“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

Monday, February 23, 2009

Letter to Parish Council Members - Feb 2, 2009

Moderator's Note: the letter transcribed verbatim below was sent by former Parish Council members who are deeply concerned about the current state of governance of our beloved Greek Orthodox community in Salt Lake City. It is part of a set of letters copied and sent to all parishioners by our current Parish Council and Proistamenoi.

Concerned GOC of SLC Parishioners
c/o Nick Sefakis
2820 East Commonwealth Avenue
Salt Lake City, Utah 84109

February 2, 2009

Dear Parish Council Member,

We, the undersigned, have come together because of deep concerns we share regarding disturbing trends, conditions and administrative actions which we have observed within the Greek Orthodox Parish of Salt Lake City and which we believe have adversely affected the Parish's religious, cultural and financial health. Our hope and intent is to collectively, through the Parish Council and clergy if at all possible, address these concerns and foster corrective actions as needed.

As a first step toward achieving these ends, we respectfully request to informally meet with you and as many of your fellow lay members of our Parish Council as possible to address these matters. We propose that this meeting take place at Anna's Restaurant, located at 4700 South 900 East, in Murray, at 6:30 p.m. on February 18th.

Please advise whether you will be able to attend by calling 467-8309 or by e-mail, addressed to npsefakis@comcast.net by not later than February 16th. We fervently hope you will be able to attend this meeting and that it will have positive results in our Church and Community.

Sincerely,

/s/ Andy Giannis
Former PC Member

/s/ Basil S. Chelemes
Former PC Treasurer

/s/ Bill Kandas
Former GOC Executive Director

/s/ Bill Peters
Former PC Preseident

/s/ Con Skedros
Former PC President

/s/ Dimitrios Tsagaris
Former PC Member

/s/ Jim Kastanis
Former PC President

/s/ Nick Angelides
Former PC Member

/s/ Nick Bapis
Former PC President

/s/ Nick Sefakis
Former PC President

/s/ Peter W. Souvall
Former PC President

/s/ Sakis Sakellariou
Former PC Member

/s/ Sam J. Chelemes
Former PC President

Posted by TOCB Moderator at 8:30 PM

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