wfn.org | [GOAA] Archdiocesan Holds Spring Meeting in New York City

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GREEK ORTHODOX ARCHDIOCESE OF AMERICA
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NEWS RELEASE

  For Immediate Release
  May 18, 2005

  Contact:  Nikki Stephanopoulos

  ARCHDIOCESAN COUNCIL HOLDS SPRING MEETING IN NEW YORK CITY

  New York - The Spring Meeting of the Archdiocesan Council of the Greek
  Orthodox Archdiocese of America was held at the Marriott East Side in New
  York City on Friday, May 13 and Saturday, May 14, 2005.  The Council
  Meeting was preceded by the Executive Committee Meeting on Thursday, May
  12.

  The Archdiocesan Council Meeting began with a Trisagion Service for
  Archbishop Iakovos, who fell asleep in the Lord on April 10, 2005.
  Following the Trisagion Service, Archbishop Demetrios offered his Opening
  Address to the body of the Council, reviewing a number of recent
  significant events that affected our Archdiocese of America, including
  the deaths of Archbishop Iakovos and Metropolitan Anthony of San
  Francisco, the election and enthronement of Metropolitan Gerasimos of San
  Francisco and the productive testimony before the Helsinki Commission in
  Washington, DC regarding the treatment of the Ecumenical Patriarchate by
  the Turkish government.

  Following Archbishop Demetrios' comments, the Vice-President of the
  Archdiocesan Council, Michael Jaharis, commented on a new initiative by
  the Archdiocese to review and evaluate the ministries and programs of the
  Archdiocese in order to facilitate a smoother and more efficient national
  outreach.

  Following a presentation on this new initiative, the Friday session of
  the Council was recessed to allow the Standing Committees of the Council
  to meet and discuss future goals and recent progress of the institutions
  and ministries of the Archdiocese.

  On Saturday, the Council re-convened to receive and approve the reports
  and the recommendations of the Standing Committees, including Finance &
  Stewardship. Presenting the Financial Statements of the Archdiocese and
  explaining the reported debt of $10 million, the Archdiocese Finance &
  Stewardship Committee highlighted some components of the debt.  It was
  reported that more than half of the debt is attributable to legal fees
  and legal settlements over the last five years.  The remaining components
  of the debt were $1.2 Million remaining from the over $6 Million debt
  from 1999 and prior, an additional $1 Million in equipment leases and
  insurance premiums and slightly over $2 Million in other operating
  deficits over the last five years.  The Finance Committee also reported
  that while revenue from the Total Commitment program was increasing, if
  the communities had submitted their Total Commitment obligations to the
  Archdiocese in full and on time, the debt would have decreased
  significantly over the last 5 years.  The Finance Committee offered a
  number of recommendations to reduce expenses as well as increase revenue
  to the Archdiocese, which were approved by the Council.

  The Administration Committee offered a report highlighting the new
  Archdiocesan Regulations and the distribution and communications plan for
  the Regulations. The new Regulations will be distributed to the
  Metropolises and Parishes within the next few weeks and will be available
  online by the end of May at www.goarch.org.	The Administration Committee
  will also be working on the creation of new statements of Disclosure,
  Real Estate Guidelines and Dispute Resolution Procedures that were not
  completed before the last Clergy Laity Congress.

  All Archdiocesan Standing Committees reported on the work and progress
  that has been achieved in the ministries and institutions since the last
  Archdiocesan Council Meeting and Clergy Laity Congress.  The Standing
  Committees meet between Archdiocesan Council meetings to monitor progress
  of the ministries and assist with future planning and development.

  At the conclusion of the two-day meeting, Archbishop Demetrios commented
  on the effective work of the Council, noting that the ministry committees
  continue to work diligently to further the progress of the Archdiocese.
  He closed his comments by stating that the Archdiocese must not look to
  decrease the work of the ministries, but to have, as its goal, increasing
  the work and the progress of the Archdiocese and its ministries.  He
  urged the Council to keep in mind that the Archdiocese must be focused on
  its central mission which is the proclamation of the Gospel of Christ.
  Christ is the center of the focus and around Him, and in concentric,
  enlarging circles should be the various ministries and activities of the
  Archdiocese.  He stated "Let us work always with this concentric,
  focusing structure, which will keep us offering the best and most of what
  we can."

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