Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America 20th Triennial Church Assembly—Sabor
Canton, Ohio
“Christ the True Light: The Light of the Church and the Light of the World.”
Christ, the true Light, which shines and sanctifies every human being coming into this world, show in us the light of your presence and guide our paths for the work of your commandments, by the intercession of your Most Holy Mother, the Virgin Mary the Theotokos, and of all the saints, have mercy on us and save upon us. Amen!’’
[Prayer from the Service of the First Hour]
Delegates Notebook
PROGRAM & REPORTS
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20th Triennial CHURCH ASSEMBLY
Of the Serbian Orthodox Church
In North and South America
Sabor 2009
DATES
August 11‐13, 2009
SABOR THEME
Christ the True Light: The Light of the Church and the Light of the World
EPISCOPAL COUNCIL MOST REVEREND
METROPOLITAN CHRISTOPHER
RIGHT REVERENED BISHOP GEORGIJE
RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP LONGIN
RIGHT REVEREND
BISHOP MITROPHAN
RIGHT REVEREND BISHOP MAXIM
CENTRAL CHURCH COUNCIL
TREASUER
OBREN GERICH
SECRETARY VERY REVEREND NEDELJKO LUNICH
SABOR COMMITTEE
HOST DIOCESE
EASTERN AMERICAN DIOCESE
HOST PARISH
SAINT GEORGE CHURCH
HOST CHAIRPERSONS
VERY REVEREND DRAGAN FILIPOVIC CATHY KRUPKO
CENTRAL CHAIRMAN
VERY REVEREND NIKOLA CEKO STANDING COMMITTEE ADMINISTRATOR
Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America 20th Triennial Church Assembly—Sabor
4669 Applegrove Street, NW—North Canton, OH 44720 303‐494‐7888 www.serborth.org
Christ the True Light: The Light of the Church and the Light of the World
Christ is in our Midst! He is, and always shall be! We are pleased to welcome you to the 20th Church Assembly—Sabor hosted by the Eastern American Diocese and Saint George Serbian Orthodox Church in Canton, Ohio. It is truly a blessing to be together once again and to bring our prayers, hopes, and vision together. None of our goals over the past months and years could have been accomplished without the spiritual and financial leadership of our Episcopal Council, Central Church Council, and the dedicated faithful throughout the land. We gather together for this Church Assembly—Sabor, so that we might build upon the foundation of our beautiful and enduring legacy of faith, and to accomplish even more for the spiritual well‐being of our families and for the generations to come. May the theme of this Sabor—Christ the True Light—inspire us and once more assure us that our Lord Jesus Christ is the true Light Who gives light to everyone who comes into the world. This Assembly is historic in that this year we celebrate our Administrative Unity! In the spirit of this precious unity, may this Sabor be one in which we radiate more and more the saving Light of Christ, a light of truth, love and salvation. So, as we gather united together in worship, fellowship, and discussion during these days, may we seek the guidance and blessings of the Holy Trinity upon all that we do. May we keep in our hearts and minds that we are meeting and making decisions for the future of our Church, for the strength and vitality of all of our ministries, and for the divine task of gathering all into Christ, the True Light. Once again, Welcome to the 20th Church Assembly—Sabor!
—Sabor Committee
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
Schedule of Events…………………………………………………………………….. 5
Council and Committee members……………………………………………… 7
Standing Committee Reports
Director of Standing Committees …………………………………… 9
Christian Education ……………………………………………………….. 11
Stewardship …………………………………………………………………... 14
Serbian Heritage Studies ……………………………………………….. 15
Youth Ministry……………………………………………………………….. 16
Liturgical Music ……………………………………………………………… 18
Young Adult and College Student Ministry ……………………... 22
Publications and Communications …………………………………. 24
Highlights and Decisions of the 19th Triennial Sabor ………………... 26
Decisions of the Central Church Council …………………………………….. 30
Report on Group Health Care Plan ……………….…………………………….. 37
Pension Trust Plan …………………………………………………………………….. 38
Financial Reports
Path of Orthodoxy …………………………………………………………... 44
Central Church Treasury ………………………………………………… 45
School of Theology ………………………………………………………….. 47
Saint Sava Theological Foundation …………………………………. 51
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20th Triennial Church Assembly—Sabor Of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America
Canton, Ohio August 1113, 2009
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Monday, August 10, 2009
2:00 p.m. Clergy Brotherhood Annual Meeting
5:00 p.m. Vespers followed by Clergy Brotherhood Dinner Conference
“The Pastor and Shepherd in the New Testament”
6:30 p.m. Welcome Reception (for all participants)
7:30 p.m. Meeting of the Central Church Council
Check‐In Registration of Sabor Delegates and Observers
Tuesday, August 11, 2006
8:00 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy & Invocation of the Holy Spirit
10:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Plenary: Opening of Assembly and Saint Nicholai Oratorical Festival
12:30 p.m. Lunch
2:00 p.m. Second Plenary Session for Delegates
Confirmation of Assembly Secretariat
Report of the Credentials Committee
Review of the Highlights of the 19th Triennial Assembly
Reports and Presentations of the Central Church Committees:
Christian Education, Stewardship, Youth Ministry Liturgical Music,
Communications, and Publications
Young Adult Ministry , Serbian Culture and Heritage
4:00 – 6:00 p.m. Presentations and Committee Workshops
6:30 p.m. Vespers
7:30 p.m. Dinner & Fellowship
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Wednesday, August 12, 2009
8:00 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
10:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Third Plenary Session: Keynote Address: “Christ the True Light” Father Paul Tarazi
12:30 p.m. Lunch
Standing Committee Chairs Lunch Meeting
2:00 p.m. Fourth Plenary Session
Reports of the Central Church Continued
Decisions of the Central Church Council, Financial Report, Auditing Report,
Theological School, Theological Foundation, Clergy Pension Plan, Group Health Care
Plan
5:30 p.m. Vespers
6:30 p.m. Diocesan Caucuses: The purpose of Diocesan Caucuses prior to the fifth plenary session is
to elect new members to the Central Church Council.
7:00 p.m. Dinner
8:00 p.m. Workshop: “Developing Youth Leaders in the parish”
Thursday, August 13, 2009
8:00 a.m. Hierarchical Divine Liturgy
10:00 a.m. Continental Breakfast
10:30 a.m. Fifth Plenary Session – Ministries Presentation
1:00 p.m. Lunch
2:30 p.m. Sixth Plenary Session and Conclusion of the work of the Sabor
Release of the present Central Church Council
Confirmation of new Central Church Council elections
Oath of Office of new Council members
Adoption of Central Church Budget
Miscellaneous items
Closing Remarks by the President of the Episcopal Council
Adjournment with prayer
5:00 p.m. Vespers
6:00 p.m. Hors d’oeuvres Reception
7:00 p.m. Sabor Grand Banquet and Program
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Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America
EPISCOPAL COUNCIL
His Eminence, Metropolitan Christopher, Metropolitan of Libertyville‐Chicago, President
His Grace, Bishop Georgije, Bishop of Canada His Grace, Bishop Longin, Bishop of New Gracanica and Midwestern America
His Grace, Bishop Mitrophan, Bishop of Eastern America His Grace, Bishop Maxim, Bishop of Western America
His Eminence, Metropolitan Christopher Bishop Georgije
His Grace, Bishop Longin His Grace, Bishop Mitrophan His Grace, Bishop Maxim
V. Rev. Stavrophor Nedeljko Lunich, Secretary Obren Gerich, Treasurer
†V. Rev. Stavrophor Dr. Nedeljko Grgurevich V. Rev. Stavrophor Rastko Trbuhovich V. Rev. Stavrophor Vasilije Tomic V. Rev. Stavrophor Petar Jovanovich
V. Rev. Stavrophor Dragoljub Pavichevich V. Rev. Stavrophor Nikola Ceko
Milos Saravolatz Ronald Radakovich Brane Brankov Andrew Nygren
Nancy Colakovich Rev. Djuro Samac Nedjo Petkovic
Dr. Goran Popovic Zoran Curcic Milan Visnjic Rudley Mrvos
James Springborn Drazo Visekruna Donald Kral Bosko Momic Dr. Debra Tasic
George Topich, Alternate Milan Lazic, Alternate Ray Vukas, Alternate Mimo Papich, Alternate
CENTRAL CHURCH COUNCIL
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Christian Education Protinica Victoria Trbuhovich, Chairperson Rev. Michael Boyle Rev. Radovan Jakovljevic V. Rev. Thomas Kazich V. Rev. Bratislav Krsic V. Rev. Rodney Torbic V. Rev. Steve Tumbas Rev. Vasilije Vranic Mary Perisic Stewardship Brian Gerich, Chairman V. Rev. Rastko Trbuhovich V. Rev. Srboljub Jockovic V. Rev. Nedeljko Lunich Mike Jankovich Andy Nygren Serbian Heritage Studies V. Rev. Zivojin Jakovljevic, Chairman V. Rev. Ljubomir Rajic V. Rev. Milorad Loncar V. Rev. Aleksandar Vlajkovic Protinica Svetlana Zaremba Youth Ministry V. Rev. Stevo Rocknage, Chairman Fr. Dragan Petrovich, Laura Burge, Brian Hayden, Chris Radanovic, Becky Kesich, Joyce Yovetich, Zora Lytkowski
Liturgical Music Dr. Nikola Resanovic, Chairman Popadija Betsy Tumbas, Co‐Chair Nancy Colakovic Dr. Milutin Drobac Peter Drobac Fionn Zarubica Lemon V. Rev Fr. Stevan Stepanov V. Rev Fr. Milos Vesin Young Adult Ministries Rev. Aleksa Micich, Co‐Chairperson Christopher S. Rocknage, Co‐Chairperson Rev. Aleksa Pavichevich Darren Torbic Communications and Publications V. Rev. Rade Merick, Chair V. Rev. Nedeljko Lunich, Path Serbian Editor Archimandrite Thomas (Kazich), Observer and Little Falcons Editor Rev. Milovan Katanich, Path English co‐editor, web master V. Rev. Bratislav Krsic, Path English co‐editor V. Rev. Nikola Ceko V. Rev. Rodney Torbic Mrs. Vesna Meinert, Path Technical Editor V. Rev. Dennis Pavichevich Pension Trust Plan for Clergymen V. Rev. D.C. Malich, Administrator Dmitar L. Rakich Mitchell Zunich Clergy Health Care Plan and Life Insurance Rev. Milovan Katanic – Administrator Director of Standing Committees V. Rev. Stavrophor Nikola Ceko
STANDING COMMITTEES
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The Standing Committees of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America
Your Eminence, Your Graces, Reverend Clergy, Esteemed delegates to the 20th Sabor,
Brothers and Sisters in Christ, This Sabor Assembly marks the 6ththth Anniversary since the establishment of our Standing Committees. Over these six years many good things were accomplished. With the establishment of these standing committees, we, as the Church have expanded our vision of how to more effectively accomplish all our goals. There is no doubt that the quality, experience and deep Orthodox Christian faith and commitment of all our volunteer committee members have added richly and deeply, not only to the individual parishes and Dioceses, but, to the life of our entire Church in North and South America over these past six years. Our committees continue to be incredibly busy with these ministries, yet often, as volunteers who have the honor and privilege to serve the Church in this capacity, we feel like there is so much yet to do. It is not always easy to accomplish our work. For example, one of our planning sessions was cancelled due to a February snow storm which closed airports in and around Canton/Cleveland where we were scheduled to meet. Nonetheless, each of our committees had its usual heavy work‐load ‐ with planning sessions spread over teleconferences, emails, meetings and our main plenary which was held in Canton, Ohio last year. As in previous years, some of the committee’s work has already borne fruit, others are ‘works in progress’ and will come to the Sabor at some other time. What is contained in this report is mainly new information and matters on which the Committee spent considerable time working and implementing over the past year. Our primary goal continue to be to develop resource which inspire growth in the Orthodox Faith and Tradition.
None of us can dare think we have no one and no where to serve. Everywhere we look there are needs. We are painfully aware of the need to provide resources and training to teach and preach the living message of Christ. The youth need to be equipped; our own parishioners and those who are coming to us for the first time are among the first group who need the word of God preached, taught and witnessed. Through the work of our standing committees, we have realized perhaps more than ever, that individually we are too small and inadequate, but working together with the blessings of our Bishops and our unity in Our Lord and each other, we begin to realize that all things are possible. So, we gather again at the end of an old term and the beginning of a new one. As the Sabor meets today at the point where the old and the new intersect, we are inevitably driven to think of past achievements and future challenges. As I bring this introductory message to a close I must mention the job that lies ahead. As stated above, we reached new heights in the past 6 years, but we must reach even greater heights in 2009 and beyond. We have come a long way, but we have a long, long way yet to go. There are still gigantic spiritual mountains that we have not climbed. There are still uncharted continents of Christian education, youth ministry, stewardship, liturgical music and other
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areas that we have not explored. There are still unchurched persons in the community who are desperately in need of Christ. The members of the Standing Committees are willing and ready to rise up with bold determination and work with you to lift our church to new levels of spiritual achieve‐ment, and thereby bring the Kingdom of God nearer to each our communities. Our vision is that if we are to remain a great church we must never become a stagnant pool. Rather, we must be an ever flowing river. I want to thank our Hierarchs, Central Church Council and all of you who give us the joyous and privileged opportunity to serve. We thank you for your sound advice, guidance and generosity to these ministries. May all of the esteemed delegates to this Assembly and all who serve our Holy Church be blessed with good health of soul and body for many years to come. I especially want to express my deep admiration and gratitude to all of the Standing Committee chairpersons and members who selflessly give of themselves in so many ways in order to do the work that is reflected in these reports. God keeps on reminding me how truly blessed we are to have such dedicated workers and to have developed such ministries. Please pray for us that we may continue to serve our Church, our Hierarchs, but most importantly, that we continue to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We welcome any comments or suggestions. In Christ, ProtopresbyterStavrophor Nikola Ceko
Director of Standing Committees
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CHRISTIAN EDUCATION Protinica Victoria Trbuhovich, Chairman
Report on the work of the Standing Committee on Christian Education
The purpose of the Standing Committee on Christian Education is to serve the dioceses and parishes of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the USA and Canada by providing materials and services that will advance their programs of religious education. This committee is charged with developing resources for use by the diocesan education departments, and offering them support and/or assistance as requested. The Committee also fosters cooperation and exchange of information among the various Diocesan Departments of Education of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Below is an outline of the various projects completed or in progress by the Committee since the Detroit Sabor, in 2006. DEVELOPING OF LESSONS FOR STEWARDSHIP SUNDAY, 2008
Working with the Stewardship Committee, the Committee on Christian Education agreed to develop lesson plans (at two grade levels) for use in the parish Church Schools that focused on Stewardship. These lessons were scheduled to be used on Stewardship Sunday, 2008. The lessons were designed so they could be used at any time, to emphasize to our children that we are all God’s stewards. A copy of the two lessons are included in the packet you received from the Committee on Christian Education. One lesson is meant for younger children, the other for Middle School or High School students. CONTINUING EDUCATION FOR CLERGY
Our hierarchs requested that the Committee develop programming for continuing education for clergy. In response to this request, the Committee on Christian Education designed a new program that parish clergy could use in their parishes. Earlier in 2009, two volumes on Christian Education and the lives of women saints were distributed to each parish clergy in the USA and Canada. Our Church and Our Children and Encountering Women of Faith were the volumes chosen, along with a detailed review of each book, and suggestions for use in the parish. The Committee anticipates continuing the program in 2010. ANNUAL CHILDREN’S CAMP MANUAL PROGRAM
A major emphasis of the Committee’s work has been to review the Children’s Camp programs, focus‐ing attention on the importance of including additional spiritual study, by way of scripture readings, meditations or moral discussions with our youth. Each year the Committee has completed a 5‐6 lesson manual which is forwarded to each Diocese for consideration and use in each Serbian Orthodox Camp in the USA and Canada. To date, the following Camp curricula, either in outline or manual form, have been authored and published:
2004: Martyrdom—outline, for Clergy use in teaching
2005: Vocations: Can You Hear Me Now? Produced in student manual/teacher guide format
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2006: Stewardship: Taking Care of God’s Creation. Produced in student manual/teacher guide format
2007: Divine Liturgy: Taste and See—Giving Thanks Through the Liturgy. Produced in student manual/teacher manual format
2008: Iconography: Holy Images: Face to Face with God. Produced in student manual/teacher manual format
2009: Jesus Christ, Faith and the Orthodox Christian: I Am the True Vine: Branching Out into the Orthodox Faith. Produced in student manual/teacher manual format
The manuals are published at the New Gracanica monastery, at minimal cost. Authors of the lessons are the members of the Standing Committee on Christian Education. The authoring and publication of these manuals was the first task assigned to the Standing Committee by the Episcopal Council, at the first meeting of the Standing Committees in the Fall of 2003. Additional uses: Some parishes have begun to use the Camp Manuals as a basis for their in‐house Parish day camps. This use of the Camp Manuals has been very successful, and requires little adaptation. *It should be noted that at least two other Orthodox Christian Camps, one in the USA and one in Canada, have used our manual to structure their daily camp Christian Education programs. Our Committee has filled a void in the area of Christian Education curriculum, which spans multiple Orthodox jurisdictions on the North American continent. SURVEY TO ANALYZE NEEDS FOR FUTURE CHRISTIAN EDUCATION PROJECTS
The Standing Committee on Christian Education is currently preparing a survey whose goal is to determined on‐going needs in Christian Education at the parish level. Pending approval by the Episcoal Council, the Standing Committee will proceed with this project. MEETINGS AND CONFERENCE CALLS; MEMBERSHIP
The Standing Committee regularly meets, either through meetings once or twice a year, or through regular Conference Calls. Membership has recently been updated to include new Diocesan Directors of Christian Education. This means of communication has proven successful to date, and has been developed due to escalating costs of travel and lodging. We will continue this format unless it becomes obvious that more face‐to‐face meetings are warranted.
SABOR PACKETS
All of you have received a generous packet of information, including the following:
• copies of our Stewardship lessons; • a copy of Little Falcons magazine;
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• two copies of our Camp Manuals;
• one copy of PRAXIS magazine, the Christian Education publication of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese;
• several catalogs from various Orthodox jurisdictional publishing houses
Distribution of these items to the clergy and laity of the Serbian Orthodox Church is part of the outreach effort of the Standing Committee. ENDING COMMENTS
The Standing Committee wishes to thank our Hierarchs, the Central Church Council, and the Sabor for their continuing support. The Standing Committee is comprised of dedicated priests and lay persons, who are devoted to the teaching ministry of our Holy Orthodox Church, fulfilling Our Lord’s commandment to “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). It is with humility and love that we ask the Sabor to extend the mandate for our Standing Committee, which, as one of many Standing Committees, has produced such fruit and expanded the spiritual conversation needed in our Church today.
Respectfully Submitted to the Crkveni Sabor, 2009 Your servants in Christ, Protinica Victoria Trbuhovich, Chairperson Standing Committee on Christian Education
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STEWARDSHIP Obren Gerich, Chairman
REPORT OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE FOR CHRISTIAN STEWARDSHIP
WORK OF THE COMMITTEE For the past 6 years since its establishment in 2003, the National Stewardship Committee has had as its goal, the education of our Serbian Orthodox faithful about the concept of stewardship. Our committee members and other individuals, who have assisted us, take every opportunity to give presentations on stewardship to individual parishes and to Diocesan Assemblies. We thank God that many of the seeds which have been planted have begun to bear fruit. Some parishes have made a clean cut‐off from dues to stewardship; some parishes have had a dual system (dues and steward‐ship), and some parishes are still trying to understand and accept the concept. EDUCATION Our effort during the past two years has been an on‐going education process of all of our faithful through articles published in The Path of Orthodoxy. We want to thank V. Rev. Rastko Trbuhovich for managing that effort. We thank the Episcopal Council for designating November each year as Stewardship Month for the Serbian Church on this Continent. Our committee stands ready to assist parishes with teaching les‐sons for our church school students, sample sermons and bulletin inserts to be used during Steward‐ship month. The Stewardship section of the Church’s web site, www.serborth.org, offers additional material to help our parishes. ESTATE (PLANNED GIVING) An area which has been well developed by our hospitals, colleges and universities in this country, but which is new to the Serbian people, is in the area of Estate (Planned Giving). The Bishop’s Council of the Serbian Orthodox Church received a major estate gift in 2006 from the Zhivadinovich Estate for the education of men and women in the field of chemical engineering. In addition, several parishes have received estate gifts from their faithful parishioners. Our committee sees an opportunity to develop this area of charitable stewardship (one’s last gift for God’s work on this earth). We will work with our parishes to education them in this area. One important fact which we have to under‐stand is that professional fund raisers have reported that when individuals have been asked why they made a large gift to a church, to a university or charitable institution, the response has been, “because someone asked me for the gift.” SUMMARY The Stewardship Committee would like to thank our hierarchs, our clergy and our parishes for supplying the funding to allow us to work on this important program on a national scale. We pray that God will continue to guide us in our efforts and will continue to plant seeds that will grow throughout his beloved Church.
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SERBIAN HERITAGE STUDIES Protopresbyter Zivojin Jakovljevic, Chairman The Standing Committee of Serbian Language, Culture and Heritage Education is in the process of completing a textbook of Heritage Studies consisting of 30 lessons. The textbook may completed and published in Fall of 2009. It covers major Serbian saints, custom and tradition of the Serbian people. This publication will be part of the curriculum in Serbian language and Heritage Studies, with an emphasis on enhancing the spiritual life through the Serbian experience of Orthodoxy (Svetosavlje ). Resource Material In addition to the textbook described above, the Committee has provided a program and a materials for a number of our parish church schools for the study of the Serbian language and History. We also assisted and guided a number of parishes in developing Serbian language schools. Textbooks and the programs for parishes that are interested in establishing schools for Serbian language are currently available. Our committee submitted a series of articles on Serbian monasteries which were published in the Path of Orthodoxy over the past two years. The Committee plans to continue writing of articles on the riches of our spiritual heritage, particularly on the topics of Serbian saints and Serbian tradition. Heritage Pilgrimages As a part of promoting Serbian heritage Fr. Zivojin Jakovljevic traveled to Serbia along with 50 members of Kosovo Men's Choir in August of 2008. During this pilgrimage the choir members visited St. Sava Church in Vracar, Patriarchate, Lelic, Celije, Trebinje, Ostrog, Monastery Decani, Pec Patriarchate, Zicha, and Oplenac. The choir performed a number of concerts, including a joined concert with the First Belgrade's Singing Society in the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade. The trip concluded with the Divine Liturgy in the Cathedral in Belgrade. This trip was an opportunity for our faithful from the USA to revive ties with the land of their forefathers, and to experience firsthand the faith, spirituality and culture of the Serbian people. This pilgrimage was a realization of a goal set by the Committee for Serbian Heritage Studies, to organize youth and adult “Spiritual Odysseys” to Serbian churches, monasteries and cultural monuments. The Committee's aim continues to be to promote the learning of Serbian language, culture, history, and civilization, which we understand as an essential tool for a deeper understanding of the Serbian Orthodox faith, and heritage.
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YOUTH MINISTRIES Protopresbyter Stevo Rocknage, Chairman The function and purpose of our Standing Committee for Youth Ministry, is to facilitate outreach and activities for young people of high school age. Over the past three years, our Committee has focused on the following: 1. The Planning and Structuring of a National Serbian Orthodox Youth Organization. We have found that the appointing of National Youth Leaders (from each Diocese) to spear head this objective very ineffective. As a result, we have shifted our focus and our working on establishing the youth group network at the local parish level first. We are creating a packet of information in the near future that will be available to all parishes in the North and South America as a guide for this objective. 2. The Implementation of a National Youth Conference – Annually! Joyfully, we report that we have held four Youth Conferences: Detroit in ’06, Chicago in ‘07, LA in ‘08, and Canton, Ohio in ‘09 – with attendance ranging from 33 to 45 per conference, not counting chaperones. 3. The Implementation of a Teen St. Nikolai of Zicha Oratorical Festival, has been achieved: The initial event, in Detroit, 2006, was met with great acclaim by the Church Assembly— Sabor delegates – as the four finalists gave their presentations. This year, 2009, will be our second National Festival, again having the winners from thefour Dioceses making their presentations and the winner being announced during the Sabor. In addition, each Diocese now has their own Diocesan Oratortcal Festivals, and the winner of the local Diocesan event is a finalist for the National one. We will begin, after this year’s Sabor, to make the National Oratorical Festival an annual event! 4. The providing of materials for a regular Youth Ministries page for The Path of Orthodoxy which began in 2004, and has continued since. Again, we are grateful that through the dedication and hard work of our entire committee, but especially Fr. Bratso Krsic and Brian Hayden, the continued publishing of the ‘Our View’ section in the Path of Orthodoxy takes place – and plans are being made to change the format and offer different perspectives in future issues. 5. The Development of a Resource Forum for Youth Leaders and Youth Coordinators We are still working on identifying ways to help parishes become more active with youth activities, as well as present a Workshop on Training Youth Leaders at the Sabor.
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6. The Creation of a Communication Network for our Teens We are developing a process to verify the moral and legal issues related to using any of the Internet forums (facebook, myspace, etc.) as a means of ‘connecting’ our youth in an official manner. FINALLY: what we hope to achieve in the next three years as a Committee: 1. Attain some progress on the implementation of Goal # 1 the local level youth organization. 2. Continue to strengthen and improve on our efforts with Goals #2, 3, and 4. 3. Continue development of a Resource Forum for Youth Leaders across the country, including pos‐
sible regional seminars on Youth Leadership. 4. Discover a means for using the Internet to keep our youth connected to our Youth Ministry Committee.
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LITURGICAL MUSIC Dr. Nikola Resonovic, Chairman
Report of the Liturgical Music Committee Introduction The Liturgical Music Committee is one of several standing committees established at the 18th Triennial Sabor. Appointment of the committee’s membership and its chairperson were effected by the Episcopal Council. The Liturgical Music Committee serves under the direction of the Episcopal Council and the Central Church Council. The committee’s purpose and goals as outlined in the Report for the Task Force of the 18th Triennial Sabor are as follows: Liturgical Music is central to the worship life and experience of the Church. The Standing Committee on Liturgical Music would gather those knowledgeable about this subject and work in collaboration with the Serbian Singing Federation to provide support for our parishes by enhancing the types and scope of published liturgical music, and offering advice and assistance as requested. Specifically, it would be charged with: 1. Compiling for the purposes of distribution liturgical music for use in the parishes. 2. Compiling music for youth choirs and gatherings. 3. Compiling, arranging and distributing specifically Serbian spiritual music. 4. Developing a program for training cantors for the service in our parishes. Standing Committee Chairpersons Meeting (Nov 1011, 2006) Chairpersons of the Serbian Orthodox Central Church Standing Committees met in Chicago November 10‐11, 2006 to set the goals and agendas for the committees’ work for the next three years. The meet‐ing was a follow‐up to the August 2006 National Church Assembly (Sabor) in Detroit. The Committee heads reviewed the Sabor’s decisions as they affect the Committees, and the presentations and work‐shops made by the Committees to the Assembly. They also reviewed the work of each committee over the past three years, the membership of the Committees, and agreed upon a format and schedule for the Committee meetings over the next three years. The status of existing Liturgical Music Committee projects at the time of this meeting (Nov 2006) were as follows: 1. A continuing and successful series of our cantor’s workshops organized by Popadija Betsy Tumbas, Fr. Milos Vesin and Fr. Stevan Stepanov with Fr. Vesin being the primary instructor. These workshops had been held in Jackson, CA in October of 2005, 2006, and in Alliquippa, PA in May, 2006 with approximately 20 attendees at each. 2. The sales of our existing publications was initially quite strong (according to information pro‐vided by Nancy Colakovich). Approximately 1/3 of the Duhovna Lira volumes sold; approximately1/4 of the Anthology volumes sold; and over $5,000 had been returned to the Central Church’s treasury as of mid‐October 2006) 3. Dr. Miso Drobac oversaw the continued work on building our portion of the Web pages at the Central Church’s web site which at the time of the November meeting included the complete Anthol‐ogy of Serbian Chant in pdf format. 4. Fionn Zarubica Lemon continued work in typesetting the liturgies of Serbian composers (Fionn had completed and submitted the Mokranjac liturgy and was putting final corrections on the Marinkovich Liturgy).
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5. Nikola Resanovic was working on producing an audio rendition of the entire Anthology of Serbian Chant as an online resource. This was a work in progress at the time of the meeting.
6. The Spiritual Songs for Children of all Ages publication, a set of 15 spiritual songs arranged for 4‐
part SATB and 2‐part SA choirs, was nearing completion. Status of Projects: Anthology Audio Recordings (Status: Completed) The entire two‐volume Anthology has been recorded and edited (over 500 audio mp3 files) and is now available on‐line as an instructional resource at Dr. Resanovic’s web site. The plan is to link these resources to the Serbian Orthodox web site. Spiritual Songs for Children of All Ages (Status: Completed) This songbook is formatted the same as the successful Duhovna Lira volume. It contains 15 spiritual hymns in SATB and SA format with a two hymns in both Serbian and English. It also provides Cyrillic and English text translations in the appendix. With the demise of Palendec Publishing and the high cost of publishing, the committee has decided to publish this soft bound and in house which will allow us to produce only as many copies as demand requires instead of the minimum 500 that publishers require. Cantors Workshops (Status: Continuing) June 2007 Lansing: Organized by Popadija Betsy Tumbas, Nancy Colakovich and Fr. Milos Vesin. Held on Friday and Saturday and focused on Tones 1‐4. Approximately 14 attended (11 from St. Michael and 3 from other parishes). Although there was not much of a response from other parishes, Fr. Milos felt the workshop was successful since all the ladies from his parish who came decided that in future they would meet every Saturday one hour before Vespers in order to rehearse what they would be singing for Vespers that day. October 2007/Jackson: Organized by Popadija Betsy Tumbas and Fr. Milos Vesin. We covered Tones 5‐8 this year, with a preliminary lecture by Fr. Milos on “The Theology of Chanting.” There were 12 participants (4 monks from St. Herman Monastery, Popadija Magdalena Boyle from St. Andrew‐Fool‐For‐Christ in Redding, 6 from St. Sava‐ Jackson, including two newcomers who are Byzantine Catholic), and our first inter‐jurisdictional attendee: Reader James Morgan from Holy Resurrection (OCA) in Tacoma. Workshop 2008: We had successful workshops in Aliquippa and Jackson this year and would like to continue workshops in Jackson, Lansing and Aliquippa (i.e., one in each of the three American dioceses. Online Resources (Status: Continuing) Dr. Miso Drobac has been coordinating our web site resources with the web master Fr Milovan Katanic. Liturgical music files on the website have been restructured by Fr. Milovan. The Anthology volume files are presently available as is the Mokranjac liturgy as typeset by Fionn Lemon. Future links are planned to Dr. Resanovic’s website for the Octoechos and Anthology recordings and to St. Luke’s site for the Menaion where much of Peter Drobac’s excellent work can be found. Fr. Milos Vesin is currently reviewing a Typicon that the committee also approved. This would likely be more appropriate to the HOME page, as it outlines troparia and kontakia order for upcoming Sundays throughout the year and is time sensitive.
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Instructional CD (Status: In Progress) Peter Drobac will record at home the English Troparia, Kontakia, Prokeimena of the 8 Tones; Fr. Stevan is to do the Slavonic. Fr. Milos will help contribute historical/technical information. For example: how chant tones such as 1 & 8 resemble Byzantine and how other tones resemble, influence, or are influenced by folk music (like tones 5 & 6). When the time comes, Fr. Milos would write these explanations, possibly as part of a music manual (in English) to accompany the CD [could also be a PDF file]. This is a project for completion in 2008. Advent/Christmas Spiritual Hymns Song Book (Status: In Progress) This work is in progress and will include some 20 or more hymns in both an SATB and SA format. The volume will be published online at Church website and Nikola Resanovic’s website. The committee would also like to make this available as a hard‐copy publication to be sold through Narrow Path Bookstore. Spiritual Songs for Children of All ages is a completed work ‐ lacking only the translations for the appendix. Like the Christmas Hymns these will be published on Church website and Nikola’s website and also in a hard copy form to be distributed through Narrow Path bookstore. Sales of Published Works Sales figures as of Oct 26, 2007 Duhovna Lira 500 published. [NOTE: the minimum required by the publisher] 206 @13.20 sold We’ve paid off the Central Church Council [they paid for 222) except for 16 copies Anthology, Vol I 250 publ. @18 54 sold Anthology, Vol II 250 publ. @18 56 sold Tutorial/Education: Peter Drobac has made audio recordings of the Resurrection Troparia, Kontakia and Prokeimena in English and Slavonic in all 8 tones. These mp3 audio files have been edited by Nikola Resanovic and will be available in the coming weeks as an on‐line learning resource along with PDF files of the music. These audio files will also be put onto a CD which can be made available as a resource via Narrow Path Bookstore. Peter will also be recording English/Slavonic audio files of the Divine Liturgy to be published on‐line at both the Church’s and Nikola’s website alongside sheet music, which Nikola will edit and compile. As a future project Nikola will consider creating instructional information regarding the Serbian eight tones – their structure and application for download from website. Website: The online materials continue to grow as supervised by Dr. Miso Drobac. Peter Drobac and Nikola Resanovic will review the “subdivisions” of our published liturgies for the purpose of standardizing how our liturgies are broken down for downloading purposes. 2009 Sabor The LM Committee has created a congregational singing pamphlet to be distributed to participants who will be given the opportunity to sing at the evening Vespers and morning Liturgies. The pamphlet includes litany’s; Holy God/Svjati Boze; communion hymn’s; Budi Imja Gospodnje; (Lord’s prayer; creed; and prayer before communion)– in both Church Slavonic and English. The committee would also use the sabor workshop to present information regarding the committees work, resources and how they can be used, and to answer questions that workshop attendees might have regarding church music. We also have an informational flyer for delegates to take back to their parishes.
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Liturgical Music Committee — Project Status 2009 Several new resources and on‐line publications were created and made available at the Central Church’s web site ‐ http://www.serborth.org/liturgical_contents.html These include: Serbian Chant – Audio and Manuscript files for Resurrectional Troparia, Kontakia and Prokeimena in 8 tones. Set and sung in English and Church Slavonic. English arrangements adapted by and courtesy of Dr. Nikola Resanovic. Slavonic arrangements are those of S.S. Mokranjac. Performed by cantor Peter Drobac. Divine Liturgy ‐ S. S. Mokranjac. Mixed four part arrangement in Slavonic (transliterated into latinica). Typesetting courtesy of Fionn Zarubica Lemon. Octoechos ‐ English text set to Serbian Chant, adapted by and courtesy of Dr. Nikola Resanovic. Menaion ‐ A growing collection of Troparia and Kontakia for the upcoming Sundays of the year. English text set to Serbian chant, adapted by Peter Drobac and courtesy of St. Luke's Serbian Ortho‐dox Mission. Triodion ‐ Troparia and Kontakia for the Sundays of Great Lent. English text set to Serbian chant, adapted by Peter Drobac and courtesy of St. Luke's Serbian Orthodox Mission. Pentecostarion ‐ Troparia and Kontakia for the Sunday of Pascha to the Sunday of All Saints. English text set to Serbian chant, adapted by Peter Drobac and courtesy of St. Luke's Serbian Orthodox Mission Serbian Spiritual Songs and Hymns ‐ 4‐part SATB settings Spiritual songs of St. Nikolai (Velimirovic) ‐20 selections set in Serbian Collected spiritual songs ‐ 14 selections set in Serbian, 1 in English Christmas hymnography (Slavonic / English) and carols (Slavonic /Serbian) ‐ 21 selections‐settings by and courtesy of Dr. Nikola Resanovic.
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YOUNG ADULT AND COLLEGE STUDENT MINISTRY Presbyter Aleksa Micich, Christopher Rocknage, Co‐Chairmen This report describes the work of the Young Adult and College Student Ministry Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America. The committee regularly maintains communication through use of teleconference calls and personal meetings. This committee’s focus remains to encourage, educate, and minister to Orthodox Young Adults in North and South America. OVERVIEW OF THE PERIOD (20062009) The Young Adult and College Student Ministry Committee sponsored two conferences, one in Alhambra, CA in June of 2007, and one to occur in Canton, OH in August of 2009. The committee met in Canton, OH in October of 2008. A large portion of this committee’s focus during this time period has been in assisting the Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF). Throughout the past three years, parishes in each of the dioceses have reported Young Adult activities and ministry events. This committee celebrates their efforts and prays that they keep up the good work. ALHAMBRA YOUNG ADULT CONFERENCE Hosted by St. Steven’s Serbian Orthodox Cathedral, the First Serbian Orthodox Young Adult Conference was a marvelous success. There were approximately thirty young adults from the Southern California area in attendance. The theme of the conference was, “Seeking Eternal Life with Christ.” His Grace, Bishop Atanasije, Ph.D., spoke on a variety of topics within this theme in a spiritually uplifting keynote address. The one day conference also included a visit to the stunning botanical gardens of the Huntington Library, in Pasadena, CA, which provided the perfect venue for reflecting on Bishop Atanasije’s words. Later that evening, the conference attendees continued in Christian Fellowship with a visit to the famous Santa Monica Pier. CANTON YOUNG ADULT CONFERENCE Hosted by St. George’s Serbian Orthodox Church in North Canton, OH, the Second Serbian Orthodox Young Adult Conference will take place in conjunction with the Triennial Sabor. Fr. Paul Tarazi, Th.D., will be the keynote speaker. He will instruct the attendees on the nature of Christ’s sacrificial love for humanity, in an effort to draw a parallel with how we as human beings are to interact with each other. Due to the extremely strained economic climate affecting North and South America, this conference has been limited to the Tuesday and Wednesday evening of the Sabor. ORTHODOX CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP (OCF) Over the last three years, our Committee was represented at various OCF meetings and conference calls. Fr. Aleksa Micich has been the representative of the Serbian Orthodox Church in America to the College Orthodox Christian Fellowship. The Orthodox Christian Fellowship, or OCF, is the official collegiate campus ministry program under the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA). The OCF mission is to support fellowships in college campuses, whose members experience and witness to the Orthodox Christian Church through community life, prayer, service to others and study of the Faith.
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The OCF executive board physically met in the Fall of 2007, the Spring of 2008 and the Fall of 2008, as well as on monthly teleconference calls. During these meetings and the conference calls, ideas have been developed to assist the Church in remaining more inclusive and encouraging to young adults. Some of these include:
Encouraging young adult participation on Parish Councils. Encouraging young adult participation in Ministry events, such as Outreach, Missionary Work, Choir, Chanting, etc… Organizing Social Events in which Orthodox Young Adults can participate in Christian
Fellowship.
PROPOSAL FOR FUTURE CONSIDERATION
The continued effort of this committee is necessary for the re‐awakening of Serbian Orthodox Young Adults in North and South America. However, this effort would be better served in maintaining a series of local and regional Young Adult Activities. The National Effort, while noble, proves to be rather limited at this time.
The success of such an effort will be determined by the ability to increase the membership of
this committee to include regional representatives. This committee is seriously limited by its incredibly small staff of four people. Regional representatives will enable this committee to enact a grassroots campaign, allowing working young adults to participate in local, spiritually enriching activities, without requiring them to take time off from their jobs.
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PUBLICATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Protopresbyter Rade Merick, Chairman
This report describes the general work of the Publications Committee of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America. The committee met in Canton, Ohio in October 2008 with the other standing committees, and has had regular communications through email and conference calls. Publication of the Path of Orthodoxy continued as usual, and a new web site was developed for the central church, building on the work done earlier. The publications of the former New Gracanica Dio‐cese have been completely autonomous of the committee, except for cooperation with Archimandrite Thomas (Kazich), who is a committee member. The overview of the period 200609 The main focus of activities of the committee remains on continuing publication of the Path of Orthodoxy, the official publication of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America, and applies to both the Serbian and English sections and a regular update and improvement of the central church’s web site. Since several dioceses have instituted publishing activities, the idea of the commit‐tee coordinating all publishing activities is probably unnecessary and unworkable at this point. The Liturgical Music and Christian Education committees have also been successful at coordinating their own publishing activities. We see no reason to change what is working. The Path of Orthodoxy Personnel and Statistics The Path’s editorial board has included Protopresbyter‐Stavrophor Nedeljko Lunich as the Serbian Section Editor since the late 1970’s, Protopresbyter‐Stavrophor Rade Merick as the Senior English Editor since 1980, Mrs. Vesna Prodanovic Meinert as the Technical Editor since 1982, and since 2005, Protopresbyter Bratso Krsic as the English Editor and Protonamesnik Milovan Katanic as the English Editor. As the official publication of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America, the Path’s mis‐sion is to provide a regular voice for the Church to its faithful children, teaching the faith, showing how that teaching is put into practice in the Church’s communal life and in the life of each person. We try to encourage involvement in the life of the Church, give information on developments affecting the Church, its people, and its mission in this country and throughout the world. The Path also at‐tempts to publish articles on the many facets of the Church’s activities, such as education, youth work, charitable activities, and appropriate social events. The Path is published eleven times per year, with a double issue for July‐August. Currently, most is‐sues are 12 pages, with a 16‐page issue for July‐August and at other times, (occasionally) as available material warrants. Website Report and Proposal The official site is known as “The Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America” and has the domain name: www.serborth.org. Our website is a great ministry tool and we have made progress in redesigning it and making it more user‐friendly. Our present web master, Fr. Milovan Katanic, has redesigned the site and has added some new content/material. The website is being maintained in a timely fashion.
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Our committee was approached at the February of 2007 Standing Committees Meeting held in Cleveland, Ohio to take over the maintenance of the site. Fr. Milovan, who is also the webmaster for the Eastern Diocese site, was selected as webmaster. Orthodox Web Solutions was contacted to help us design the site. This company offers free hosting for dioceses. Our only fee was the $750 design fee. They continue to offer their assistance whenever we run into problems in maintaining the site. The site has become increasingly popular and is linked on many other sites.
Although we have asked parishes to send us news, the response has been minimal. Instead news has been taken from other diocesan or parish sites. Our main intention, as the central website, is to cover news of interest to all Serbian Orthodox Christians in North America. We have established communi‐cations with the other Standing Committees and they were asked to submit any additions or changes to the site to Fr. Milovan. In continuing to build on the site we plan on adding the Clergy/Parish Searchable Database, which is to be completed soon. As the Serbian Orthodox Church’s site for North and South America, a Serbian‐language mirror site would also seem to be desirable. A Serbian‐language mirror site would entail some extra work for initial setup, and ongoing maintenance, which would also require some extra funding. Should the Episcopal and Central Church Councils desire to pursue this, the Committee will work up a proposal.
We ask for a continuation of our current mandate and activities, and remain ready to provide help and support as requested. Standing Committees and Their Ministries
The Standing Committees established nine years ago have been doing some very excellent work, and some of that work has been evident in the Path. The most notable have been the addition of the monthly section, “Our View,” aimed at the youth, regular articles on the theme of Stewardship, and announcements/articles about various workshops on church liturgical singing. We continue to re‐ceive many positive comments about these new additions.
Recommendations for future work To help in coordination of activities, we would recommend that the web masters of each Diocesan web site be included as members of the committee. The very recent reorganization of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America will certainly affect how the Church approaches its publishing activities in the future. Since the reorganization is so new, and since details in the publishing area are still to be worked out, the Committee makes no recommendations for any changes at this time, other than the possible establishment of a Serbian‐language mirror web site discussed above. We will continue to work under the direction of the Episcopal Council and the Central Church Council to provide the best communications resources possible for the entire administratively reunited Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America.
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HIGHLIGHTS & DECISIONS from the
SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA 19TH TRIENNIAL CHURCH ASSEMBLYSABOR
AUGUST 811, 2006 DETROIT, MICHIGAN
1. Invocation of the Holy Spirit The Service of the Invocation of the Holy Spirit was held Wednesday, August 9, 2006 at 8:30 A.M. 2. Opening of Assembly and First Plenary Session On behalf of the Episcopal Council the Assembly was officially opened by His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher. His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher as Presiding officer of the Assembly welcomed the assembled delegates and observers. He recognized V. Rev. Nick Ceko and Brian Gerich and work of the Coordinating Committee planning the Sabor. Keynote Address: His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher introduced His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah, the main speaker at the Sabor. In the Keynote address, Metropolitan Isaiah reiterated that belief in Christ is a constant joy. Drawing up the Holy Apostle Paul, the Metropolitan urged Sabor participants to rejoice in the Lord always. 3. Conference of the KSS delegates was held.
4. Second Plenary Session All Hierarchs in attendance addressed the Assembly with remarks having in common the theme of unity.
A) Selection of Assembly Secretariat
DECISION CA 01 In accordance with customary practices, the Assembly accepted as vicepresidents of the Assembly the VicePresidents of the four Diocesan Councils. The Assembly, on the motion of V. Rev. Lazar Kostur, seconded by V. Rev. Velimir Patakovich authorized the Chair to appoint the Secretaries, and the following were appointed: Fr. Nedeljko Lunich, Fr. Rodney Torbich and Deacon Djurica Gordic.
B) Appointment of Resolutions Committee
DECISION CA 02 On the motion of Nikola Borata, seconded by Mimo Papich the following were elected to serve on the committee for the Resolutions: Fr. Rade Merick, Fr. Rastko Trbuhovich, Fr. Velimir
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Patakovich, Fr. Dragoljub Popovich, Dr. Branimir Glavaski Simich, Davor Milicevich and Fr. Dragan Veleusich. Motin was carried. Donald Kral suggested that a simple income and balance sheet be used by all Dioceses. Memory Eternal was intoned for departed since the last Sabor: Fr. Milan Markovina, Fr. Nenad Resanovich, Fr. Mirko Skrobonja, and Eli Rebich. C) Review of the Highlights of the 18th Triennial Assembly The Highlights of the 18th Triennial Assembly were printed and distributed in advance. D) Review of the Highlights of the Central Council Meetings from 2006 – 2009. The Highlights of the Councils Meetings were printed and distributed. Fr. Nedeljko Lunich, Secretary of the Central Church Council, was available to address questions regarding the published decisions made by the central Church Council. No questions were asked. E) Reports of the Central Church Committees Copies of the written reports for each of the committees were distributed in booklet form. The following Committees submitted their reports:
• Christian Education – Protinica Victoria Trbuhovich • Stewardship – Brian Gerich • Youth Ministry – Fr. Stevo Rocknage • Liturgical Music – Dr. Nikola Resanovic • Communications and Publications – Fr. Rade Merick • Serbian Culture and heritage – Fr. Zivojin Jakovljevic
Fr. Nikola Ceko is the Chairman of the Standing Council’s Committees. 5. Sabor Workshops: The following committees held the workshops: Stewardship, Christian Education, Liturgical Music, Youth Ministry, Serbian Culture, Communications/Publications 6. Report of the Credentials Committee Fr. Ceko gave a preliminary report: There were 177 participants, including one Metropolitan, four Bishops, one Monk, sixty four Priests, seven deacons, eleven Council members, forty delegates, thirty eight Presidents, and six KSS representatives. 7. Third Plenary Session: Rules and Regulations proposed Amendments Copies were distributed of the Uniform Rules and Regulations for Parishes and Church School Con‐gregations of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America. The following proposed articles were accepted: Article 3 (with inclusion of funerals (deaths);
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Article 5 subsection 6 to read: “Where there is only a parish the parish priest nominates parishioners to the Diocesan Bishop who appoints them to be trustees of the parish and determines the scope of their work”.
Article 5 – subsection 4 to read: “The Diocesan Bishop, should it become necessary, may create two or more parishes, according to the provision of the Constitution and the Rules and Regulations of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America”.
Article 5 – subsection 5 to read: “Where more than one parish have been created, a priest shall be assigned to each parish. One of the parish priests shall be appointed by the Bishop as the elder in charge of the church (temple) and is the custodian of the church seals and the official church documents”.
Proposed changes to Article 7, subsections 2 & 3 resulted in a number of comments. These sections dealt with the subject of transferring of priests, permanency of priests in a parish and retirement of priests.
Dan Raljich made a motion seconded by Andrew Nygren that Article 7, subsections 1, 2, 3 remain un‐changed and the proposed changes regarding subsections 4 (1‐6) on the Diaconate be added. Pro‐posed subsections 1, 2, 3 are to be further studied and decided by the Episcopal Council.
Motion was carried. His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher said the new Central Church Council and the Episcopal Coun‐cil would study and decide Article 7, subsections 1‐3 with reference to the canons. Article 8 should read as follows: “Where there is more than one priest attached to one church, the Diocesan Bishop appoints one of them to be the Elder of the parish church and simultaneously, to be in charge of the parish office. The Elder priest of the parish church is responsible for order in the church and parish office”. The change to Article 17 was the addition of the word “among”. The change to Article 18 was the addition of the phrase “at a minimum”. Article 20 proposed increasing the sick benefits for a priest from three to six months. Article 21 provides for a priest’s widow to receive his regular salary for three months and the family can remain in the parish home for three months. Articles 26 and 27 were adopted as written. Article 39, subsection 2, Article 39, subsection 1, and Article 40, subsection 5 were accepted. 8. Fourth Plenary Session Grand Sabor Banquet and Program Romanian Orthodox Archbishop His Eminence Nathaniel and Greek orthodox metropolitan Nicholas were present at the banquet. Serb National Federation President Dan Pyevich and Kolo Federation Presidents were recognized and had opportunity to offer greetings. Friday, August 11, 2009 Holy Hierarchical Liturgy was served with five Hierarchs, Bishops Deputies and eight deacons. Diocesan Caucuses were held for the purpose of electing Central Church Council representatives from the respective Dioceses.
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9. Fifth Plenary Session The complete attendees list was presented by Deacon Ivan Gasic. There were one Metropolitan, 4 Bishops, 1 Abbot, 68 Priests, 7 Deacons, 11 Council members, 41 Delegates, 38 Presidents, 6 KSS representatives. St. Nikolaj Oratorical Festival Finals Finalists for St. Nikolai Oratorical festival Formation of a Serbian Orthodox Youth Association Financial reports Central Church Council, Dioceses, School of Theology, St. Sava School Foundation Donald Kral made a motion, seconded by Fr. Lazar Kostur to approve financial reports distributed. Motion passed. Report on the Path of Orthodoxy, Pension Trust Plan and Health Plan Dr. Debra Tasich made a motion, seconded by Fr. Dragoljub Popovich to accept reports of the Path of Orthodoxy, Pension Plan and Health Plan distributed. Motion passed. 10. Confirmation of new Central Church Council Elections. The names of the members were announced and members took the Oath of Office. Winners of the St. Nicholas Oratorical festival were announced. 11. Resolutions and Greetings Fr. Rade Merick announced the resolutions prepared by the Resolutions Committee. The resolution was accepted. 12. Miscellaneous His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher said that St. Sava School of Theology had seventy one graduates. Fifty five of the graduates are priests. Thirty one are in the USA and Canada. Two female graduates are popadijas. The Secretariat reported on the Decisions of the Sabor. A document listing the Decisions was distributed. The Sabor adjourned with a prayer and blessing by His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher. Respectfully submitted by, Rev. Nedeljko Lunich, Secretary of the Central Council
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DECISIONS OF THE CENTRAL CHURCH COUNCIL (Administrative Board Legislative Committee) From the Meetings held during 2006 – 2009
Meeting of the Legislative Committee
December 7, 2006
The following Serbian Orthodox Dioceses were represented at the Meeting: Midwest Metro‐politanate, Eastern American, Western American, Canadian and New Gracanica. The revised and corrected text of the Article 27, at the March meeting, was read in Serbian by His Grace Bishop Maksim and in English by Fr. Rastko Trbuhovich. For all legal purposes the English text is the ruling text. V. Rev. Marko Todorovich made a motion, seconded by Milenko Savovich to accept Article 27 in its entirety. Motion passed.
CENTRAL CHURCH COUNCIL REGULAR MEETING HELD DECEMBER 89, 2006
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Clergy Hospitalization Plan Brian Gerich and Ron Radakovich were assigned to the task to look into the possibility joining with the Greek clergy plan, in which case if our younger priests drop out from the Serbian group it would not effect the Plan itself. The Secretary of the Council will call on the Administrator of the Hospitalization Plan to act immediately as soon as the Diocesan Office of a newly appointed priest or deacon to be included in the Plan informs him. Brian Gerich made a recommendation that Donald Kral looks into insurance coverage, which also covers the School. Theological School Foundation
V. Rev. Velimir Patakovich suggested to acknowledge the good work of Dr. Simich Glavaski and send him a thank you note.
His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher stated that the Episcopal Council will do it. Standing Committee Report on the following Standing Committees was given by the Chairman Fr. Nick Ceko:
Stewardship Committee Youth Ministry Committee Liturgical Music Committee Cultural Heritage Committee Communications/Publications Committee
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Formation of Standing Committee for Young Adults and Student Ministry. This would include our representative in Orthodox Christian Fellowship (OCF) on college and university campuses throughout the USA. The Central Committee asked the Stewardship Committee to prepare guidelines and instructions on the Stewardship Program and submit it to the Episcopal Council for approval. Upon approval of the Episcopal Council the same will be sent to the parishes. Uniform Rules and Regulations Article 26, section 2 of the Uniform Rules and Regulations designates who are the parishion‐ers, and eliminates the term dues paying members. The local parishes will be ruled by the Uniform Rules and Regulations. For local purposes they may have an Addendum. The question was asked about Article 7, section 1‐3, of the Uniform Rules and Regulations in the light of Sabor decision to keep it unchanged. His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher stated that the Episcopal Council, as a keeper of the canonical order in the Church has exercised its prerogatives and made its decisions on the basis of canon law and ecclesiastical order. Miscellaneous The Standing Communication Committee will send a protest against the imprisonment of Archbishop Jovan of Ochrid.
Meeting of the Administrative Board of the Central Church Council March 27, 2007 Chicago, Illinois
Insurance coverage Ron Radakovich read the findings of Donald Kral on the Insurance coverage. Brian Gerich emphasized the necessity of having adequate coverage and covering all areas where liability is in question. Savo Cugalj made a motion, seconded by Ronald Radakovich to ask Midwest Metropolitanate to extend Insurance coverage for sexual misconduct or sexual molestation. Motion passed. The question was asked who appoints Standing Committee members? We will look at the Minutes to find out whether Sabor or Episcopal Council appointed the National Standing Committee members? Zivadinovich Bequest “The Episcopal Council hereby is asked to approach Trustees of the Zivadinovich bequest with the proposal that 1% of the interest earned of the Trust fund be paid for the administration, plus the expenses for handling the Trust”.
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Clergy Health Plan “To authorize Brian Gerich and Ronald Radakovich to investigate and explore possibility of group coverage for the Serbian Orthodox Clergy, participating on an equal basis, with the same premiums. The Diocesan offices will supply necessary information on the priests and their family members: their age, medical conditions – of all to be covered by health insurance”. (Information to be confidential) Elimination of Bingo The Church School Congregation in Merrillville, Indiana raised the question as to whether the decision to discontinue bingo was sent to the parishes, which would be mandatory? Upon the Sabor’s decision and recommendation and that of the Central Church Council the Episcopal Council was to follow up on these recommendations with its Decision which would be mandatory for all parishes. The Episcopal Council reissued a text as its formal decision and forwarded it to all parishes, on July 20, 2007. Decision of the Episcopal Council: “The Episcopal Council on the basis of its canonical authority, hereby ratifies and declares the Decision of the Central Council as its official decision in all respects as was submitted to the Episcopal Council”. Note: Those parishes which may have been given an extension to the original deadline with the knowledge and approval of their Diocesan Bishop are hereby required to implement this decision by no later than January 1, 2008. The Administartive Board received the news that the twin brother of His Grace Bishop Mitro‐phan Milovan Kodic passed away in the old country. The Administrative Board sent a letter of sym‐pathy to His Grace Bishop Mitrophan.
Central Church Council Regular Meeting, held December 78, 2007
Alhambra, California Holy Hierarchical Liturgy was served in honor of 1600th Anniversary of the death of St. John Chrysostom. Minutes Donald Kral suggested that the excerpts from the meetings be sent to the members of the Council. The Secretary of the Council was asked to send excerpts to all members. Pension Plan The restated Pension Plan was approved and signed by His Eminence metropolitan Christo‐pher.
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Hospitalization Plan Upon recommendation of Brian Gerich and Ron Radakovich the Councikl made the following decision:
We should move to the Greek Plan at the earliest opportunity Each Diocese Plan should be in place and communicated to the parishes
that would be negatively impacted by assuring them that a mitigation plan will be implemented concurrently with the change.
All parishes that are presently under the Aetna dental or vision plan only should be given as much notice as possible so that they can find alternate plans consistent with the first recommendation set forth above.
We should not delay. To do so would be wasting our church communities money without good cause.
Path of Orthodoxy Fr. Nick Ceko made a motion, seconded by Fr. Nedeljko Grgurevich to further research and study details concerning the changing of the format of the Path of Orthodoxy from present newspaper to a magazine format. Motion passed. Fr. Nick Ceko made a motion, seconded by Jim Springborn to increase Path of Orthodoxy Budget in the amount of $5,000.00 to cover the cost of translation from the Serbian to English on the website and related costs. Motion passed. Zivadinovich Trust To request that Ron Radakovich study the matter further and in 120 days submit an outline for handling and managing the Fund. Standing Committees Fr. Nick Ceko asked the Episcopal Council and Central Council to consider allowing to stipend one of the members to help to facilitate some of the work. This stipend would come from allocated funds already budgeted. Fr. Nick presented the name of Christopher Rocknage to be the person to facilitate some work of the committees. His Eminenece Metropolitan Chrsitopher, on behalf of the Episcopal Council thought it was a viable request and supported it. The Budget Committee will take it into consideration when preparing budget for the year 2008. His Eminence announced that all the members of the Standing Committees have been reappointed by their respective Diocesan Bishops to serve this current mandate (from Sabor to Sabor). A letter of their appointment will be forthcoming.
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Church Sabor The Standing Committee was requested to coordinate the organization of the Sabor with the host Parish Committee. The Central Church Council requests that His Grace Bishop Mitrophan accepts that one of the parishes in the Eastern American Diocese serve as host of the Sabor in 2009. Budget 2008 Budget was presented by Brian Gerich which presents increase of 2% for each Diocese. There will be additional expense for publishing of the Constitution of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America. Aid to the Greek Victims of the Fire His Eminence suggested that we respond to the appeal of the Greek Archdiocese to help the victims of the terrible fire in the Greek homeland. He suggest that we donate $5,000.00 to be sent to the Greek Archdiocese in New York in care of Archbishop Demetrius for the victims of the fire. The Council approved it. Letter from Bishop Longin The letter of greeting was received from His Grace Bishop Longin. The letter contained some requests. Since the Central Council is not the entity to deal with the requests, the Episcopal Council will deal with these matters. The Central Church Council Regular Meeting, held December 56, 2008 Chicago, Illinois Pension Plan His Eminence Metropolitan Christopher informed the members of the Council that Fr. Malich submitted the recommendation of the Trustees of the Plan to the Episcopal Council to approve that the Mitch Zunich Comopany of Lorain, Ohio handle the billings of the Pension Plan. Recently due to the resignation of the billing agent, the Episcopal Council approved the recommendation that Jim Springborn handle the billings. However, since he was not able to continue as billing agent, but will remain to handle the February billing, the Episcopal Council approved the recommendation of the Trustees that Mitch Zunich Company be the billing agent for the clergy Pension Plan and submits it to the Central Council for adoption for payment to the billing agent. Andrew Nygren seconded the motion of the Episcopal Council and Trustees of the Plan. Motion passed. Hospitalization Plan Beginning in 2008 our Hospitalization Plan became a part of the Orthodox Health Plan, which includes the clergy from the Greek, the OCA, the Armenian, and the Antiochian Church.
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Open enrollment period was from November 15 to December 31. During this period clergy may enroll regardless of any preexisting conditions. The monthly premiums for a family is $1,704.00 and for a single person is $808.00. There are 25 Serbian clergy in the Orthodox Health Plan. There are 23 clergy receiving vision and dental coverage only. Path of Orthodoxy We have official web site, known as “Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America”, and has the domain name: www.serborth.org. A Serbian language mirror site would require a second web master with associated cost. Ron Radakovich made a motion, seconded by Donald Kral that the Editors of the “Path of Orthodoxy” and the “Observer” meet and explore the possibility of merging the publications. School of Theology Brian Gerich made a motion, seconded by Donald Kral that a Committee be established to study how to strengthen the Theological School; to work toward establishing a Board of Trustees; and to review the future of the operation of the School; and to appoint Ron Radakovich as a Charman and Milan Visnick, committee member. Motion passed. In regard to the Canadian Diocese assessment for the Theological School in the amount of $30,000.00 Dr. Goran Popovic stated that the Canadian Diocese could pay only $15,000.00, but it will make efforts to pay more. He presented check of $15,000.00. Fr. Rastko Trbuhovich made a motion, seconded by Nancy Colakovich to reduce the assessment to Canadian Diocese from $30,000.00 to $15,000.00 for the year 2009.
Motion passed. Theological School Foundation The Secretary was instructed to request from Dr. SimichGlavaski, the Chairman of the Foundation, to pay to the School the remaining balance in the Fund. Zivadinovich Trust Fund Fr. Nick Ceko made a motion, seconded by Fr. Nedeljko Grgurevich to investigate further how to proceed with the Zivadinovich Fund and make a concrete proposal to the Executive Board of the Council in six months. The Executive Board of the Central Church Council will meet and make appro‐priate decisions. Ron Radakovich and Brian Gerich will be in charge of the investigation. Motion passed. Standing Committees Fr. Nick Ceko proposed that new members be added to the Standing Committees. As far as the position of the Director is concerned Fr. Nick Ceko thought that the position is not
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prevalent any more, since each chairman of the subcommittees is capable of governing their affairs. His Eminence stated and members agreed that the position of the Director is necessary and should remain. Church Sabor The Church Sabor will be held in the Eastern Diocese, in North Canton, Ohio at the facilities of the St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, August 1114, 2009. The Standing Committees will coordinate the organization of the Sabor with the host parish Committee. A question was raised if the Gracanica Diocese will participate at the next Sabor? His Eminence stated that since new Constitution was approved and has taken effect there is no Gracanica Diocese to participate in the Sabor as a Diocese. The parishes of the former Gracanica Diocese became part of the existing Dioceses. Budget 2008 Budget was presented by Brian Gerich, which presents increase of $10,000.00 to the National Standing Committees. Brian Gerich presented graphically the program for assessment adopted in the Serbian Western American Diocese. The Serbian Eastern American Diocese has assessment on the basis of percentage. The Serbian Midwestern Metropolitanate hasn’t adopted percentage base but temporarily has adopted as a base assessment from 2007. Regarding the term “stewardship” His Eminence stated that the stewardship should not be misrepresented as a “system” to replace “membership card”, but as a spiritual awareness to awaken their conscience to motivate them on a spiritual level to support their church in a responsible Chris‐tian manner. No more dues and membership, but obligations and responsibilities. Respectfully submitted by, Rev. Nedeljko Lunich Secretary of the Church Council
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REPORT ON GROUP HOSPITALIZATION Prepared for the 20th Triennial Church Assembly – SABOR of the Serbian Orthodox Church in North and South America Held at St. George Serbian Orthodox Church, Canton, Ohio August 11‐13, 2009
I. HEALTH, DENTAL AND VISION PLAN Since assuming the position as administrator of the Clergy Health Plan in 2005 the challenge has been to maintain the monthly premiums in order to sustain the group plan as membership was gradually dwindling. Our chief priority was to keep the group from falling apart, so as to preserve coverage for our most vulnerable members. With this in mind, we were thrilled in 2008 when we joined the much larger group, “The Orthodox Health Plan”, consisting of participants from the OCA, the Greek Archdiocese and the Antiochian Archdiocese, among others. We went from being very small group, on the verge of being dropped, to a much larger group which has more buying power to lower premiums while maintaining comparable coverage. This Orthodox Health Plan, which uses Aetna its health care carrier, includes dental and vision coverage as well. Our switch to the new plan was relatively smooth since our previous carrier was also Aetna. One important point to remember is that clergy wishing to join this plan must do so during the OPEN ENROLLMENT PERIOD which is during the month of December. Anyone wishing to join the group for 2010 should contact me before or during December 2009. As we did before, we do have some clergy who only have Dental and Vision coverage through our previous Clergy Health Plan. Dental Coverage is provided through MetLife; Blue Cross/Blue Shield Davis Vision is our Vision Carrier.
II. LIFE INSURANCE Our Clergy Life Insurance Plan is through the Serbian National Federation. Before I assumed responsibilities as administrator it had been decided to bill the churches annually as opposed to quarterly. Unfortunately, the SNF office asks me to contact churches directly for their overdue premiums. I take this time to remind churches to send in their payments on time. It has become an annual chore for both the SNF and myself in trying to contact priests to remind them to pay this. This is coverage that directly benefits our clergy and their families, so it is everyone's best interest to make sure these premiums are paid on time. Premium rates and plan coverage details for all of the above‐mentioned plans are available on the www.serborth.org website. Respectfully submitted, Rev. Milovan Katanic – Administrator
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SERBIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA PENSION TRUST PLAN FOR CLERGYMEN
P E N S I O N C O M M I T T E E
Report For the Period July 31, 2006 through June 30, 2009
The Pension Plan Carrier is the Mutual of America Insurance Company.
A BRIEF DESCRIPTION: Introduction: This report consists of the Brief Description of the Pension Plan, including a brief history of the establishment and functioning of the plan, and the Plan Performance during the last three years inclusive to June 30, 2009. Even though much of this information can be found in the 2006 Pension Sabor Report, we considered it important to make it a part of this report not only because of brother priests who just administratively and jurisdictionally joined the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States of America and Canada, and will be becoming members of the Pension Plan, but also for the benefit of any and all newer and new priests who are and will be enrolling into the Pension Plan. 1) Plan establishment / Participants The Pension Plan for Clergymen of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the U. S. A. and Canada, including both American and Canadian priests, was established on August 1, 1970. In 1986 the Canadian Diocese established its own Pension Plan for the clergy of their Diocese. The Canadian priests ceased to join this Plan, and in 2002 the remaining four Canadian clergymen withdrew their funds from this Pension Plan. The Plan Document was amended to reflect this fact, and the Restated Plan Document excludes the priests from the Canadian Diocese from participating in this Pension Plan. Full time professors/instructors at the St. Sava School of Theology in Libertyville were added to the Plan. The document was amended to include only professors of the St. Sava School of Theology, and subsequently only professors who are ordained clergymen. At the present there are 75 active and 6 inactive members in the Pension Plan/Fund. 2) Trustees, Pension Fund, Accounts, Investments/Management: Initially, from 1970 to 1979, the Pension Plan, including the Fund investments, was handled by the Trustees, the Pension Committee. The Committee Members from the start were Very Rev. Milan Markovina (to 1980), Dmitar Rakich and Mitchell Zunich. The Central Security National Bank of Lorain County, Lorain, Ohio was the designated bank for deposits of contributions. On St. Petka's Day, October 27, 1979, the Corporate Trustees were appointed, and the Trusteeship of the Plan was transferred from the Trustees, that is, from the Pension Committee, to the new Corporate Trustee, the Central Trust Company of Northern Ohio in Lorain, Ohio. This subsequently became the Bank One Trust Company of Ohio. The Bank One served as the Plan Trustee from 1979 to December 31, 2003. They collected the contributions to the Pension Fund, made all the benefit payments, and invested and managed the funds. The Bank One (Plan's Trustees) kept an individual account for each clergy‐man. These individual accounts made the Pension Trust Fund, which was invested as such, as the One Pension Fund. The fund's assets were evaluated on the plan's anniversary date, July 31st, and on January 31 each year, and each individual priest's account shared equally (on the proportional basis) in the fund's gain and/or loss. At the time of retirement a priest choses one of the several options
DMITAR L. RAKICH 16848 South Ellis Ave. South Holland, IL 60473 Phone: 708 333‐8589
MITCHELL ZUNICH 823 Lincoln Avenue Amherst, Ohio 44001 Phone: 440‐988‐2053
V. REV. D. C. MALICH 2110 Haymaker Road Monroeville, PA 15146 Ph. & Fax: 412 372‐4454
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available to him for payment of his vested interest in the fund. The basic option used practically by all retirees has been receiving a lump sum distribution, and rolling it over into an individual IRA account. 3) The Pension Plan: IRS Laws and Regulations
The Pension Plan for Clergymen of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States of America and Canada is a Single Employer Pension Plan, in which each participant has his individual account. It is a 401A Plan. The Employer # 056003. The EIN # 345655657 The plan is registered with IRS and it has to comply with ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act) and other IRS laws regulating such pension funds.
The initial Plan Document was written by Attorney Thomas Karacic of Katz, Karacic & Hemlin of Chicago. Mr. Karacic's office continued to examine and up‐date the document from time to time, as the IRS laws, such as ERISA and other provisions, required. There were eight different amendments to the Plan before it was fully restated in 2002 to incorporate all these amendments into the one Restated Plan Document. Mr. Lauane C. Addis, who took this work over from Mr. Karacic, has been the Attorney who, as it was needed, worked on the document the last several years, including having it restated. The favorable letters of Determination on the Pension Plan have been issued by the IRS on October 31, 1972, on July 11, 1986, December 22, 2003 and December 10, 2008.
Annually, after each Plan Year, IRS form 5500 – Annual Return/Report of Employee Benefit Plan is filed with the IRS. The Mutual of America Insurance Company, before taking over, reviewed our restated Plan Document, and made certain adaptations to comply with their rules/regulations. These were reviewed by our Attorney, Mr. Lauanne Addis, and adopted by the Church Central Council. 4) CHANGE OF THE PENSION PLAN CORPORATE TRUSTEES PLAN CARRIER
The administrative work with the Bank One went through many changes since the inception of the Plan in 1970. The Pension Committee, Fr. D. C. Malich, looking for the way to improve and simplify the administrative work, and the functioning of the Plan, started exploring the possibilities of finding a new carrier for the Pension Plan. At the same time the Bank One had been indicating to us that they did not desire to continue to indefinitely serve as the Plan Corporate Trustee managing the Pension Plan. Then, in August 2002, the Bank One Trust Company submitted their resignation as the Corporate Trustees of the Serbian Orthodox Church Pension Plan. Their serving as the Trustee and managing the Pension Plan ended with December 31, 2002. New proposals were received from several companies such as: Mutual of America, the Paine Webber, the Met Life Annuity, Fidelity, Citystreet, Franklin Templeton, MFS Funds, Putnam, and others. After much deliberation, many appointments with representatives of these and other companies, the discussions of their proposals at two Clergy Brotherhood Meetings, consultations with Mr. Milos Saravolatz of Detroit, Michigan, and after having consulted with our Attorney, Mr. Lauane Addis of Chicago, the Pension Committee recommended and the Church Central Council passed a decision at its meeting in December 2002, that the Mutual of America be signed the agreement with to be the new carrier of our Pension Plan. The Mutual of America took over the S. O. Church Pension Plan/Fund effective January 1, 2003. 5) Amendments to the Plan Document: The Church Central Council has adopted and the Mutual of America, the Plan Carrier has incorporated into the Plan document the following two amendments: (1) Housing allowance, which provides that a retired clergyman may exclude from his gross income the portion of the retirement benefit that is designated by the Plan as a rental or housing allowance as compensation for the past services.
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The amount is equal to the lesser of $1,000.00 or the actual amount of a retired clergyman’s monthly distribution from the plan, and (2) the new EGTRRA regulation change which reduced the automatic cash out (involuntary distribution) from $5,000.00 to $1,000.00. 6) The Pension Committee/Administrative Work
The Pension Trust Plan for Clergymen is under the supervision of the Central Church Council. The Central Council approves all amendments and makes other necessary decisions, such as, for instance, appointing the New Pension Plan Carrier as it happened in 2002. The Pension Committee does the administrative work of the plan. The Committee members are: Mr. Dmitar Rakich of So. Chicago, Mr. Mitchell Zunich of Lorain, Ohio and V. Rev. Fr. Dragoljub C. Malich of Monroeville, PA. Fr. Malich is the Pension Committee Member‐Administrator. In December 2001 the Church Central Council appointed Mr. Milos Saravolatz of Lincoln Financial Group, Detroit, Michigan, the Investment Advisor to the Pension Plan Committee. 7) The Contributions to the Pension Fund
The contributions into the Pension Fund began in August 1970 at $240 by the churches and $120.00 by priests on semiannual basis. The cost of living factor was added to these contribu‐tions on an annual basis since 1979. By the year 2003 adding the cost of living factor brought the semiannual contributions to $664.00 by churches and $331.00 by the individual priests. The Sabor in Alhambra, California in October 2003 raised the basic semiannual contributions to $1,200.00 by churches and $600.00 by priests. With the cost of living calculated in at the end of each year the current semiannual contributions are $1,411.48 (plus 2% for Administrative Fee) for churches, and $705.74 for priests. Priests whose monthly income is $2,000.00 or less can be members by paying one half of the regular priest’s required contribution. These do however have an option of paying the full amount of $705.74. If he so desires, each pension member can make voluntary contributions to the Pension Plan Fund over and above the amount of his mandatory contribution. 8) COLLECTION OF THE CONTRIBUTIONS The premiums ‐ contributions into the Pension Fund are paid semi‐annually: August 1st, and February 1st each year.
New Billing Agent: As of August 1, 2009 the new Billing agent will be: Serbian Orthodox Church Pension Billing, Attention : Mr. Mitchell Zunich, CPA, c/o Barnes & Wendling CPA Inc. 5050 Waterford Drive, Sheffield Village, Ohio 44035
The Billing Agent bills all the churches and priests, collects the contributions, transfers same to the Mutual of America for deposit into the Pension Fund, that is into the respective individual ac‐counts. Most of the churches and priests have been prompt enough in sending contributions in timely. But usually several churches/priests have to be contacted two, three or more times before their contribu‐tions are made. In addition to creating difficulties and much more voluminous work and headaches for the agent and the Committee in trying to reach a church or a priest two, three or more times to receive a contribution, this poses a serious situation for the Plan with the IRS laws, and could expose the Plan to a penalty or even more drastic measures by the IRS. It is important to KNOW AND KEEP IN MIND that ours is a Single Pension Plan of the S. O. C., and not making a contribution for a single participant represents a discrimination. Therefore, once a priest is enrolled in the plan the contributions for him have to be made timely. There can be no excuse “ours is a small parish, and we have no funds”, for all priests, “employees” for the IRS laws, have to be treated equally. The Employer, the Serbian Orthodox Church, in assigning a new priest to a parish or another duty and forwarding his name to be enrolled into the Plan, assumes the responsibility that the contributions for him will be made each time the billing is sent out. The parish churches ought to understand this, and should there be a difficult situation, not sit and wait, but discuss it with their respective Bishop/Diocese in order to find a way to make payment(s) on time.
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9) The Pension Funds, Investments and Reports:
The Pension Fund, with our Plan Carrier, the Mutual of America, is a participant directed fund, meaning that every participant decides personally where the moneys of his individual account will be invested within some thirty plus different funds offered by the Mutual. Therefore, each individual account stands on its own legs, and its performance, gains and/or losses, do not effect the accounts of other participants. The company, however, at all times has a full record of the status of the fund, not only of each individual account, but of the total sum of all the investments, and a picture how the total fund is doing. Another important fact is that the Mutual of America has an Interest Accumulation Account which has been guaranteed not to go below 3% of earnings. Reports: Each member of the Pension Plan receives a Quarterly Report from the Plan Carrier, The Mutual of America Insurance Company on his personal account. This report shows the balance at the end of the prior quarter, contributions made by him and the church, expenses, if any, and earnings for the period. It also includes a list of all the investment funds available at the time showing their performances for the past periods up to ten or more years. 10) Retirement Benefits: How much will my pension be when I retire?, a priest may ask. It depends on several factors like: your age, the amount of funds that you have in your account at that time, and on your choice of a benefit payment method. If you leave your money with the Company, in this case the Mutual of America, you have several different options to receive your retirement benefits in monthly payments. Each option may differ, may give you a different scale of benefits from other options available. If you choose to receive the total value of your Pension Fund account in a single lump sum payment, you will then establish your IRA with this company or any other Insurance Company or a Bank of your choice, and subsequently you will make a decision on a form of distribution of these funds to you. Most, practically all the priests to date have chosen a lump sum payment, and then created their own IRA’s from which they receive the benefits as they have chosen. One has 60 days after receiving the one single lump sum distribution of his funds to make a Roll‐Over into his IRA account and not to have to pay the taxes on the money received. 11) Distribution of Pension Fund Benefits During the reporting period, July 31, 2006 through June 30, 2009, there were 15 lump sum distribu‐tions of benefits from the Pension Fund. This includes the participants who retired as well as those separated from the service, that is left the jurisdiction of the Serbian Orthodox Church in the United States of America and Canada. The grand total of benefits distributed was $829,785.80
12) Retirees: Priests and/or priests' widows The retirees who receive $450.00 monthly checks from Church Central Treasury are: Protinice: Olivera Borcich, Justina Malovrazich, Slavojka Micich, Paulina Mijatovich, Radojka Popovich and Mirjana Trbuhovich. What follows below and on the next page is a Table showing the Pension Fund Assets, and the Summary Plan Fund Accumulation Report as of June 30, 2006.
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THE PENSION FUND ASSETS
SUMMARY PENSION PLAN FUND ACCUMULATION REPORT showing funds utilized as of June 30, 2009
Fund Total Money Market Fund $ 113,798.91 All America Fund $ 100,720.36 Bond Fund $ 119,032.69 Composite Fund $ 1,651.05 Mid‐Term Bond Fund $ 108,877.27 Mid‐Cap Equity Index Fund $ 55,822.42 Equity Index Fund $ 56,492.81 Conservative Allocation Fund $ 109,760.13 Moderate Allocation Fund $ 19,841.39 Aggressive Allocation Fund $ 25,859.67 Mid‐Cap Value Fund $ 4,483.60 Small Cap Growth Fund $ 49,166.16 Small Cap Value Fund $ 45,458.55 2020 Retirement Fund $ 1,597.17 2040 Retirement Fund $ 2,664.42 DWS Bond Fund $ 18,766.39 DWS Capital Growth Fund $ 22,979.48 DWS International Fund $ 18,464.68 American Century Capital Appreciation Fund $ 107,820.37 Calvert Social Balanced Fund $ 2,221.99 Fidelity Asset Manager Fund $ 113,267.07 Fidelity Equity‐Income Fund $ 55,201.19 Fidelity Contrafund $ 132,997.07 Fidelity Mid‐Cap Portfolio Fund $ 29,966.74 Vanguard Diversified Value Fund $ 4,084.81 Vanguard International Fund $ 5,793.73 Oppenheimer Main Street Fund $ 1,473.86 Interest Accumulation Account $2,520,006.25 TOTAL $3,848,270.23
2006 2007 2008 2009 to June 30th
Bal. July 31, preceding year $3,390,117.72 $3,607,117.42 $4,066,773.56 3,875,792.83
Contributions by churches: 184,353.62 203,956.57 205,778.70 198,262.05
Contributions by priests: 85,617.33 89,445.61 92,176.20 88,945.48
Earnings: 139,781.89 307,346.81 (43,658.51) (257,458.68)
Participants charges: (1,651.21) (1,744.08) (1,717.53) (1,495.94)
Benefit payments/withdrawals:
(191,101.93) (139,348.77) (443,559.59) (55,775.51)
Bal. July 31, 2006, 2007&2008
$3,607,117.42 $4,066,773.56 $3,875,792.83 $3,848,270.23
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We are happy to report that the Pension Plan with the Mutual of America Insurance Company has been functioning well during the years of this reporting period. The priests, members of the plan, seem to be satisfied with both the investment choices of‐fered and the prompt quarterly reports that they receive. Most like the feature of having a safety net, the interest accumulation fund, which, if chosen, gives each member assurance that his funds are safe. To date that fund has been guaranteed not to go below 3% earnings. Thus it provides a safety net for members to choose, at times, to avoid the vulnerability of the market. With gratitude to God I, in behalf of the Pension Committee, respectfully submit this Report to the Church National Assembly – Sabor on August 11 – 13, 2009 in North Canton, Ohio
________________________________________________________
Prota Dragoljub C Malich Pension Committee Member, Administrator
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PATH OF ORTHODOXY Record of Income and Disbursements 20072009
Income 2007 2008 2009* Carryover from previous year 9,249.78 11,667.79 14,223.28
Central Treasury 66,208.26 72,041.581 33,329.96 Subscribers 382.50 269.00 50.00 Donations 45.00 179.00 50.00 Misc. income ‐‐ 2,234.002 ‐‐ Bank (Credits/errors) ‐‐ ‐‐
Total 66,635.76 74,723.58 33,429.96
Disbursements 2007 2008 2009
Salaries 13,900.00 13,200.00 6,500.00
Salaries, prev. yr. 500.00 1,250.00 Printing 15,328.70 15,145.325 5,610.84 Printing, prev. yr. 2,957.50 1,305.08 Composition 12,650.00 12,700.00 5,800.00 Postage 19,835.71 20,191.93 12,614.00 Communications3 1,215.80 358.53 30.00 Editorial Expenses Office Supplies4 1,187.04 4,319.25 1,066.32 Misc. Expenses Special Projects 2,694.565
Bank Charges 100.50 101.00 25.00 Total 64,217.75 72,168.09 34,201.24 ___________________________________________________________________________________ *2009 Income and Disbursements 1109 to 63009
1Includes $5,541.66 from December 07 stipend. 2Includes reimbursement for hardware expensed in office supplies (08), credits back to checking for checks never cashed and/or check posting errors. 3Communications includes news services/subscriptions, conference calling, training. 4Category Office Supplies includes yearly storage archive copies of Path, purchases of any computer software/hardware, cameras, & general office supplies. 5Special Project: Constitution. $2,694.56 is $2,320 (the Path’s share of the printing done in Serbia paid to the Central Treasury), $374.56 (the cost of shipping copies UPS from Chicago to Gateway Press). Under printing expenditures, this includes $625.00 for hand folding and insertion of the Constitution into the February issue of the Path. Total expense of Constitution $3,319.56. ***2005 Bank (income) includes credits back to checking, for checks never cashed and check posting error.
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CENTRAL COUNCIL TREASURY STATEMENTS OF ASSETS AND LIABILITIES
AS OF NOV. 30 NOV. 30 NOV. 30 2006 2007 2008 ASSETS CURRENT ASSETS CHECKING ACCT - WELLS FARGO $17,415 $36,474 $17,232 MONEY MARKET - MORGAN STANLEY 531,900 86,385 74,415 ASSESSMENTS RECEIVABLE 17,077 -9,181 28,847 MISC. RECEIVABLES 1,350 LOAN RECEIVABLE FROM HEALTH PLAN 14,000 TOTAL CURRENT ASSETS 566,392 115,028 134,494
OTHER ASSETS SPECIAL MONEY MKT - MORGAN STANLEY 94,112 99,406 91,255 TOTAL ASSETS $660,504 $214,434 $225,749
LIABILITIES CURRENT LIABILITIES ADMINISTRATIVE FEES PAYABLE $3,200 $200 $200 ACCRUED LIABILITY - STANDING COMMITTEES 4,828 19,476 24,243 ACCRUED LIABILITY - WEB PAGE MGR. 1,100
TOTAL CURRENT LIABILITIES 8,028 30,508 36,375
LONG TERM LIABILITIES ZHIVADINOVICH ESTATE TRUST 503,953
TOTAL LIABILITIES $511,981 $30,508 $36,375
ASSETS IN EXCESS OF LIABILITIES $148,523 $183,926 $189,374
PAYABLE TO ZHIVANDINOVICH TRUST 10,832 10,832
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Committee: Rev. Fr. Zivojin Jakovljevic, Cleveland Rev. Fr. Dragomir Tuba, Akron Dr. Branimir SimicGlavaski, Chairman, Cleveland Members of the Committee held several meetings, and regularly reminded all church congregations of their duties regarding donations for The Saint Sava School of Theology for the period of the Sabor 2006‐2009. The Saint Sava School of Theology bank account is with the National City Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, # 657613469. Beginning balance July 6, 2006 $20,904.61 Donations/Deposits $82,739.63 Mail and charges $ 460.77 Sent one check to The Saint Sava School of Theology March 20, 2006 $95,010.00 Balance July 6, 2009 $ 8,173.47 We also have a financial report from Solomon Smith Barney in Milwaukee on The Saint Sava Theological School Foundation‐Savings account #237‐31429‐14 039 & #237 –21735‐14‐ 039 Account value 5.31.09 $12,025.64 Account value $ 9,924.11 For details please see the attached cumulative and annual reports to the Central Church Council. Respectfully submitted, Dr. Branimir Simic‐Glavaski, Chairman July 10, 2009
St. Sava Theological School Foundation
P. O. Box 181 337 Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
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This report to The CCC describes the activity of the Administrative Foundation Committee for the Saint Sava Theological School in Libertyville Illinois, for the period of December 31 2004 to December 6, 2005. Members of the Committee held several meetings, and regularly reminded all church congregations of their duties regarding donations for The Saint Sava School of Theology. The Saint Sava School of Theology bank account is with the National City Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, # 657613469. Beginning balance December 1. 2005 $27,508.60 Deposits $25,196.15 Charges (bank, mail, P.O. Box) $192.99 Two Checks to St. Sava Theological School: ( $25,000.00 +20,000.00) = $45,000.00 Balance November 21,2006 $7,511.76 We also have a financial report from Solomon Smith Barney in Milwaukee on The Saint Sava Theological School Foundation‐Savings account #237‐31429‐14 039 Account value September 30,2205 $9,087.17 Account value September 30, 2006 $11,289.84 Respectfully submitted, Dr. Branimir Simic‐Glavaski, Chairman November 21, 2006
St. Sava Theological School Foundation
P. O. Box 181 337 Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
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Members of the Committee held several meetings, and regularly reminded all church congregations of their duties regarding donations for The Saint Sava School of Theology. The Saint Sava School of Theology bank account is with the National City Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, # 657613469. Beginning balance December 06, 2005 $28,521.96 Deposits $17,385.49 Mail and charges $ 94.49 Sent one check to The Saint Sava School of Theology March 20, 2006 $25,000.00 Balance July 6, 2006 $20,904.61 We also have a financial report from Solomon Smith Barney in Milwaukee on The Saint Sava Theological School Foundation‐Savings account #237‐31429‐14 039 Account value 12/31/2005 $10,930.32 Account value March 31,2006 $11,031.56 Respectfully submitted, Dr. Branimir Simic‐Glavaski, Chairman July 6, 2006 This report to The CCC describes the activity of the Administrative Foundation Committee for the The Saint Sava Theological School in Libertyville Illinois, for the period of December 1 2006 to November 8, 2007. Members of the Committee held several meetings, and regularly reminded all church congregations of their duties regarding donations for The Saint Sava School of Theology. The Saint Sava School of Theology bank account is with the National City Bank in Cleveland, Ohio, # 657613469. Beginning balance December 1. 2006 $7,496.21 Deposits $40,798.82 Charges (bank, mail, P.O. Box) $192.32 Two Checks to St. Sava Theological School: ( $14,010.00+40,000.00) = $54,010.00 Balance November 08.2007 $302.62
St. Sava Theological School Foundation
P. O. Box 181 337 Cleveland Heights, OH 44118