The Continuance Institute

The Circles · C-04

Burlington Circle

A weekly circle in a hired school room, holding the longest continuous sitting rota outside a house.

Place
Burlington, Vermont, United States
Recognised
2001
Affiliated house
North House
Assigned steward
Justin Ferreira
Convener
Ruth IlesanmiHospital porter. Term began 2026; first year.
Ordinary meeting
Weekly, Wednesday evenings, except the first week of August
Typical attendance
12 to 17
Access
Open to visitors

Local history

Provisional from 1999, recognised in 2001. The sitting rota was taken on in 2006 at the hospice's suggestion and has not lapsed since, including through two years when the circle itself met only intermittently.

The outward obligation

Companionship and hospice

Sitting rota, held with a county hospice service.

Trained members sit with the dying in shifts. The Institute is not discussed in those hours. This is a rule and not a courtesy.

The forms it carries

  • The Quiet Twelve

    Twelve minutes are kept before the reading. Nothing is assigned to the silence.

  • The Weather Entry

    Before the first shared meal of the month, one person writes the weather in the house book.

The shared forms, as they are kept in the houses

Also attached to North House

Elsewhere in North America