Church Ministries chairs, staff review plans for 2006 in conference call
— Recently appointed chairpersons for the Orthodox Church in America’s departments, offices, and commissions participated in a conference call on Tuesday, November 21, 2005, to review the roles, requirements, and procedures their positions entail while sharing plans for 2006.
Protopresbyter Robert Kondratick, OCA chancellor, and Mrs. Michelle Jannakos, Church ministries coordinating secretary, moderated the conference call.
Father Kondratick thanked everyone for graciously accepting the positions to which they were appointed. He affirmed that His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman closely monitors the work of each department, office, and commission to ensure the Chruch’s limited resources are used efficiently and wisely. As such, Metropolitan Herman approves meetings, events, and projects of the Church’s various ministries.
Mrs. Jannakos described her position, in which she serves as the liaison between the chancellor’s office and the departments, offices, and commissions. She requested that all meeting requests, agendas, minutes, updates, and reports should be sent to her for ongoing distribution, and she spoke of the importance of submitting monthly updates and regular reports to the Holy Synod of Bishops and the Metropolitan Council. She also emphasized how, with the Holy Synod of Bishops’ appointment of numerous consultants to each department, office, and commission, delegation of work is highly desirable.
The Very Rev. Paul Kucynda, acting treasurer, and the Very Rev. Stavros Strikis, comptroller, asked that department chairs work within their established budgets, and that estimated costs for projects and meetings be approved well in advance. The Very Rev. Eugene Vansuch, executive director of the Fellowship of Orthodox Stewards, spoke of his vision for generating financial support for the work of the Church’s ministries, while the Very Rev. John Dresko, who takes up his position as OCA director of development on January 1, 2006, shared his plans to increase free-will and planned giving to the Church, adding that he also will pursue various grants and other avenues for funding the work of the Church and its ministries.
The Very Rev. John Matusiak, communications director and managing editor of “The Orthodox Church,” shared plans for TOC’s transformation into a 32-page news magazine format. He reported that TOC will once again be published and mailed at the beginning of 2006. He requested that each department, office, and commission submit regular columns on topics of practical and interest in parish life, as these will be more prominently featured in the new publication.
Mrs. Jannakos noted that three broad ministry areas were defined at the 14th All-American Council, held in Toronto, ON in July 2005: evangelization, education, and Orthodox unity. While the Holy Synod has determined that the next All-American Council will not be convened until 2010, Church ministries should see these areas of concern as mandates that should be reflected in their work. She also discussed the possibility of holding a number of specific Church ministry conferences in 2007 or 2008.
During the remainder of the conference call, individual department, office, and commission chairs shared their immediate and long-range plans and “brainstormed” ways to integrate their work.
The next conference call for Church ministries chairs will be held on Thursday, January 12, 2006, at 4:00 EST.
Besides those mentioned above, others participating in the conference call included the Very Revs. Ted Boback and Joseph Gallick, Department of Chaplaincies; the Rev. Eric Tosi and the Very Rev. Chad Hatfield, Department of Evangelization; the Very Rev. Leonid Kishkovsky, Office of External Affairs; the Very Rev. Andrew Morbey, Department of Pastoral Life; the Rev. Steven Voytovich, Office of Institutional Chaplains; the Very Rev. John Breck, Medical/Ethics Commission; Mrs. Alexandra Safchuk, Mrs. Valerie Zahirsky, and Mrs. Christine Zebrun, Department of Christian Education; Mrs. Donna Karabin, Department of Christian Witness and Service; Mrs. Cheryl Morse and Deacon Joseph Matusiak, Department of Youth, Young Adult, and Campus Ministries; Mr. Alexis Liberovsky, Department of History and Archives; Mr. David Drillock, Department of Liturgical Music and Translations; Mrs. Arlene Kallaur, Office of Humanitarian Aid; the Very Rev. Joseph Fester, assistant to the chancellor; and Mr. David Lucs, assistant to the chancellor for communications and planned giving.