Jonathan Prescott, BCC BCCC BCPC

Jonathan Prescott, BCC BCCC BCPC is a Board Certified Chaplain, Clinical Chaplain, and Pastoral Counselor.  As a long time ordained student of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh, Jonathan’s practice is to support people experiencing illness and end of life, foster effective caregiving and reconnect people with their innate wisdom and compassion.  Jonathan has also studied with Dharmacharya Eileen Kiera and Jack Duffy Roshi at The Mountain Lamp Community and with Frank Ostaseski of the Metta Institute and Zen Hospice Project.

Jonathan provides individual care to hospice patients and their families and offers talks and retreats to help clinicians become openhearted, effective caregivers.  In addition to his role as Hospice Spiritual Counselor, Jonathan has served as Chaplain in the hospital and cancer care settings.  During Jonathan’s 35-year spiritual practice, he’s utilized his natural warmth and calmness to lead and serve many organizations in the Buddhist, Quaker and non-profit realms, and enjoys being a voice of clarity and compassion on medical ethics committees.
At home in the San Juan Islands of Washington, Jonathan relishes the peaceful solitude of his small farm.  He balances end of life work with a contemplative practice of meditation, retreat, and connection to nature.
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Jonathan is the author of The Road To Freedom: Learning To Drive With Joy And Kindness.

Rev. Michael Daiun Melancon

Rev. Michael Daiun Melancon brings with him 26 years of experience in both the practice of mindfulness and the study of the Buddha Dharma. He is a contemplative caregiver with a focus on end of life and palliative care, ordained as a chaplain by Roshi Joan Halifax of Upaya Zen Institute. Michael also enjoyed an extensive career as a human resource and organizational effectiveness executive. In that regard, he is an accomplished designer of practical organizational effectiveness strategies, with 30 years of experience directing all disciplines of human resource management in hospital administration and higher education, as well as in service, technology, manufacturing and financial service industries. Michael was introduced to the teachings of the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh in 1996, when he first took refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. He was ordained by Thich Nhat Hanh and Dharmacharya Eileen Kiera into the Order of Interbeing in 2005, and was given the name Chân Niệm Quang (True Recollection of Light). Michael serves on the board of the Loving Work Foundation, through which he co-leads annual retreats of pilgrimage to Thich Nhat Hanh’s homeland of Viet Nam. He also serves on Swedish Medical Center’s Foundation Board of Governors and the Greater Seattle Business Association’s College Scholarship Steering Committee.

Rev. Karla Johnston

Rev. Karla Johnston, Chân Bi Trú (True Compassionate Dwelling), is an ordained member of Thich Nhat Hanh’s Order of Interbeing. Karla came to the practice of meditation in 1995, founding Lake Tahoe Mindfulness Community (July 2014) and Lotuses in the Mud Recovery Family (February 2021). She’s a grateful part of Morning Light Sangha serviceship team.  
 
She’s in private practice as a certified Heartmath practitioner with a degree in Social Work. Karla has worked as a college instructor since 1995 and has over 30 years experience working in healthcare as Department Head, Recreational Therapist, and Nationally Certified American Sign Language Interpreter. Her specialties include partnering with Deaf and Hearing families to skillfully support loved ones in recovery, addiction, and mental health challenges. She is a TEDx speaker, “Can Mindfulness Help Solve the Opioid Epidemic.” 
 
Karla will be graduating with her Mindfulness Facilitator Certification from Copper Beech Institute in November of 2022. One of her greatest joys is officiating weddings on the shores of Lake Tahoe as a minister colleague of Lake Tahoe Wedding Ministries. When not serving her communities, Karla writes poetry and little ditties for her blog and professionally.