Dear all,
I wanted to share with you another thought I had the other day.
Recently there was a decision by the Holy Synod to allow our women
members as "observers" in General body meetings. I was thinking of
how best to utilise this decision.
This should be considered a path breaking decision by the Holy
Synod. We as an ancient Church are not very good at changing with
the times. (Not that changing slowly is bad, we can learn from the
experiences of others around who change too fast). In such a
situation, I think this decision by the Holy Synod is very
significant. The Holy Fathers have taken notice of the changing role
of our women folk in society, and this is a first step I believe
towards new frontiers for the Holy Church.
So how can we utilise the opportunity given by this decision to the
fullest? Instead of lamenting that it is too little, and that more
could be done (or crying foul that it is too much!) etc etc, we
could see what we can do with what we have.
For example - has anyone defined the role of an "Observer"? What
should an observer do in a general Body meeting? If not, let us
think a little bit on these lines.
In my mind, an observer's role can be -
1) Watch the proceedings to see if it is carried out as appropriate
2) Point out (either verbally or in written format) when there are
exceptions made to the rules.
3) (Elect a representative for the observers.) Maintain a record of
the reports and findings to ensure continuity and tracking.
4) Create a report and present it to the vicar and the Metropolitan
5) Possibly read the Observation report (just like minutes of the
meeting) in the next meeting and get it approved.
6) Make suggestions and recommendations for improvement (of the
process, not the deliberations in the General Body)
7) The recommendations from the observers must be considered by the
Metropolitan at the time of approving local parish elected
representatives and also Metropolitans can issue Kalpanas based on
recommendations from observers.
I am sure many more thoughts can be put up and made use of. The
observers can play a very effective role in regulating the
proceedings of the Church administration.
The effective role played by the observers will then give the Holy
Church enough confidence and faith in this decision it made, and
provide the foundation for more such significant decisions in
future, as guided by the Holy Spirit in time.
Best regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/20152
I wanted to share with you another thought I had the other day.
Recently there was a decision by the Holy Synod to allow our women
members as "observers" in General body meetings. I was thinking of
how best to utilise this decision.
This should be considered a path breaking decision by the Holy
Synod. We as an ancient Church are not very good at changing with
the times. (Not that changing slowly is bad, we can learn from the
experiences of others around who change too fast). In such a
situation, I think this decision by the Holy Synod is very
significant. The Holy Fathers have taken notice of the changing role
of our women folk in society, and this is a first step I believe
towards new frontiers for the Holy Church.
So how can we utilise the opportunity given by this decision to the
fullest? Instead of lamenting that it is too little, and that more
could be done (or crying foul that it is too much!) etc etc, we
could see what we can do with what we have.
For example - has anyone defined the role of an "Observer"? What
should an observer do in a general Body meeting? If not, let us
think a little bit on these lines.
In my mind, an observer's role can be -
1) Watch the proceedings to see if it is carried out as appropriate
2) Point out (either verbally or in written format) when there are
exceptions made to the rules.
3) (Elect a representative for the observers.) Maintain a record of
the reports and findings to ensure continuity and tracking.
4) Create a report and present it to the vicar and the Metropolitan
5) Possibly read the Observation report (just like minutes of the
meeting) in the next meeting and get it approved.
6) Make suggestions and recommendations for improvement (of the
process, not the deliberations in the General Body)
7) The recommendations from the observers must be considered by the
Metropolitan at the time of approving local parish elected
representatives and also Metropolitans can issue Kalpanas based on
recommendations from observers.
I am sure many more thoughts can be put up and made use of. The
observers can play a very effective role in regulating the
proceedings of the Church administration.
The effective role played by the observers will then give the Holy
Church enough confidence and faith in this decision it made, and
provide the foundation for more such significant decisions in
future, as guided by the Holy Spirit in time.
Best regards,
Mathew Samuel,
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/20152
No comments:
Post a Comment