DIOCESAN COUNCIL MINUTES
DIOCESE OF THE WEST
March 3, 2015
His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin convened a regular meeting of the Diocesan Council of the Diocese of the West at Holy Trinity Cathedral, San Francisco, CA, at 10:32 a.m. on Tuesday, March 3, 2015.
Present: Archbishop Benjamin, Bishop Daniel, Archpriest Ian MacKinnon, Archpriest Basil Rhodes, Archpriest John Pierce, Archpriest Lawrence Russell, Archpriest Matthew Tate, Archpriest John Dresko, Archpriest Lawrence Margitich, Archpriest Anthony Karbo, Archpriest Damian Kuolt, Priest Andrew Cuneo, Deacon George Shumaik, Subdeacon Johann Morse, Subdeacon Paul Pilipenko, Subdeacon Wesley Smith, Mary Caetta, Dorothy Nowik, Lynnell Brunswig
Absent: Deacon Antony Dyl,
Guests: Archpriest David Lowell, Monk Barnabas (Day), Andrew Smith
MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING – The previously-distributed minutes of the December 17, 2014 meeting of the Diocesan Council were accepted.
REPORT OF THE ARCHBISHOP – His Eminence, Abp. Benjamin reviewed current developments in the life of the Orthodox Church, the Orthodox Church in America, and the Diocese of the West.
Since our last meeting, the most joyous event in the life of our diocese was the consecration of His Grace, Bishop Daniel, Bishop of Santa Rosa. We owe many thanks to people here at the cathedral and in Santa Rosa for this significant undertaking. Foremost among those to be thanked, however, is Archdeacon Kirill Sokolov, who chaired the San Francisco portion of the event, and Fr. L. Margitich, whose parish was responsible for the Sunday Liturgy and banquet in Santa Rosa.
The original budget was approximately $3,000. And, as was to be expected, significantly more was spent; much of it due to the length of stay of a very good representation from the members of the Holy Synod and, of course, His Beatitude, Metropolitan Tikhon.
A truly amazing celebration of the Sunday of Orthodoxy in Santa Rosa this past Sunday. His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin and His Grace, Bishop Daniel were joined by Metropolitan Gerasimos of the Greek Metropolis of San Francisco and Bishop Maxim of the Serbian Orthodox Diocese Western America for vespers. There appeared to be more than 30 priests present and serving, as well as a great number of the faithful. Once again, thank you to Fr. L. Margitich, and his congregation for their generous hospitality.
On a more somber note, we had the passing last month of James Caetta, the husband of our treasurer Mary Caetta. We extend our heartfelt condolences and loving support. (Memory Eternal)
On the level of the national Church, the Metropolitan Council recently met. Front and center in their discussions was a proposal to alter the method of funding for the OCA. In spite of the difficulty of the discussions, an agreement was reached and the chancellor and treasurer will visit the various diocesan councils in an attempt to facilitate the adoption of the proposal at the upcoming AAC.
Another, possible “hot” issue for the AAC will be the adoption of revised Statutes for the OCA. Our own Bishop Daniel has been a key member in the team that has drafted the new Statute. The proposed Statutes are online and available for comment prior to the AAC.
The AAC is scheduled to be held in Atlanta July 20 – 23. In order to keep costs down for our parishes, we will hold our own diocesan assembly prior to the opening of the AAC on Monday, July 20 beginning at 9:00 a.m. Very much as we did in Seattle, the assembly will be a bit streamlined and will concern itself with just a few items, mostly with those it is required by the Statute to handle: elections of diocesan council members for the next year, adoption of a budget, and a proposed change in our own manner of funding the diocese.
His Eminence extended his thanks to: His Grace, Bishop Daniel the chancellor, Archpriest Ian MacKinnon, Mary Caetta our treasurer, the Deans, and Andrew Smith his administrative assistant, for their continued excellent work, help and support.
Developments on international level may impact the preparation for the Great Council
· Schism in Czech-Slovak Church
· Worry that something similar could happen in Ukraine – if so it would have a heavy impact on the Orthodox Church
· Bishops agreed to $5,000 each for running of the Episcopal Assembly
REPORT OF THE BISHOP – His Grace, Bp. Daniel reviewed current developments in the preparation for presenting Statute revisions for the Orthodox Church in America at the AAC:
The Proposed Statue Revision went live last week, and is available in a side-by-side comparison online at the OCA website. There are substantial additions to clarify things (e.g., the status of deacons as delegates to AAC) as well as expanded sections (i.e., in the area of competencies of the church according to the current practice).
Comments can be posted online or emailed to the Statue Revision Task Force, for private response. There is about a month window to give input. On April 21 the final draft will be presented to the Holy Synod.
[Comments]:
· Fr M. Anderson: Email lists are not official, are not a venue for input and will not be dealt with.
· Fr. M. Tate: Remember that the OCA statute trumps the Diocese
Some of the other changes include: an Article on monastic life; Article 11 Ecclesiastical court has some significant changes – establishing rights and procedures to be dealt with by the Holy Synod. When presented to the AAC it will be presented for acceptance as a whole, not line by line.
It should be noted that after 2 years of work, what started out sluggishly came together at the end. The task included finalizing some of the work begun on it in 2003-2004.
REPORT OF THE TREASURER – Mary Caetta, Diocesan Treasurer, noted that she distributed the latest Diocesan Financial Report, and that everything is in good order. She called everyone’s attention to the following items:
The events for the consecration of Bp. Daniel ended up $10,862.00 over budget; due in part to not having any details to plan with, extra people and more hotel-nights than anticipated.
[Comment]:
§ Fr. M. Tate: This is a good 'teaching moment' regarding the Diocesan Budget. A surplus needs to be developed to absorb these types of unanticipated expenses.
Financial reports are coming in, but not ready to report whose are in. Mary expects to have others this month and will have an idea by end-of-month what the assessment will be.
The Internal Audit will be in Phoenix on March 7, 2015.
Mary is not ready for the travel policy to be presented, but will have it ready for review for June DC meeting. She is documenting what we do; trying to cover things that need to be documented.
QuickBooks Online has a lot of benefits or our use as a Diocese, but is not quite ready as a product for our needs (i.e., not ready to deal with housing allowance and salary quirks of pastors). Intuit will provide a platform to host the desktop version, so we can support multiple users. However, we may prefer to use Google Drive.
MOTION by Fr. J. Dresko: Acceptance of the Treasurer's Report. MOVED, SECONDED AND PASSED (MS&P)
Other Discussion: DC will be in Atlanta, along with the AAC, so the parishes do not have to bear the burden of another trip to assemble. The initial assumption discussed was that there would not be an additional parish assessment. After discussion, it was thought that there actually will be some additional expenses to cover.
MOTION by Fr. M. Tate: Conduct a special assessment of $100 to cover the costs of the Diocesan Assembly taking place prior to the AAC. (MS&P)
MOTION by Fr. J. Dresko: The Diocese will absorb the cost of the Consecration of Bishop Daniel as a monetary LOSS, while benefiting from the GAIN of Bishop Daniel. (MS&P)
REPORT OF THE CHANCELLOR - Around the Diocese – Fr. I. MacKinnon, Diocesan Chancellor, led a discussion of what is taking place around the Diocese. He noted:
A request for prayers for Dorothy Nowik, as her husband deals with cancer.
Congratulations to Andrew on his Engagement
Reflections on consecration: it was unanimously accepted and supported
Mission Deanery retreat was quite good and everyone benefits
[Comments]
· Fr. M. Tate: Vladyka Benjamin uses these occasions to speak to the clergy, new priest in particular. This time as His Eminence was going through detailed corrections to the latest Divine Liturgy books from St. Tikhon Monastery, a homeless person that frequents the church came in. He showed up with a bag of flour and stalk of celery, placing them in front of the iconostasis. He then walked to the nave where we were sitting in and circle and took a seat with us. us. He sat with us the whole meeting. What FMT loved about it was that His Eminence just let it happen and stressed that we are especially blessed to have this kind of Archpastor.
· Abp. Benjamin: Thanks given to Fr. D. Kuolt and Fr. D Lowell for their willingness to contribute to the work of the Diocese in the unique way that they do. And to their wives for being flexible. They are providing a unique ministry to people and churches that would otherwise not be covered.
Nice to see that loans are being paid down on schedule and responsibly. Same with Assessments. It is reported that all parishes are effectively up to date and on time
OCCIF (ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN CAPITAL INPROVEMENTS FUND) – Fr. D. Lowell gave an update:
Fr. D. Lowell has been added to the OCCIF board. Fr Martin Watt has been added to serve as the CFO for OCCIF. They are also looking for an experienced non-profit attorney.
The OCCIF will kick off their first audit, which is required for them to get D & O Insurance.
John Dellamonica is doing thorough and impressive work. Four parishes are being approached to loan money to the fund. There is currently only one loan out – Santa Rosa - and they are working on refinancing the Monastery of St. John, in Manton, CA.
OCCIF is separately incorporated and is very clean organizationally. Those who serve on OCCIF cannot be on diocesan board, or other Diocesan or OCA administration, due to the need to have non-conflict. It is going methodically forward and is structured so that it will be able to finance other churches. Here within the OCA, there is a need in the Midwest, and in the future possibly the South.
DIOCESAN CHARITIES AND APPEALS – Fr. L Russell, Director of Diocesan Charities, reported Lenten Appeal letters went out with the designated charity is the Gobezie Goshu Foundation.
FINANCE COMMITTEE – Dorothy Nowik led a discussion on the Kaiser Account status: Fr. I. and Fr. M. Anderson will follow up to get it finished.
PROPORTIONAL GIVING TASK FORCE – Fr. M. Tate and Fr. J. Dresko noted:
After the last DC meeting and distribution of the proposed Proportional Giving Plan there has been little input. What input and questions were fielded and responded to promptly, and it seems things are on track. Fr Michael Reagan's original plan was the foundation it is built on, so it is just a refinement of that approach.
There have been some small issues that a couple of individuals noted. Generally, they were mostly pastoral. Beyond that there was nothing substantial to prevent it from being presented at the Diocesan Assembly. We are getting a lot of positive input, acknowledging the substantial effort required to work through this.
Need all details and forms and proposal ready in June.
CONTINUING CLERGY EDUCATION – Nothing to report at this time.
COMMUNICATIONS – Fr. J. Dresko reports that the Seminarian page needs to be updated, so that was taken page down. It is anticipated it will be updated it to get it current by fall. Information on Summer Camps have been posted
2015 DIOCESAN ASSEMBLY – The 2015 Diocesan Assembly discussion was led by Abp. Benjamin:
The Assembly will be held Monday morning, 9:00am before the All-American Assembly. There will not be a special Treasurer's report prepared for the ACC. The expectation is that Parish reports will be done later in year and sent out.
There is still a chance we will need fair share numbers, and there may be changes stats. However, department reports do not need to be collected.
The Assembly will be short: effectively to present and pass a budget, have elections and accept the Diocesan Proportional Giving Plan.
OCA PENSION BOARD – Nothing to report at this time.
[Comments]
· Abp. Benjamin: When a priest retires, he not allowed to take a salary from our churches. We take effective people and do not let them work for us. They cannot take money from the OCA, but are able to from other Archdiocese. Next week there will be a review by Holy Synod of the request to allow retired priests, who are on the pension, to earn up to 24,000 per year supporting missions. The limit will be for two years per mission, so that active clergy are not displaced. They will be able to go on to another mission. Currently, the actuaries are crunching the numbers
RAPHAEL HOUSE, PORTLAND – Nothing to report at this time.
SEMINARY VISITATIONS – Fr. M. Tate reported on the visit he and Fr. B. Rhodes made to the Saint Tikhon and Saint Vladimir seminaries:
Currently, there are 3 seminarians at St. Tikhon Seminary; one graduation this year who is not married and will work as a choir director. There are 5 seminarians at St. Vladimir Seminary; one to be ordained a Deacon and assigned to Las Vegas, and the other is a woman. Therefore, there will be no one from our seminaries to serve as a new priest in a parish this year.