A tale of two dioceses?

It's the worst of times and the best of times

By Ana Watts
With a string of major health challenges among diocesan staff over the past year — Archbishop Claude Miller was hospitalized twice in 2011, the tragic death of Diocesan Treasurer Fred Scott in the fall, health problems plaguing Archdeacon Geoffrey Hall, and the recent loss of acting treasurer Canon David Kierstead due to health concerns — it would appear 2011 and early 2012 are among the worst of times in the Diocese of Fredericton. With valuable downtown Fredericton property and lots of people happy to “blue sky” (imagine, dream of) its emerging possibilities, it would also appear some aspects of early 2012 are close heralding some of the best of times for the Diocese of Fredericton. The health challenges, however, have pushed diocese administration to the brink of crisis. “When we lost Fred we lost 40 per cent of our administration capacity,” Archbishop Miller told the new Diocesan Council during its orientation meeting at the Fredericton Inn on Jan. 20 and 21. "Now Archdeacon Hall is on the sick list and will be for the next 12 to 14 weeks," the archbishop continued.

“The bottom line is, we are left with Phyllis (Phyllis Cathcart, the archbishop’s secretary) and Maureen (Maureen Vail, Diocesan Administration Officer) in the office,” he went on. “We have had some wonderful offers of help from qualified people and we are most grateful, but it takes time to integrate it.” To date a volunteer has taken over the Camp Medley books and another is stepping in to assume Archdeacon Hall’s many scheduling and agenda duties. For now Ms. Cathcart is dealing with his heavy e-mail load and other inquiries. “We will be able to use the other offers of help eventually though. And the staff is grateful to all of you in the parishes for your patience with us during these difficult times. To be honest, we are doing everything we can, but we can only do what we can do.

“We have identified our major roles as payroll, benefits and general help for the parishes. We are doing everything we can and I am confident we will prevail. We know some parishes rely heavily on their investment fund returns and I am pleased to say the cheques were deposited in parish accounts last week. We are working hard to make sure all the income tax receipts and returns are going to be prepared in time as well.”

When Canon Scott died at the end of September the diocesan Executive Committee met immediately in order to put a treasurer in place. That resulted in three-month appointments of Canon Kierstead as acting treasurer and Mr. Norm McLeod as acting assistant. At the same time, work began on creating a position profile for the new treasurer the Executive Committee hoped to have in place by the end of December of 2011. Analysis of the position proved a larger task than anticipated so the acting appointments were extended until June of 2012.

Soon after Christmas Canon Kierstead realized he could not carry the diocesan treasurer’s load into the busy year-end and tax season and accomplish his several other volunteer financial duties. That left Mr. McLeod and Maureen to cover the treasurer’s duties. She is making good headway up the steep learning curves of pensions, benefits, investments and other responsibilities, but the position profile necessary to recruit a new treasurer has yet to be completed. When Canon Kierstead stepped down he recommended the diocese consult with its auditors to see if they would and could assist in its preparation. The company is willing, and will also work with the diocese to update some of the systems Canon Scott had developed over his many years in the position.

It would take a lot to balance all these challenges, and perhaps the opportunity to dream large about the church’s several properties around Christ Church Cathedral and its beautiful green isn’t quite enough to do that, but the possibilities are still exciting.

During the past year Archbishop Miller and his wife Sharon vacated Bishop’s Court, the elegant Victorian home next to the Synod Office on the corner of Brunswick and Church Streets. Dean Keith Joyce and his wife Elinor also vacated the Deanery, one of Fredericton’s most important heritage homes. It is kitty-corner from Bishop’s Court and also on Brunswick and Church Streets. It is also situated between the Cathedral and the busy Cathedral Memorial Hall on Church Street — but the hall is inaccessible and no longer meets adequately meets the needs of its congregation and the diocese as a whole. The Synod Office, directly across Church Street from the Cathedral, was once a grand home as well, but makes a less than efficient office building. It is often described as having all kinds of room but no space.

“All these buildings (except the Cathedral) are old and decrepit and we would need to spend an inordinate amount of money to prevent their continued deterioration and even attempt to bring them up to code,” Archbishop Miller told the new Diocesan Council members. “In conjunction with the Cathedral we are exploring what we might be able to do. Parking is an absolute priority for the generations following ours and the Cathedral doesn’t really have any off-street parking at all. And of course all our facilities must be accessible. There is no major advantage to having the Synod Office right next door to the Cathedral. It is quaint, but we managed when the Synod Office was located in Saint John.

“So, what can we do? We’re looking into it. We also have a property on Rose Court off Brookside Drive on the North Side of the river to factor in. It is a raised bungalow and Canon George Porter and his wife live in it now. Sharon and I lived in it when I was executive assistant to Bishop (Bill) Hockin.”

These daunting issues and others — like the on-going Nicodemus Project and a possible capital campaign with the National Church — are all on Diocesan Council’s agenda for its two-year term. It is a lot to manage and the heft of the load may well have surprised many of its new members. But according to the report from the Diocesan Nominating Committee there is “an inspiring, large group of people working for the bishop and the diocese” on myriad teams, committees and task forces. One of the council members’ first official acts at the meeting was to approve the appointments of all those volunteers, a list of names that included all of theirs.

 

24 January 2012
Diocesan Communications