After having served as Secretary of the Greek Orthodox Community of Box Hill (GOCBH) for four years, in November 2013 I accepted the nomination for President. I was encouraged and honoured by the favour shown to me.

Unfortunately, the past six months have been such an experience that on Wednesday 7th May 2014, I offered my resignation with immediate effect.
As an immensely proud Greek, who was born and raised in a ‘modest Greek village’ called Melbourne, I have throughout my life contributed to the institutions established by first-generation Greeks that have played such a large part in my own upbringing.

I have reinvested time and energy in these institutions to help ensure that they survive, even prosper, and continue to remain relevant for my four children and future generations of Greek Melburnians.

Like many Greek Communities across Melbourne, the GOCBH was largely made up of an ageing membership of first-generation Greeks who had done a wonderful job but had failed miserably in attracting the next generation, which is necessary to ensure any organisation’s future survival.

It was encouraging, though, that there were ‘pleas’ from these same members to help reinvigorate and rejuvenate the organisation.

On a personal level, I feel passionately about the fact that benevolent organisations, including the church, need to be supported in order that there exists a counterbalance to the rapacious lifestyle of our modern capitalist society.

The Community was asset rich with passive income and no debt. This confirmed a long term strategic approach by the members over many years.

The Community’s success to date was due to the fact that it had served the common needs and interests of the first generation. In order to attract the next generation, we would also need to address the future needs of the members.

The members had long harboured a desire to redevelop the Community facilities but were reluctant to make major undertakings given few of the second generation were involved in Community affairs.

In 2011 we conducted a master plan for the next 15 years. Initially members were perplexed but we identified areas where the Community could continue to play a role.

We devised a plan to build the Box Hill Cultural and Community Centre (BHCCC). The facility would include multi-purpose function areas, state-of-the-art classrooms and a preschool.

The natural predisposition of the members was to build ‘another big hall’. Our consultation process demonstrated that the Community required smaller spaces to accommodate the burgeoning demands of the Senior Citizens Group, commemorative services, wakes, baptisms and the like. We could also utilise part of the centre to house a provider of services to the elderly and disabled.

We also envisaged attracting usage from the broader non-Greek community which would not only be to our ongoing commercial advantage, but enmesh the Greek Community and its values in the day to day multicultural life of central Box Hill.
We engaged the Australian Greek Welfare Society (AGWS) to relocate its Activity Group to a modern, purpose built facility and with Alphington Grammar School to operate the preschool.
Both were thrilled to be considered as part of the plan to develop not just another hall, but a whole Greek precinct based on social services (rather than coffee shops) in the heart of Box Hill. Also, both were prepared to sign pre-lease agreements on a commercial basis that would ensure the Centre’s commercial viability and maximum utility from the outset.

Peter Darmos (architect) and I articulated these plans in a substantial submission to the State Government. In January 2013 we were advised that we were to be granted $600,000 through the Cultural Precincts and Infrastructure Fund operated by the Department of Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship.
Two years of planning, persistence, engaging, consulting, lobbying and encouraging was beginning to come to fruition.

Sadly, there was an undercurrent of discontent dominated by the (handful of) ‘nobles’ of the Community who felt threatened by these positive developments.
Unfortunately, with minor personnel changes in the Management Committee in last year’s elections, the whole proposal began to be progressively voted down.

Most disturbingly, at this year’s biennial meeting with the Archdiocese, we (I) were castigated by an overly animated bishop for an hour and a half for daring to engage with “foreigners”…

My efforts to explain our true intentions – attract the next generation, showcase our values and religion, offer valuable services to the community etc. etc. – fell on deaf ears.

Despite successfully reconciling the positions of the various stakeholders (including that of the Archdiocese) and reining in the budget, the caustic environment was repelling.

The myopia, distrust, scheming and vindictiveness by the ‘nobles’ towards myself, my colleagues, ordinary members and the broader community knew no bounds. At times, I questioned whether I was a member of an organisation based on Christian and democratic principles or a branch of the Klu Klux Klan!
My position became untenable, as five of the nine on the Management Committee continuously voted as a block to thwart any proposal that threatened their thrones (‘karekles’).

I have spent thousands of hours involved in the Community and I have met many wonderful people. I wish the GOCBH the best in its endeavours herein, hold no ill will and hope that my departure will allow the Community to prosper.

The windows of opportunity that present themselves to deliver valuable community infrastructure that can play a meaningful role in people’s lives well into the future and well after we have ‘served our time’ are but a flicker on the landscape and have to be seized with fervour if there is any chance of success.
Sadly, I feel yet another may have been missed.

*George Kapnias is the former president of the Greek Orthodox Community of Box Hill.