Status report on Chancery personnel released
A status report on Chancery personnel, prepared by Deacon John Zarras, Orthodox Church in America transition officer, was sent by the Very Rev. Paul Kucynda, OCA secretary and acting treasurer, to all members of the Holy Synod of Bishops and the Metropolitan Council on Friday, June 29, 2007.
The text of the report reads as follows.
“On this feastday of our Church and as we close out the month of June, I want to bring you up to date on the status of personnel at the Chancery as it relates to the reorganization as approved by you in December of 2006.
“While many of the approved planned personnel actions have been accomplished, activity still continues to complete the process of restructuring and filling all the Chancery positions. The work of the Organization Task Force and the transition officer has been very thorough, careful, and deliberate in keeping with the charter given them by His Beatitude, Metropolitan Herman, to be very mindful and sensitive with all the employees of the Chancery.
“Four Major Leadership Positions Status:
“Chancellor: The Very Reverend Alexander Garklavs assumes his position on July 1, 2007. In the interim period, Father Alexander has been at the Chancery approximately one day per week, setting up his office, participating in weekly staff meetings, and becoming familiar with staff. He and his family has searched for and found suitable housing for themselves at a convenient location to the Chancery.
“Director of Ministries and Communications: The Very Reverend Andrew Jarmus assumes his position on August 1, or soon thereafter. He has made two trips to the Chancery to meet with His Beatitude, to become familiar with the staff, and to locate suitable housing for his family. In addition, through communication with the transition officer, he is being kept aware of activities for which he will be ultimately responsible, such as the forthcoming Pastoral Ministries and Life Conference to be held in Virginia in late July. Both he and Father Alexander will be participants at the conference.
“Secretary: At the most recent Metropolitan Council meeting, the Organization Task Force, through its Secretary Search Committee, proposed Mr. Paul Bodnar for the position of Secretary. The Council unanimously has endorsed this recommendation and has submitted his name to the members of the Holy Synod for their approval at their next meeting, scheduled for July 31, 2007.
“Paul comes to us with a very full background of Church related work experience desirable and necessary for the position of secretary. His starting date is predicated on his approval by the Holy Synod and the receipt of the necessary work visa to serve the Church in America, as one of Canadian citizenship. His immigration paperwork has been submitted in recognition of the processing time currently being experienced at this time.
“Treasurer: It was the desire of the Organization Task Force to fill the position of treasurer first because of the great need to place our financial and accounting procedures in order as swiftly as possible. Unfortunately, the two most qualified candidates for this position, one of whom was approved by the Holy Synod, in the course of final negotiations declined the offer of the position for personal reasons. The search was renewed with little success prior to the recent Metropolitan Council meeting. At this meeting, discussion was held on the advisability of approaching the organization of finance in a different structure, employing a strong accountant, with a part time secretary.
“This approach—employing an accountant that did not necessitate that he/she be Orthodox, along with a secretary that did not have to be located in Syosset—offered a potential solution to meeting the financial management needs of the Church. After respectful deliberation in the Metropolitan Council, it was decided to once again extend the search in favor of employing a full time Orthodox treasurer with accounting experience.
“Since the search extension, two new applicants have been identified for the position. The Organization Task Force Search Committee is currently evaluating and interviewing these new candidates with hopeful expectations that one of them will be highly suited for the position and presented to the members of the Metropolitan Council for their consideration and forwarding on to the Holy Synod for their approval. It is possible that this could occur before the Holy Synod meeting on July 31, 2007, in which case if agreement and approval of the Holy Synod is obtained, we will have filled all the four major Chancery management and leadership positions by August 1, 2007.
“Terminations and Retirements:
“In keeping with the original recommendations of the Organizational Task Force to consider outsourcing functions of the Chancery where possible and financially advantageous to do so, three employees were terminated.
“Zena Liberovsky: Groundskeeper, was terminated on February1, 2007, in favor of outsourcing building and grounds maintenance. Competitive bids were received for grounds landscape services from which a contract was issued for the required services at an annual savings in excess of $15,000.
“John Mindala: assistant to the chancellor for graphic design and communications, was terminated on April 27, 2007. in favor of outsourcing maintenance of the OCA website and graphic needs at an annual savings in excess of $40,000. In addition, a longer term objective is to update the functionality of the website to incorporate planned advances in the utilization of systems technology in the communication life of our Church.
“David Lucs: assistant to the chancellor for communications and development, was terminated on April 27, 2007. A close examination of the functions performed in this position revealed redundancy with functions performed by others in the Chancery and in the other departments of the Church. With the arrival of the new director of ministries and communications overseeing many of the functions of this position, it became further evident that this position was no longer necessary.
“Arlene Kallaur: Director of humanitarian aid and adoption relief, was retired effective June 30, 2007. This action was in keeping with the original recommendation of the Organization Task Force. Functions performed under the general title of humanitarian aid are to be incorporated under the director of ministries and communications and consolidated with the existing ministerial departments of the Church. Specific annual activities such as the Christmas Stocking Project will be evaluated for possible redirection of mission. Present consideration is being given to the possible outsourcing this type of project, and others on a project consultant basis. The adoption function, originally recommended by the Task Force to be eliminated, will be reviewed for possible future consideration as a stand alone volunteer effort by Arlene.
“Matushka Gerry Glagolev: Receptionist, will be retiring on July 15, 2007. Matushka Gerry was never put into the pension program of the Church by either of the former two chancellors, after her repeated requests for such consideration, thus not making her eligible for a retirement pension. In recognition of her many years of faithful service in the Chancery the Organization Task Force recommended that she be kept on the payroll of the Church, after her retirement, at a rate that would be equal to what she would have been eligible had she been in the pension program. This rate was determined to be $950 per month. A letter agreement effective with her retirement has been given to her to pay her this monthly amount until her death. With her agreement to such a plan, it is understood that she would no longer be part of the health and life insurance of the Church. While this goodwill gesture on the part of the Church has been appreciated and gladly accepted by Matushka Gerry, it should also be noted that it will also represent an annual savings to the Church in excess of $20,000.
“The receptionist position, upon Matushka Gerry’s retirement will be handled four days of the week by Lydia Ludemann in a consolidation with her present work functions of circulation manager of “The Orthodox Church” magazine. Particularly with the planned introduction of new software for the maintenance of circulation mailing directories, it will be possible for this consolidation to occur. The fifth day will be handled by consolidating receptionist work with the functions of other Chancery personnel.
“The Very Reverend Stavros Stikis: As mandated by the members of the Metropolitan Council in their December meeting, with the completion of the closing of the financial records for 2006, he was removed from his position as comptroller, and as an interim measure was given the title of special projects coordinator. In is anticipated that in the near future he will assume another position within the Church and will relocate from the Chancery.
“Reassignments of Other Chancery Personnel:
“Also in keeping with the recommendation of the Organization Task Force to implement a new rationalized salary scale for Chancery personnel, in keeping with job functions of the various positions, the following personnel were notified of their new titles and job descriptions on April 27, 2007, along with notification that effective May 1, 2007, they would be recipients of salary adjustments in keeping with the new salary scales. The increases for these personnel were all modest in nature.
“Helen Cavounis—Financial Assistant.
“Alex Liberovsky—Archivist.
“Rev. Jonathan Ivanoff—Systems Information Manager.
“Gregory Sulich—Administrative Assistant.
“Svetlana Radunceva—Household Custodian.
“Helen Detke—Financial Assistant.
“Peter Illchuk—Chancery/Hierarchal Assistant.
“Positions yet to be filled: With the foregoing update there remain, in addition to the position of Treasurer, open positions for administrative assistants for the director of ministries and communication and for the secretary. These positions are expected to be filled when the new director and secretary assume their Chancery assignments, in order that they have direct input in the selection process that may include candidates from among the present employees or those outside of the Chancery. Also under review is the possibility that it may be necessary to provide the Chancellor and the Metropolitan with their own administrative assistants in contrast with the original plan of having these individuals share the same person.
“Summary: I am very much aware that the transition process of reorganizing the Chancery staff has taken longer than some might deem desirable, or as originally planned and anticipated. If this is so, it is only because in such a major transition and in a desire to assemble a staff of the highest possible caliber with clear definitions of job responsibilities and with the promise of developing into a cohesive team, that the utmost care has been given to getting it right. Hopefully, with this personnel update you have a better understanding of the magnitude of the transitional work we have been engaged in.
“A note of appreciation to all those at the Chancery and to all those who serve the Church in America in the many ministries and departments, who throughout this reorganization period have continued to do their jobs to the best of their abilities under what at times can be characterized as stressful and challenging times.
“Special thanks and appreciation must be extended to the members of the Organizational Task Force, and by extension to all those who have participated in the search process for the four major management and leadership positions of the Chancery, for their devotion and untiring efforts to fulfill the vision of providing a Chancery staff that has the potential to see themselves as true servants of Christ and His Holy Church in America, ready to assist His Beatitude and all the Hierarchs of our Church in their great responsibilities in fulfilling His command to bring Christ’s gospel to all.”
Questions with regard to personnel may be directed to Deacon John Zarras at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address).