|
Issue
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St.
George
Constitution
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Uniform
Parish Regulations
(UPR)
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UPR
Article
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1.
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Assets
Buying, selling, mortgaging of properties
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Managed
by Board of Trustees
If
the Community is dissolved, all properties and assets
are also dissolved and the fiscal dividends divided
amongst the parishioners.
Managed
by Board of Trustees and
requires approval of membership by vote
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The
Parish holds title to its real estate and personal
property in its corporate name.
Parish Council, in consultation with Priest,
administer property for the
benefit of the Parish.
All
purchasing and selling of properties and/or assets
requires 2/3rds approval of the membership and then
approval of Metropolitan.
All
assets, including real estate may be, under certain
circumstances (if Parish is deemed to be in canonical
disorder), seized by the Metropolis.
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16
22
29
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2.
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Board
of Trustees
Election procedures
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Priest
is permitted to attend Board meetings as an observer
and Community employee but is not considered a member
or entitled to a vote.
Trustees
are elected alternate years by members at General
Assembly
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Priest
is a non-voting member. However, has the power which
permits him to act as an equal to the President and/or
can supersede the President.
Removal of a Trustee can occur by the Metropolitan
at the Priest’s recommendation. Removal of a
Trustee cannot be brought up at a General Assembly.
Election
procedures:
- Candidates
must be approved by Priest prior to being nominated
- Candidates
must attend a seminar and sign statement of understanding
and acceptance of the UPR.
- Elections
must be ratified by Metropolitan
- Priest
has authority to recommend removal of Board members
and replace those members with those of his choosing.
- Metropolitan
has power to cancel or void elections.
- Metropolitan
has power to appoint a member to the Board who is
from another community.
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24, 15
25, 26
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3.
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Personnel
Matters
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Managed
by Board of Trustees
General
Assembly can dismiss the Priest
Determined
by Board using guidelines from Archdiocese
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All
Community personnel matters including hiring/dismissal
must have consent of the Priest.
The
Metropolitan makes the sole decision to transfer or
dismiss a Priest
The
Board is bound by Archdiocese guidelines
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29, 17
17
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4.
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Priest’s
role in Community
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Priest
may attend Community organization meetings and provides
guidance.
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Priest
has the power to control and possibly dissolve all
Community organizations related to the Archdiocese
since their by-laws are also subject to Metropolis
and Priest approval. All organizations accept the
UPR and other Archdiocese regulations and the lead
role of the Priest.
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19, 15
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5.
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General
Financial Decisions
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Made
by elected Board of Trustees and, in certain cases require ratification
and approval of General Assembly. Recommendations
also made by Treasurer. Financial records are audited
and certified annually by CPA.
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Priest
has power to take control over financial affairs,
books and records since the Priest must also certify
Community financial statements. Final say of financial
aspects is under control of the Priest.
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34
|
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6.
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Total Commitment Payment to the Archdiocese
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Though
not in the Constitution, the amount is set by Archdiocese,
approved by Board of Trustees
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Commitment
must be met monthly or:
- Elections
will not be ratified
- Total
commitment amount may be raised
- An
audit of records may occur and cost will be borne
by the Community
- Community’s delegates to Clergy-Laity Cong.
and meetings will not be allowed to vote
- If
Community financial records are not submitted upon
request within 30 days, the Archdiocese and Metropolis
has right to increase the Total Commitment by 25%
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34
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7.
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Modifications
to the governing document
- UPR supersedes Constitution
- Modifications
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If
2/3rds of the regular members demand modifications in writing.
To
be adopted Constitution must be modified to accept
UPR.
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Regulations
may be amended as provided in the Archdiocesan Charter
and such changes must then be ratified by the Ecumenical
Patriarch. Once the amendments are approved, they
must be adhered to by all communities.
The
Community cannot change our Constitution subsequent
to UPR adoption and acceptance of all related Archdiocese
regulations without approval of the Archdiocese.
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35
21
21
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Dear
Member of our Community:
This
letter is to advise you of the voting procedures that
will be followed at the General Assembly meeting on Sunday,
June 11, 2006.
As
you have been informed in previous letters from our Board
of Trustees, the Metropolis of New Jersey is demanding
that our Community adopt and implement the Uniform Parish
Regulations (UPR) of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of
America by August 31, 2006.
If our Community does not adopt the UPR by this
deadline, we will be faced with possible severe consequences!! In order to implement the UPR regulations and
replace our present Constitution (our legal governing
document), such a decision must pass a General Assembly
vote. Therefore,
a special General Assembly meeting to discuss and decide
on the UPR has been called for Sunday, June 11, 2006. The voting procedures that will be followed
are in accordance with our Constitution.
The
following are the voting procedures:
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1.
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A motion may be entertained to request amending of
our
Constitution to adopt the UPR.
If there is a second to the motion then
a discussion period will follow.
After the discussion period has ended,
there will be a call for the question.
Note: The question will be called only
if the required 2/3rds majority of the membership
is present.
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|
2.
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Ballots will be distributed to members who are in
good standing.
Only ballots received from members in good
standing will be counted. The Board of Trustees will verify all names
against the membership record.
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3.
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The ballots will be counted on Sunday, June 11, 2006.
Only ballots received at this General Assembly
meeting will be counted.
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4.
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If your ballot is received without a preference it
will be discarded.
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5.
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The results of the vote will be announced once all
ballots have been counted.
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6.
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All ballots will be kept strictly confidential.
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All members are required to attend this meeting! It is our duty and obligation as members to attend this meeting and support
our Community and its efforts in this important democratic
process. Remember, this meeting is to
decide the future of our community and this may be your
only opportunity to express your opinion and to decide,
by your vote, on its future. If you are absent and a non-participant in this
process, you pass up what may be your only chance to have
a say in the direction and the future of our Greek Orthodox
Community of St. George and of our St. George Greek Orthodox
Church in Piscataway. Please take advantage of this opportunity to vote and make your voice
count in the final decision!
We
look forward to an informative and productive meeting
on June 11.
Sincerely,
George Petrantonakis
President Board of Trustees
July 31, 2006
Dear
Member of our Community:
This
letter is to update you on issues relating to the Uniform
Parish Regulations (UPR), which the Metropolis of New
Jersey has requested that we adopt by August 31st
, 2006.
Since
we learned of this impending deadline, the Board of Trustees,
in conjunction with the UPR Committee, has been working
to address the issues presented, and to find a satisfactory
solution for our beloved Community. Following our last letter to you in May 2006,
a special General Assembly meeting was held on June 11th. The objectives for this meeting were to: (a)
communicate with our Community important issues related
to the UPR; (b) allow the members to ask questions to
the representatives of the Metropolis who were present,
Chancellor Anargyros Stavropoulos and Attorney Costas
Economides; and (c) allow the Community to vote on the
adoption of the UPR if the required number of members
was present.
We
wish to express our gratitude and appreciation to all
the members who participated at the meeting.
The meeting allowed for a good exchange of information
and perspectives, however, we did not have the required
two- thirds of the Community present at the General Assembly
meeting, in order for a vote to be held.
As you may recall, the key issue that we are facing
is that our Community adopted a legal constitution in
1924, which currently serves as our governing document. This constitution prevents us from being in
complete compliance with the UPR of the Greek Orthodox
Archdiocese of America. In order to adopt the UPR, two-thirds
of our paid members must vote to revise our constitution.
Following
the General Assembly meeting, these actions were taken
by the Board of Trustees:
1. A letter was submitted to His Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos on June 19th, 2006, indicating that the Community would abide by the UPR regulations to the
extent that such requirements did not conflict with our
Community’s Constitution (attached).
2. A letter was submitted to His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios of America, on July 8th, 2006,
explaining the difficult situation our Community is in
and asking for his intervention (attached).
A meeting was held on July 11th between the
Metropolitan, Father Alex, Mr. Antonis Kalogridis, acting Board
President, and Maria Kaouris Christodoulatos, Treasurer. On behalf of the Metropolis, in addition to
His Eminence Metropolitan Evangelos, the meeting was attended
by Chancellor Anargyros Stavropoulos and the Metropolis’
attorney, Mr. Economides.
The discussion with the Metropolitan was constructive His Eminence was clear about his expectations
and provided the following input:
1.
His position about our Community conforming to the requirements of the
UPR remains completely unchanged.
2.
He sees it as his ecclesiastical duty to ensure that this Community, as
all the other communities, conforms to the requirements
of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.
3.
He believes that he has provided us with sufficient opportunity to adopt
the UPR.
4.
The Metropolitan is well aware that ours is a large and vibrant Community,
and he is not trying to harm or alienate it.
5.
The Metropolitan explained that he is not looking for a letter from our
Community indicating that we accept the terms of the UPR;
he is rather seeking that we hold our elections in December
in accordance with the provisions of the UPR.
The Board Members discussed the difficulties our Community
is facing on this issue, and the impossible task of taking
any meaningful actions by the stated deadline of August
31st. They discussed the efforts and
actions to date, the difficulty of obtaining a two-thirds
vote, and the challenge of accomplishing anything at this
time of the year, when the majority of the Community is
away.
The Metropolitan was understanding despite his stated positions
above, and agreed to extend the deadline for us to December
1st, 2006. This is a very positive
development and the Board feels that it will enable further
communication with the members of our Community and improved
ability for all of us to understand the issues at hand. This should put our Community in a better position
to make the most prudent decisions for its future and
well being.
As part of the effort to achieve the above goals, the Board
intends to call another special General Assembly meeting
in September. Our Community will receive correspondence pertaining
to this in the latter part of August. Following the General Assembly meeting, we expect
that a proxy ballot will be sent to each member by mail
to vote on the UPR adoption.
This should be taking place in October.
In closing, we wish to reiterate that your Board of Trustees
is committed to resolving the issues we are currently
facing, and continuing a productive and harmonious relationship
with the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, with which
we have worked cooperatively
as a founding Community since 1922. The Board of Trustees will continue to serve
you faithfully and inform you of developments as we proceed.
Sincerely,
On behalf of the Board,
Antonis Kalogridis
Acting President of the Board of Trustees
