       Teri will contact VYCF and find out what is involved in sponsoring a “living unit.”

·        Next meeting

o       October 20, 7:00 PM

o       Susan will bring the devotional