Printed in the Fall 2020 issue of Quest magazine.
Citation: Hebert, Barbara, "Annual Report 2020" Quest 108:4, pg 37-9
Barbara Hebert
President, Theosophical Society in America
This annual report covers some of the amazing things that our very dedicated staff have accomplished in the past year.
Our fiscal year runs from the beginning of April to the end of March. Therefore we had almost completed the 2019–2020 year when the pandemic impacted us. In mid-March 2020, everything stopped. We closed headquarters, anticipating a two-week closure. We continued to pay staff, but after remaining closed for five weeks, we realized that this was not a sustainable plan. With little to no income and continuing expenses, along with an extremely volatile stock market, concerns about the financial security of the TSA over the next year or so was of great concern. Therefore we furloughed about two thirds of the staff.
We put out a special call for help to the members and friends of the Theosophical Society in America. The response was rapid and amazing. On a daily basis, I send my gratitude to each and every one of you for your support. At this writing, many staff members have returned to work.
In mid-March, all face-to-face programming moved to an online format. The Thursday night lectures have continued; they are livestreamed weekly and then placed on our YouTube channel. Workshops have also moved to an online platform, as have classes. We have added a weekly online meditation, typically led by Juliana Cesano, and we have added an electronic Daily Seed Thought.
For the coming year, we expect to continue providing Theosophical programs online. This requires us to reallocate staff in some areas. Of course, we hope to eventually provide some face-to-face programs, but I anticipate that we will continue with many programs online. We have found that our audiences have actually increased, because the programs are now available to seekers around the country and around the world. This is our mission—to share the Ageless Wisdom with those who are seeking.
Below are the details from the various departments regarding their activities and accomplishments during the past fiscal year, April 2019 through March 2020..
Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library
The Henry S. Olcott Memorial Library collection is more and more visible through various points of access online. This visibility and accessibility helps us to build connections not only locally but worldwide.
This year we were able to work with Theosophical libraries in various countries to resolve collection gaps, we increased our membership by 23 percent from last year, and we began to make digitized audio recordings and textual resources more readily available, especially through an Internet archive (www.archive.org).
There is a wealth of Theosophical material yet to reach the Internet, and this project is one of our primary priorities. Since June 2019 we have digitized over 900 items, which have been viewed over 13,000 times. We are finding that the more our collection becomes known, the more people seek us out. Donations to the library continue to support its expansion and its role as a repository for the TSA. In addition, book sales, both in-house and online, and proceeds from outreach activities such as interlibrary loans have generated revenue that can help us subscribe to the library consortium, which supports our operation and presence locally and internationally.
Marina Maestas, head librarian
Archives Department
The archives department is very pleased to announce donations of archival materials from Walter A. Carrithers Jr., courtesy of The Blavatsky Foundation, and of the papers of the late Seymour B. (Sy) Ginsburg. Digitization projects continue to be a major activity for Janet Kerschner, working with Michael Conlin. She fields requests from academic researchers, Theosophists, and the general public for information about a huge range of topics. In June 2019, she helped the Florida Federation celebrate anniversaries with a presentation entitled ”One Hundred Years of Theosophy in Florida.” Janet works with Pablo Sender to coordinate the efforts of volunteer editors around the world as we expand our Theosophy.wiki encyclopedia online. With great cooperation from Daniel H. Caldwell and Pedro Oliveira, the Mahatma Letters portal was doubled in its scope early in 2020. Use of the wiki has been growing rapidly, with 30,000–33,000 page views each month by users from 140 different countries.
Janet Kerschner, chair, archives department,
Internet Services/Information Technology
The Internet services/information technology department continues to maintain and support all technology needs for the departments of the Theosophical Society in America. This year we completed a network infrastructure upgrade at the national headquarters, replacing old equipment and improving security settings. The redesigned theosophical.org website was rolled out in June 2019, attempting to simplify navigation while still offering a wide variety of resources and information. A new voiceover Internet phone system was installed across the Olcott campus. The IT department also continues to support projects such as the new Online School of Theosophy (https://study.theosophical.org), provide website hosting for lodges and study groups, and provide technology advice and support for a variety of Theosophical projects around the world.
Chris Bolger, chair, IS/IT department
Audiovisual Department
From April 2019 through March, 2020, the AV department posted fifty-nine new video titles to our Theosophical Society in America YouTube channel (www.youtube.com/user/TheosophicalSociety). Seven of the top ten most viewed programs on YouTube in the last year included “The Secret Teachings of All Ages” by Richard Smoley; two programs by Mitch Horowitz on The Secret Doctrine, two programs by Pablo Sender, “Human Consciousness” and “A Universe of Purpose”; “Answering the Spiritual Call,” a talk by William Meader; and “Catching Fire from the Flame of Truth” by Elena Dovalsantos. As of March 31, 2020, we had 74,400 subscribers to our TSA YouTube channel, a 55 percent increase from the previous year. We averaged 2,200 new YouTube subscribers per month last year.
Steve Schweizer, manager, AV department
Quest Book Shop
This past fiscal year was the Quest Book Shop’s most successful year in terms of numbers of visitors and sales. The efforts to widen the circle of customers have resulted in increased exposure to the Theosophical Society’s mission and programs. Providing books on a wide range of spiritual traditions has made it possible to increase awareness and sales of Theosophical literature published by the Theosophical Publishing Houses in both Wheaton and Adyar. The store remains profitable and open to the public every day of the week, thanks to the additional revenue coming from a great selection of crystals, incense, candles, statuary, and other sidelines. A valuable resource in the area, the bookstore offers a welcoming space for a community of people with greatly varied spiritual paths and aids them on their own particular quests.
Juliana Cesano, manager, Quest Book Shop
Membership and Outreach
Membership director Beverly Porzelt reports that as of March 31, TSA membership was 3,370, a 3.9 percent increase over the prior year. She also reported that we now have 910 Life Members. During the past year, David Bruce scheduled thirty-three national speaker appearances at lodges, study centers, camps, and federations. Because of the coronavirus, however, no further speaker bookings are anticipated in the near term. Most groups stopped meeting in March or April, but more than half of them began to hold virtual meetings via Zoom. Richard Smoley created a twelve-month course entitled Esoteric Christianity, which was distributed to the 520 members of the National Lodge. The prison program, under the direction of David Bruce, continues to provide assistance to prisoners across the country, offering them books, gift memberships, and correspondence courses mentored by volunteers from the Society. To date, over 450 prisoners have received certificates of completion for one or more of our courses.
David Bruce, national secretary
Theosophical Publishing House
The Theosophical Publishing House in Wheaton has been focusing on accelerating production of audiobook selections from our extensive variety of Quest Books and classic Theosophical titles. The audiobook edition is a rapidly expanding market through Amazon/Audible. The easy availability of Quest Book audio titles to a new audience will ensure the outreach of Theosophy into the future. To facilitate the search of seekers, especially during this time of pandemic, TPH continues to provide easily accessible means across all platforms: print, e-book, and audio book.
Since our return to full-time operation in May 2020, Quest Books has had a 40 percent discount on all products available on the questbooks.com website. The response has been beyond our expectations. This sale may be continued, so please check the questbooks.com website.
The resourceful and dedicated staff members who have returned to work at TPH and the national headquarters have brought a renewed energy and focus with them in this trying time.
Patricia Griebeler, operations manager, TPH
Public Programs
The public programs department strives to provide high-quality programs for study, meditation, service, and community participation that are of interest to our current members and attract new people.
Our Thursday Lecture series covers an eclectic range of topics from different traditions. By webcasting these, we reach a larger national and international audience, as people can watch them live over the Internet. During the past year, we presented thirty-six lectures, which had an average on-site attendance of thirty people and an average of eighty-six online viewers for the livestream. These recorded lectures are later available for on-demand viewing on our YouTube channel.
This year we hosted internationally renowned Buddhist teacher Ajahn Brahm for a lecture at the College of DuPage that was attended by 375 people. Ajahn Brahm’s lecture and following workshop is available on our YouTube channel as well as on CD and DVD through questbooks.com.
We promoted and hosted an additional sixty-two workshops, retreats, and special events, attended by 1,755 people. These included many free community events, such as World Tai Chi and Qigong Day, Interfaith Prayers for Peace, Celebrate the Season, and Meditation for World Peace.
We continue to increase the number of online interactive classes and groups, in which people from across the country and the world can actively participate. Last year, we offered fifteen online classes of four to six weeks’ duration, taught by experts in their respective areas of study. Almost 500 people from the U.S. and other countries participated in these classes. Our most popular weekly groups include “Walking the Theosophical Path” and the Mahatma Letters reading and discussion group with Pablo Sender. We invite you to explore the many different programs that are offered. An updated list is on our website (theosophical.org) under the “Programs” tab.
John Cianciosi, chair, programming department
Marketing Department
Our marketing department started the year ready to promote the Olcott Mural and Art Restoration Project, but quickly changed gears to focus on fundraising during the pandemic. The COVID-19 fundraising campaign was promoted via email, postal mail, and social media. As a result, we received generous gifts from over 430 donors. Thank you to all for your support! We have also made other changes as a result of the shifting landscape brought on by the pandemic, including the consolidation of our various monthly e-newsletters into one weekly update, in which we share information about free resources and promote our programs and fundraising campaigns. We have also initiated a totally new free Daily Seed Thought, which provides a spiritual quote each morning for meditation, contemplation, or inspiration. Contact marketing@theosophical.org to sign up for the Daily Seed Thought.
Jessica Salasek, chair, marketing department,
Maintenance Department
During the past year, the building maintenance department completed many interesting and challenging projects. The largest one involved renovation work at the L.W. Rogers cottage, which was built back in the 1930s. This house is used as a source of rental income for the TSA and usually houses employees. During this renovation, we completely rewired the house, because many of the electrical wires were original to the building. We were also able to add additional outlets and increase the electrical supply, bringing the house into the twenty-first century. We reinsulated the attic and refinished the bathtub and tub surround as well. Tom Porzelt and Nick Peters did much of the interior painting and detail work. Thanks to a combined team of TSA staff and outside contractors, everything in the house is now up-to-date and is a wonderful home for the new tenants!
While balancing COVID-19 restrictions and with the buildings closed to the public, we were still able to accomplish a lot of outdoor maintenance work. Tom Porzelt, Will Goldsmith, and Nick Peters did their best to keep the grass mowed, even through the wettest May in Chicagoland history. We were blessed with many volunteers, who helped by pulling weeds and planting flowers. Many thanks to Diana Cabigting, Danelys Valcarcel, Linda Dorr, and Pam Farinella. The Sustain DuPage volunteers, under the direction of Andrew Van Gorp, continue to amaze us with their gardening and landscaping improvements. Without the continued support of such volunteers, the grounds at the national center could never rise to their current level of beauty. Our sincere thanks go out to everyone for their effort and commitment to the national center!
Mark Roemmich, chair, maintenance department
Quest Magazine
Quest continues to receive many appreciative comments from readers both in and outside of the Theosophical Society. Recent issues covered Tragedy and Loss in the Light of the Ancient Wisdom, Compassion and Ahimsa, Ancient Civilizations, Science, Initiation, and Ritual. Coming issue themes are Enlightenment, Ecology, and Spiritual Struggle. We have also introduced a Facebook page and invite all members to like and join it.
The closing of the Olcott headquarters did not keep us from putting out the magazine, and the summer issue came out on schedule. We expect to continue to do so in the future. We are grateful to art director Drew Stevens, who has done a superb job for the magazine for the last ten years, and to Royle Printing in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, which has served us faithfully for an equally long time.
Richard Smoley, editor, Quest