Summary of the
2024 Shao Shan Temple Annual Meeting
On Saturday, February 3, the Shao Shan Temple
sangha gathered in the Sangha Hall and online to attend the 2024 Annual
Meeting. Present were Board members Rev. Kenzan, Stella, Noah, Max, and
newly appointed Board member, Susan Stitely. Fifteen other sangha members
attended.
After introductions, Rev. Kenzan presented highlights from the Sangha
Report, Program Report, Buildings & Grounds Report, Cemetery Report,
Organizational Report, and Financial Report which were distributed by email
prior to the meeting and again at the meeting.
Highlights from the Temple Reports
- Regular participants at the
temple have remained stable at 35.
- 366 people now receive the
temple newsletter.
- There were four preceptees
and two new formal students in 2023. The precept ceremony will
continue to be held in January and the Jukai in July.
- In January 2023 the
temple began a new Saturday morning schedule with weekly Dharma
talks.
- The Tuesday evening program is
now hybrid (in person and online) and the midweek program has moved
from Tuesday afternoon to Wednesday morning.
- The temple hosted several visiting
teachers for the Winter Practice Period and Zen Summer Camp.
- Rev. Gyokei Yokoyama, a representative
from the Soto Zen Order, came in July.
- The Shao Shan Temple Board welcomes
Susan Stitely as a new Board Member. The Board continues to meet monthly
to discuss finances, policy, and expenditures. The Board is currently
working on a revision of the temple’s Ethics Policy. Board minutes are
available upon request.
- The Probate Court has approved Taihaku
Roshi’s will and the terms of her will are being executed. Once the will
has been probated there will be impacts on the temple’s operating budget.
- There were no new interments in
the cemetery in 2023. The ceremonial circle was made smoother and wider.
There are currently seven interments. There is also the option of having a
person’s ashes placed in the Community Shrine.
- The temple received $57,502 in
donations for 2023, which covered temple expenses for the year.
- There was a restricted gift made
to purchase a buffer parcel of land behind the cemetery to protect the
cemetery from the effects of possible logging.
- Readers were directed to the 2023
Financial Update Report below for more detailed financial information and
plans for 2024.
Announcements
Max discussed
Bequests, Charitable Gift Annuities, and Required Minimum Distributions as ways
that sangha members can contribute to the temple's endowment.
Rev. Ejo McMullen
will be coming to visit in May as a representative of the Soto Zen Order. Among
other things, he will assist with a ceremony commemorating the third
anniversary of Taihaku Roshi's death.
Zazenkais
(meditation day retreats) have recently been half-days only because there was
low participation in full-day ones. Rev. Kenzan offered that there could be
full-day Zazenkais if there is sufficient interest.
Rev. Kenzan thanked the Garden Team for all of their efforts
during the past year. Through their work fresh vegetables were grown for Rev.
Kenzan, sangha members, and local food shelves. Noah, who will be heading up
the Garden Team again in 2024, announced that the seeds for this year’s garden
have been ordered and planning is underway to organize volunteers and share
vegetables.
Noah mentioned that the Family Program has room for
additional families to participate. The program is announced in the temple email
(currently published two or three times a week), a special email group for
Family Program participants, and notices placed in local Front Porch Forums. When
the Family Program is conducted online, families affiliated with the temple
from across the country sometimes participate. Interested parents may contact
the temple for more information.
Maintenance week
will be moving to August (in 2024: 8/15 -8/19) as per the suggestion of sangha
members.
Sangha members were reminded of the existence of the Shao
Shan Temple Sangha Email Group. The Sangha Group is a good place to ask
questions and share experiences. If you are looking to carpool to the temple,
the Sangha Email Group would be a good place to look for potential drivers or
riders from your area. If you would like to join the Sangha Email Group, please
contact Max or the temple.
Rev. Shinjo’s temple in Japan has donated their temple bell
to Shao Shan Temple. Packing and arrangements for shipment are under way. The
temple has a set of architectural drawings for a pavilion to house the bell.
The bell pavilion will be located along the path from the upper parking lot to
the front door of the temple.
A number of concerns with the temple water supply have
prompted the Board to evaluate whether it would be wise to drill a well to
supplement the existing gravity-fed spring box. In addition to concern over
possible future drought conditions, if there is ever a future temple expansion,
it will be necessary to have a higher gallons-per-minute water source. Since
the well permit is good indefinitely, the Board has decided to at least go
ahead with the permitting process at this point and continue to evaluate what
next steps are appropriate.
The temple is looking into spreading gravel on the lower and
upper parking lot this year. The lower parking lot especially can be very
muddy.
The stucco on the temple is cracking in places. The temple
has contacted a professional who works with stucco to give us an estimate for
the repair work.
Highlights of Meeting Questions and Discussion
There was a question as to whether Rev. Kenzan was going to
have a more formal Abbot installation ceremony.
Rev. Kenzan explained that there were requirements that had to be met
before such a ceremony could be held. It
would likely be many years before Shao Shan Temple would be able to conduct a
Mountain Seat Ceremony for Rev. Kenzan.
There was a brief discussion regarding the need to replace
the roof. A roofer did come out and evaluate the temple roof several years ago.
His opinion was the roof was still good for a few more years. Should shingles
begin to fail, they can be individually replaced with copper.
In response to a question regarding installing solar panels,
the Board has deferred any investigation of the issue until Taihaku Roshi’s
estate was settled and the temple property had been conveyed to Shao Shan
Temple, Inc. Initial discussions will be
about first installing panels at the garden property to see how workable the
technology would be. With net metering it might be possible to generate the
power at the garden yet have the temple benefit from solar power without the
need to install panels on or near the temple itself.
When asked how many new people came to the temple in 2023, at
the time of the meeting, Rev. Kenzan did not have a number. After the fact
counting yielded an estimate of 91 first-time visitors in 2023. This is similar to pre-covid which was
roughly 100.
The sangha trip to Japan is being planned for 2025. Rev.
Kenzan will be travelling to Japan in 2024 to do some reconnaissance
regarding trip planning, developing an itinerary, accommodations, travel costs,
and in-country travel. The hope would be that the sangha trip next year would
connect all of the sangha (not only those who physically go to Japan) with
some of the historical depth of the tradition and our lineage.
The meeting concluded at 11:30 after chanting “Ji Ho San Shi.”
