New offices help church employees serve local churches

By Michael Morrison

President Joseph Tkach (left) oversees the spiritual and business affairs of the denomination, providing denomination-wide leadership and vision casting and fulfilling the many administrative duties required for national and international incorporation and registration. Dr. Tkach speaks regularly at church leadership conferences and meetings around the world, keeps current on theological and social issues, and represents the church at the various Christian organizations in which it holds membership, such as the National Association of Evangelicals, Evangelical Ministries to New Religions, Mission America and Standing Together. All headquarters department heads report to the president, who also chairs the U.S. board of directors, serves on several WCG non-U.S. national boards, and chairs the denominational council of elders, providing spiritual guidance to the church worldwide.

Next to the president’s office is a boardroom, where the board meets (sometimes with telephone connection for board members who cannot be physically present). Through the boardroom window, looking to the north, we can see a golf course. We can’t play on the course, but it does make our view a lot nicer than most office buildings have.

The next office is Randal Dick, superintendent of international missions, and across the hallway, his executive assistant, Barbara Edwards. The work of this office extends to dozens of countries and more than 500 churches. Mr. Dick is the facilitator for a team of people who work in other nations. They identify the areas where the WCG can make the greatest impact for the kingdom of God, and then guide the mission resources of the WCG to their target. They are constantly evaluating the rapidly changing world scene and seeking God’s guidance as to how and where he would have us make a difference.

This international team also focuses on identifying emerging leaders. They connect with them and equip them for God’s service. As resources allow, they provide ongoing mentoring and oversight.

Barbara Edwards, his executive assistant (right), tells us, "I am both blessed and challenged by having a ‘virtual boss’ whose responsibilities require him to travel away many times during the year, and our communication is primarily by e-mail. Calendar management and travel arrangements are part of my diverse responsibilities." She coordinates projects, manages information and workflow among the Mission Developers and National Leaders worldwide, and works to facilitate their communications.

They provide legal advice and services to our ministers and volunteers regarding non-profit or church tax issues, bank questions, local incorporation when deemed advisable (including filing articles and drafting bylaws), the purchase and sale of buildings, the giving and taking of leases, insurance matters, the particulars of church Charters, advice concerning legal issues of confidentiality, clergy-penitent privilege, liability for accidents and negligence, responding to or initiating litigation when necessary, advice on how to make the church and its congregations beneficiaries under wills, trusts, and the like, and they work with executors and attorneys to effectuate the deceased’s intent when the denomination and our churches are named beneficiaries.

In addition to the general oversight of the various finance departments, Mr. Morgan’s responsibilities include managing church investments, preparing and monitoring the annual budget, and chairing the pension committee. He also serves as the secretary to the board of directors and is therefore responsible for carrying out the directives of the board. The employees who serve together in the Finance area are a dedicated and seasoned group of servants who together have over 311 years of fulltime service to the church.

If we travel down the hallway further south (far right), past the bookshelves, we’ll pass a small meeting room, a storeroom for personnel records, and a file room for CAD records. In the southeast corner we find Janet Shay (left), Human Resources Manager, and next to her, Maureen Warkentin, Human Resources Generalist and Pension Coordinator (right).

Next to the Human Resources Department, in the south hallway of the building, is Accounting. Five experienced employees serve in the Accounting Department maintaining the financial records of the church in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, providing reports to management, and carefully managing cash flow. On the left, with the window offices, are Gwen Moore, Paulette Hoban (right), and Clark Miller. Across the hallway, toward the center of the building, are Celestine Olive (lower right) and Carol Knapp.

Specific areas of responsibility within the department include 1) Donation Processing, supervised by Celestine Olive and assisted by Carol Knapp, 2) Accounts Receivable, Accounts Payable and Registrar, supervised by Paulette Hoban, and 3) Payroll, supervised by Gwen Moore. Clark Miller, Accounting Department Manager, has over 36 years of full-time experience with the church. In addition to the day-to-day management of the department, Clark is responsible for the annual audit, currently being done by PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Along the west corridor are three small offices on the west: Curtis May, then Susan Earle, and Jannice May. Curtis May is a member of the church board, a district superintendent, and the director of the Office of Reconciliation Ministries (ORM). Since ORM's beginning ten years ago, it has established more than 20 chapters in five countries: Canada, England, Ireland, South Africa and the United States.

ORM has a flagship video titled Reconciliation—A Move Of God, a newsletter called Reconcile and a website: atimetoreconcile.org. Its ministry activities include workshops, conferences, dialogue/mediation, mentoring and training. ORM has held these activities in churches, schools, city halls and police departments. ORM's activities are done primarily with volunteers, with only one part-time paid staff, Susan Earle, and it is funded through voluntary donations.

Media in the middle

Our media staff is in the center of the figure 8. Across from Curtis May is the small office of Terry Akers (right), a part-time employee assisting Paul Kroll. If you go around the corner, you’ll find Michael Morrison (lower right), Paul Kroll, a small library room, a small workroom, and across the hallway, John McKenna (left), who works part time as a doctrinal advisor and a teacher in Ambassador College of Christian Ministry. There’s also a room with copiers, printers, and various office supplies.

The Media Department produces Christian Odyssey, as well as Together, our denominational news publication, and Good Shepherding, a journal for WCG elders. The department occasionally publishes booklets on topics of importance and interest to Christians.

Besides serving as managing editor of Christian Odyssey and editor of Together, Dr. Morrison manages the WCG literature web site, which offers easy access to church literature, contact information, audio and video presentations, church news and denominational historical information.

Public relations officer Paul Kroll (right) handles media inquiries and answers questions about the church from individuals and institutions. He also takes care of doctrinal and Bible questions that come to Glendora. Terry Akers serves part time for the department, assisting Paul Kroll with personal correspondence and handling literature requests.

The IT Department: Bret Miller, Glenn Gordon, Robert Meade, and Pam Morgan

In the northwest corner of our figure 8 is our Information Technology Department. IT is managed by Robert Meade, a 20-year employee (left), and assisted by Bret Miller, Technical Support Manager (lower right), Glenn Gordon, Sr., a Programmer/Analyst, and Pam Morgan, User Support Analyst and Training Instructor (right). Glenn has an office in Glendora, but because he requires a wheelchair, he normally works at home.

The IT department serves the church by providing a variety of computer-based tools and services that help members, pastors, and Glendora personnel do their job more effectively. (Editor’s note: Actually, without those computers and email, we couldn’t do much at all!)

The IT Department hosts church-sponsored Internet web sites, including www.wcg.org, www.christianodyssey.org, www.ambassador.edu, www.atimetoreconcile.org, and many local church websites.

We have now completed the figure 8. Let’s go back downstairs to see what we have there. Behind the reception desk are several empty offices, which we plan to lease out. On the west there’s the lunchroom we caught a glimpse of earlier. It has a full kitchen, lots of counter space, and tables for all who work here. At the far end of the lunchroom is a meeting room and the office of Mitch Vasseur, Facilities Manager (right). It is a bit isolated from everyone else, but it has a great view of the patio and golf course.

Mitch is responsible for the optimal functioning of all church-owned facilities, including the Glendora building. His areas of responsibility include the maintenance of mechanical, electrical, heating, ventilation, air conditioning, fire safety, elevators, custodial, landscaping and building renovations and tenant relations. His job, in short, is to ensure that our facilities are in the best possible condition to serve the mission of the church.

Outside of the lunchroom, on the north side of the building, toward the golf course, is a patio with several tables and sun umbrellas—when it's not too hot, a far better place to eat lunch. The building also came with a large gas barbeque.

Let’s go back through the lunchroom and down the hallway. There we will find Tony Murphy in his office (right), which doubles as the control room of a recording studio. Beginning this summer, Tony will be taping and editing our new video program called You're Included,which WCG congregations will be able to use. Tony will also record Speaking of Life, a weekly video web message from church president Joseph Tkach.

Also on the first floor is the "office" of Scott Wertz, our Postal & Record Center Manager (lower right). He serves the church by supervising the postal and record-keeping functions in support of our mission. Scott has served the church for 34 years. He is responsible for all headquarters mail, including U.S. Postal Service, UPS and FedEx.

Scott is also responsible for maintaining church literature inventories, printing and sending offering envelopes and mailing monthly and annual donation receipts for congregations who use headquarters’ donation processing services, and provides mailing lists for church publications like Christian Odyssey and Together. Scott also is charged with maintaining older business records, archived literature, videotapes and other items held in long-term storage. Since these records involve more than 50 years of a wide variety of business activities, the records occupy most of the warehouse space and a more climate-controlled room for more perishable books, records, mementos and artwork.

We hope our tour has given you a better picture of our Glendora building and the way in which our staff serves the church.

The church is smaller than it used to be, but our HQ staff is far, far smaller than it once was, and we cannot provide all the services that we did in the past. Although we provide a physical center for the business and administrative functions of the church, the real work is being done by you, the readers and members of the church scattered throughout the nations.