“Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them,

and they that are great exercise authority upon them.

But it shall not be so among you:

but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister;

And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:

Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto,

but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.” (Matthew 20:25-28, KJV)


The word the Athenians used for their Assembly was Ekklesia, the same word used in the New Testament for Church
(and it is the greatest philological irony in all of Western history that this word,
which connoted equal participation in all deliberation by all members,
came to designate a kind of self-perpetuating, self-protective Spartan gerousia -
which would have seemed patent nonsense to Greek-speaking Christians of New Testament times,
who believed themselves to be equal members of their Assembly.)

- Thomas Cahill, Sailing the Wine-Dark Sea: Why the Greeks Matter




ΦΙΛΟΤΙΜΟ: THE GREEK SECRET


Sunday, January 6, 2008

Letter of Protest and Request for New Elections to Metropolitan Isaiah

Moderator's Note: This letter was sent within 72 hours of the parish council elections in December, priority overnight, with signature required, to Metropolitan Isaiah at the Metropolis of Denver's address. Another copy was given to the chairman of the election committee; a third went to Bishop Savas. No response was ever received, nor were the principals ever contacted.

1 December 2007

PROTEST AND REQUEST FOR NEW ELECTIONS

To: Metropolitan Isaiah
Metropolis of Denver

4550 East Alameda Ave.
Denver, CO 80246

From: Constantine “Gus” J. Colessides

CC: Chancellor of the Archdiocese, Bishop Savas of Troas
The Chairman of the Election Committee of
The Greek Orthodox Community of Greater Salt Lake City

RE: Unjust Barring of Nominated Parishioners for Parish Council Elections

I hereby protest my unjust barring as qualified parishioner who was prevented from running for the Parish Council of our Community. I was declared ineligible on specious grounds, and false, unsubstantiated claims.

Further, the chairman of the election committee was the first to notify me. I believe that the use of the election committee for this purpose is completely inappropriate. The election committee is assigned to set up and oversee the election process, not rule or inform nominees as to their eligibility status. The proistamenoi need to take this task upon themselves and not delegate it inappropriately.

I am in fact an eligible and qualified candidate. I have been arbitrarily and unjustly barred – based upon accusations that are unfounded and untrue. I have been forced to adhere to a standard that has never been heretofore required from other nominees. As such, I request that this election be declared null and void and that new elections be held with my name, and that of other qualified candidates also unjustly barred, on the ballot.

Respectfully,

{signature}

Constantine “Gus” J. Colessides

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