Send Out The Change Of Address Cards!

For the fifth time in the seven-and-a-half years I have worked at the Episcopal Church Center, I am moving. This move comes in the wake of the reconfiguration (a reorganization by any other name...) prompted by the layoffs resulting from the drastic budget cuts of last year's General Convention. I may also have an eighth boss, but the reporting and accountability lines remain unclear. In any case, the move, which will consolidate the reduced staff onto fewer floors of the building, takes place the last weekend of February. The dreaded orange crates should arrive a week or so beforehand so that those of us relocating can pack up our offices.

In addition to consolidating the staff, the new office locations mix us up, separating members of the new (and remarkably old and familiar) program teams (read "departments"). The official reason is that they want to encourage cross-team collaboration. They figure that by sitting us by colleagues on other teams we will be more likely to collaborate with each other on a variety of projects. Of course, many of us already work collaboratively with other departments, and have been for a long time. The other rationale, which was originally told to me in private, is now widely known in the organization. They want to break up former Staff Officer/Program Assistant pairings to wean the former Staff Officers from continuing to rely on their former Assistants for help with administrative tasks. Essentially, that means that I will be the only Lifelong Christian Formation and Vocation Team member on the second floor. The Team Associate (administrative support person) will be on the fifth floor, along with the shared files.

On the positive side, being on the second floor will make me more likely to use the stairs more often. The second floor is two full flights up, because there is an intervening half floor (the Mezzanine) on that side of the building. The rest of my team, and the files, will be three flights up, and the Finance offices will be only one flight up instead of two down. Every bit of going up and down the stairs helps!

Peace,
Jeff