A Real Re-organizing and Restructuring of the OCA

When it comes to church administration, what are the basics needed or required for the OCA to exist?

Since we are an autocephalous church, we do need a Synod of Bishops to meet, since they are the highest ecclesial authority in an autocephalous church.

So what “staff” or organization do they need to support their essential work?

We have a metropolitan, but is he by canon or statute anything more than a diocesan bishop?  He is not a bishop over the other bishops.  So what are the roles, competencies and duties of the metropolitan that cannot be carried out by anyone else or in any other way?

What “staff” does he need to support his essential work for the Church?

The Metropolitan Council seems necessitated by the Statutes of the OCA.  How often does it need to meet to carry out its unique function and competencies?

What “staff” does it need to support its essential work for the Church?

I think those are some questions we should answer now, and only then should we take a serious look at what we must have in terms of central church administration to function as an autocephalous church.  The mission of the central church administration should be defined in terms of supporting the Synod of Bishops, Metropolitan Council and the All North American Council.  What do those organizations need so that the OCA functions properly?  Then what staff positions should we create and fund to make sure the essential work gets done?

I do think  the Webpage can play an extremely vital communications role and I would consider it essential in today’s world.    But how many staffers we need, and how much money we need to pay for them and their work is something requiring real evaluation.    Instead of all the things we can imagine the central church administration doing, and instead of creating things for the staff to do because we have them, I think the place to begin is to go back to what are the bare essentials, to put them in place and only after successfully operating with these essential people in place do we consider any “wish” list of wants and dreams.  Anything that is essential should be funded through the budget, and all other fundraising, no matter how noble, should be avoided.  If needs are made known, find other existing organizations that deal with that need and encourage donations be made directly to them.