A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY
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| Volume 6 Number 29 - Tuesday, July 20th, 2004 |
A Publication of the ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN LAITY |
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The Orthodox Christian News Service |
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Archdiocese Should Limit Its Spending
BOSTON - One of the most basic functions of every Clergy Laity Congress of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America is the ratification—by vote—of its budget for the following two years. The same can be expected at the upcoming 37th Clergy Laity Congress, which convenes in New York City from July 25-30. This year’s 2005/2006 budget proposals are very interesting and impressive…. Unquestionably, money is needed for everything, including the fulfillment of the mission of our Church. Firstly, it should be noted that a Church of such caliber as ours, which consists of approximately 540 parishes, has an annual budget of only $16 million, which is quite low. It is understandable that our parishes are faced with financial difficulties and in many instances are struggling to make ends meet every month. If there were not those annual Greek Festivals I am afraid a good number of our parishes could not survive. On the other hand, our faithful do not contribute as much as they can afford. In other words, it is inconceivable to give one dollar to light a candle that is the same offer that was offered thirty years ago. The same thing applies to the tray contributions. On the other hand, this writer believes that our Greek Orthodox faithful are a very Church loving people and they will give abundantly when they see that their contributions produce works and missions of essence. At the same time, the faithful become reserved and reduce their contributions when they see a mentality of wastefulness, a constant problematic situation of debt and lavishness on behalf of those whose livelihoods depend on the Church. I think that the Church should derive its funds and its financial support from its faithful, and not allow itself to become “enslaved” by a small group of wealthy individuals who, in return for their contributions, demand to have control over it. It is preferable that $100,000 be collected from 100,000 parishioners, with each contributing $1, than one person giving the full amount alone. Having already said that, the $16 million annual budget is a small number for a Church like ours, we should also say that even with that limited budget, many good and substantial things could be done, if a more prudent distribution of Church funds could be applied. After all, these funds are nothing else but the very offering of faith and good will of our faithful. Admitting that I lack specialized knowledge of finances, but using only my common sense and the knowledge that derives out of my 25 years as a religious writer, I will attempt to point out some matters, not to be critical, but to seek ways of making better use of Church monies. It seems to me that $599,200 per year, almost $600,000 for the Archbishop’s Office is too high, since its Secretariat is separate, costing another $217,800. In addition, a new Department of Correspondence was created, costing another $172,725 per year. What is this Correspondence Department? Is it not enough to have the Department of the Secretariat? Does the Department of Correspondence continue to employ a clerk in Greece, who writes letters over there then sends them here to be processed? There is also the Office of Administration, with an annual budget of $401,500. Besides the fact that the existence of a layman administrator in a local Orthodox Church similar to a C.E.O. of a secular corporation is something foreign to the ethos and polity of our Orthodox Ecclesiology, and it is very costly. The administration of a local Orthodox Church knows only the Bishop, in this case the Archbishop, and the Chancellor who can act in place of the Archbishop. What is the real role of the Director of Administration in our Church? How many individuals does this office employ and what do they do all day? In addition, there is the Chancery, which has two Chancellors—Bishop Savas and Rev. Michael Kontogiorgis. Fr. George Passias brought in Fr. Kontogiorgis during the era of former Archbishop Spyridon. If Bishop Savas is not capable of responding to the many demands and responsibilities of the Chancery, perhaps he should be replaced with another capable person, and Fr. Kontogiorgis could then be assigned to a parish, since the Archdiocese is in great need of priests. The Department of Information and Technology absorbs $442,220 a year. What is this office and how does it benefit the local parishes? Another new office came into be for the first time, the Office of Internal Assessment and Evaluation, which costs $100,000. Above and beyond all those administrative expenses for the Office of the Archbishop, the Chancellor’s, the Secretariats, the Administration—headed by Jerry Dimitriou—another category of expenses has been recorded under the name General and Administrative Services, with a budget of $890,500. What in the world is going here? The Church, that is, the faithful, also pay $89,000 annually for Archbishop Demetrios’ residence in downtown Manhattan. In these five years of his ministry, the Church has paid almost $450,000. Certainly, it is not my intention to raise the issue of the residence of our respected Archbishop. Neither is it right to ask former Archbishop Iakovos to move from the Archdiocese residence in Rye, in which he has lived most of his life. There is, however a very decent apartment owned by the Archdiocese in which his Eminence Archbishop Demetrios could live, as Iakovos did the first ten years of his Archbishopric ministry. In addition, there is another decent and large apartment at the Holy Trinity Cathedral tower—a short distance from the Archdiocese—which could be used as a residence for Archbishop Demetrios. Apparently, for reasons of his own, the Archbishop does not prefer to dwell in either of these two apartments. The Archdiocese should consider purchasing the apartment that we now rent for the Archbishop in order to pay a mortgage instead a monthly rent, which is waste of the faithful’s money in the end. We should not forget that all the expenses are covered by the contributions of the faithful. The allocations that are given to the Metropolises are really so low in comparison to the allocations that are given to certain Offices and Departments of the Archdiocese. The General Department of Communications has a budget of $1,738,100. For God’s sake, there is something wrong here.
The allowance
given annually to the Ecumenical Patriarchate has
been the same for decades now, just $500,000
annually and that is not given on time nor in its
totality all the time. Despite that, some
uniformed have the audacity to claim that the
Archdiocese of America sustains the Patriarchate.
If it were not for Greece, which gives huge
amounts of euros, the Ecumenical Patriarchate
would not exist today. It is as simple as that. |
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