Source: Orthodox Church in America
SYOSSET, NY [OCA]
The Lesser Synod of Bishops of the Orthodox Church in America met at the Chancery of the Orthodox Church in America here on Thursday, July 5, 2012.
In addition to His Beatitude, Metropolitan Jonah, others present included His Eminence, Archbishop Nikon of Boston, New England, and the Albanian Archdiocese; His Eminence, Archbishop Tikhon of Philadelphia and Eastern Pennsylvania; and His Eminence, Archbishop Benjamin of San Francisco and the West. Also in attendance were the OCA’s officers—Archpriest John Jillions, Chancellor; Archpriest Eric G. Tosi, Secretary; and Melanie Ringa, Treasurer—and Archpriest Leonid Kishkovsky, Director of External Affairs and Interchurch Relations.
Highlights of the meeting included:
- updates from the officers, in which Ms. Ringa offered a positive report with regard to finances. [See related story.]
- a discussion on current job openings. The three top applicants for the position of Dean of the OCA Representation Church of Saint Catherine, Moscow, were reviewed, while other open positions—including that which became open with the retirement of long-time Chancery Assistant Helen Detke—were considered.
- a review of recent developments in external affairs, including the work of various committees of the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of North and Central America.
- reviewed the work of the task force created by the Metropolitan Council at its Spring 2012 meeting and charged with reviewing the work of the Central Church Administration [CCA] vis-a-vis the dioceses. In addition to the members of the Lesser Synod, task force members from the Metropolitan Council include Archpriest John Shimchick [Diocese of NY/NJ]; Maureen Jury [Diocese of the South]; and Janet Van Duyn [Diocese of NY/NJ]. Dr. Dmitri Solodow [Diocese of the West] serves as the facilitator. They are developing a plan to reassign various tasks to the appropriate level—CCA, diocesan, deanery, and parochial.
In closed session, the hierarchs discussed a variety of clergy issues and related matters.