Pastoral centre reorganized

Departments realigned, trio laid off in shakeup

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

The restructuring plan, which included three layoffs, involves a change in job descriptions, a reorganization of departments and even a rearrangement of office space.

"There is a lot that is similar but there are some changes," said Father Greg Bittman, the archdiocese's chancellor and architect of the changes. "We are looking at the whole pastoral centre, at how can we be better organized."

The plan, Bittman said, has been in the works for years and was developed through consultation. Its purpose is to focus the pastoral centre's structure so it can serve the parishes and people of the archdiocese more effectively.

"The plan is complex but it arises out of the simplest of purposes: to serve the Lord and his people as effectively as we possibly can," Archbishop Thomas Collins told pastoral centre staff during a briefing Feb. 10. "That simple mission gives purpose and joy to our lives. The plan is designed that we all as a community, and each as individuals, might more effectively fulfill our mission of service."

The plan, to be fully implemented by June, calls for the hiring of a director of pastoral services who will oversee ecumenism, family life and health care, the faith formation team, social justice and special projects. Youth and young adult ministry, catechetics and liturgy will make up the faith formation team.

The archdiocese is also hiring a stewardship director to oversee this newly created ministry.

Chancellor Bittman is now "moderator of the curia," or as he puts it, "manager of the curia." Under the plan, he oversees the chancery office and various departments, including financial and business administration, human resources, vocations, stewardship, the permanent diaconate, the sexual abuse committee and the office of canonical affairs, formerly the marriage tribunal.

Commissions are now called advisory committees and their directors are called officers. "I think in an organization you always need to be clear on titles and who is actually doing what," Bittman said.

At the heart of the plan is a reorganization of the tasks assigned to each employee. "The plan looks at what employees are doing and how they relate to one another" both in their daily routine and their physical space, Bittman explained.

For the last year, the archdiocese's coordinator of human resources has interviewed each employee and has drawn up a thorough set of job descriptions along with a plan for a just and integrated system of salaries and benefits, the chancellor said. In the process, the tasks performed by the staff have been reviewed and those tasks of a similar nature have been grouped together and related carefully to the tasks performed by others.

The plan also involves a physical dimension, mainly the grouping together of offices that belong to similar departments to allow for more effective coordination. With this in mind, some renovation and re-organization of the pastoral centre building will occur over the next few months.

"Right now we are at the stage where we've met with all the staff, we've given out the new job descriptions and we've asked them to provide us with feedback," the chancellor said.

"So we want to know what they think, their comments, suggestions and also if they feel that this is where they fit in this structure. We are waiting for that feedback and once we get all of that back then we will sit down and look at how things are going to work out."

Three positions disappeared as a result of the plan, bringing down the pastoral centre staff to 28. This figure does not include staff from the WCR, Development and Peace, and the marriage tribunal.

Sister Madeleine Geiger, who worked with the Adult Learning Commission for 20 years, Theresa Demkow, an administrative assistant for 27 years, and Hans Bargmeyer, head of maintenance, were laid off "because their positions, as they are, won't exist in the new organizational structure," Bittman explained. "Some of their work will continue (but) modified or included in another job description." The tasks of the former Adult Learning Commission will now be part of the work of the faith formation team.

Geiger and Demkow refused to comment on their dismissal, although Geiger let some of her feelings out. "I'm doing remarkably well for the state I'm in," she said, adding friends and former co-workers have been kind and supportive.

In addition to the staff cuts, chancery employees will also work longer hours. Staff will work 37 and a half hours a week instead of 35. They are losing their time off between Christmas and New Year's and will no longer get off six Fridays a year as they previously did.

All pastoral centre staff contacted by the WCR refused to comment on the plan, with some saying they are still considering the implications of the restructuring. One employee said it would be impossible to find any staff to comment on the plan.

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