One of the things that startled Father Brillis as he moved into the rectory last month was that the administrative offices of the parish are right here in our home, the rectory. That is a natural and even organic thing for older parishes, in which the growth of administrative load was met first by adding one assistant to the priest(s) who had overseen the parish, then later by the addition of more helpers, more specialized, to address the increased obligations. First, you put one more person in the rectory, then several more. In such places, the front office can still be identified as a parlor, the conference room, a dining room; and the meeting space, a basement. Newer parishes have a parish life center with purpose-designed offices and conference rooms, and the priests live in a separate house, sometimes not even on the campus. This model is what Father Brillis experienced before he came.
Here, we have the older model; our campus has A School, A Church, and A Rectory, with a few multi-purpose spaces shoehorned here or there. This may not be ideal for privacy or even domesticity, but it does make for a seamless integration of the priestly and lay elements of the administrative team. Maybe sometimes a seam would be nice? The situation was exaggerated over Father’s first weeks here, because it was Christmastime, and the rectory was almost just like a home for the (staff) holiday, then returned to Grand Central Station Mode upon their return.
Many parishioners never set foot in the rectory, and never deal with any of the staff in person. This is not abnormal by any means, but it might disguise one thing about our parish that has been evident to even these occasional, or casual, rectory visitors. The staff is …different.
No, not that they are different from you or me (which they are, but that is okay); but rather, they are different people than were our staff six months ago. We have had complete turnover in the administrative staff of the parish since last July first. This was not the plan.
Last summer, we had known for a while that Ron Farias, our business manager, would be retiring, and we found out that Jackie Nguyen in our tuition office would need to phase out over the coming six months for medical reasons. Then Jackie’s situation changed rapidly, and she had to withdraw completely. The good news for you that know and love Jackie after her two decades of work here is that finally now (January) it looks like she will get what she needs. Don’t stop praying for her though!
Over a few months, we brought on Jennifer King, who sits at Jackie’s desk, and Theresa Deere who will be the parish bookkeeper, but in our office only two days a week. The division of labor and responsibility clearly needed to shift around a bit, and Carol Gangnath, our receptionist, took on added importance as continuity in addition to picking up administrative responsibilities.
The good news is that since the start of January, Jennifer is here full time, after splitting her time and talent between us and her previous employer all last autumn. She and Theresa are excellent and have quickly taken hold of the multi-tailed monster that is the parish’s need machine. The hard news that rolled in right before Christmas was that the surgery that Carol needed and planned for April had been moved up to January! Poof – she’s gone, our unique staffer with historical knowledge.
Now, don’t blame Carol – she got an opportunity and we all wanted her to take it despite her fears for its impact on us. And she’s been working from home to coach, assist, and advise. And she will be back. Not only that, but we found a spiffy stand-in, willing and able to take the heat of our front office for the duration of Carol’s absence. Many rectory regulars have already met Susan Sumner, who not only started at very short notice, but also started during the Christmas holidays. Over-and-above effort, that.
Father Santandreu moved out at the end of July. Father Schrenk, who joined us in late August, moved out in early December. Even Father Brillis, who moved into the house less than four weeks ago, now has departed for a four-week visit to home and family. Father Novajosky, whose official responsibility is study and school, is my prop and stay.
Anthony Dao, our parish maintenance magician, and Elena Santos, our housekeeper, are still here, thank goodness. Norma Thomas, technically a volunteer but functionally an integral part of the office, still is here before the sun rises each day. Ted Ewanciw, the principal, and his staff; Jasmine Kuzner, the DRE, and John Henderson, our music master, all abide, and they show up frequently in the rectory; but they have their own spaces elsewhere. So not all is flux. Just ALMOST all.
I have grown accustomed to having my life, and not only my work, be bound up with our dedicated staff. Over the years, so have you. Talk about seamless: reduced-resources, personalized, parochial over-achievement right here at your disposal, in one handy location. Meet them, get to know them, give them a little time, and watch grace build upon nature. Father Brillis will get used to it, too.
Monsignor Smith
