“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


Thursday, May 27, 2010

Now he wants WHAT?

Several years ago our community began raising funds for the renovation of our Holy Trinity Cathedral through the Hellenic Heritage Campaign. In addition to renovating our Holy Trinity Cathedral, several projects were included relating to the Holy Trinity campus. The then parish council was instructed by the general assembly how these funds were to be administered.

In the 8 years the proistameno of Prophet Elias only has been here, there has never been an attempt to access these funds outside their specific purpose. That all has changed beginning with the "Skedros" funds. These funds were raised for a specific purpose and should remain where they are so the project can be completed.

As such, the following letter is being sent to Metropolitan Isaiah:


Yannis Armaou
2751 Highland Dr.
Salt Lake City, Utah 84106

May 26, 2010

Via fax: 303/333-7796
Original via mail

His Grace Bishop Isaiah
Metropolitan of Denver
4550 East Alameda Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80246-1208

Invocation of Article 35 of the Uniform Parish Bylaws
Addendum B


Request is hereby made by and the undersigned do hereby request the application of the dispute resolution process prescribed by Article 35, Addendum B, of the Uniform Parish Bylaws, the “UPRs” hereinafter collectively referred to as the “Addendum,”

The undersigned are parishioners as the term is defined under the terms of the Addendum.

A dispute has arisen as it relates to the control and appropriation of certain funds, the “funds” held by the custodian of said funds National Financial Services. The funds were collected for the specific purpose of creating and financing the Cathedral Campus construction of Sunday School rooms, and other community wide improvements as more particularly set forth in the Cathedral’s master plan. The master plan was originally created by Chris Kamanges, AIA, and the local firm of architects Stransky et. al. The funds were generated and raised by the Hellenic Heritage Campaign Committee, the “Committee.” The Committee was established solely by express authority of the General Assembly.

The Parish Council has demanded that the funds be under the exclusive control of the Parish Council. The Parish Council position and demand for control of the money, and the use of the money for use as the operational expenses of the Parish is contrary to the UPRs, and the express position espoused by Metropolitan Isaiah.

The undersigned verily believe that the funds belong exclusively under the jurisdiction of, and may be expended by, and are controlled by, and appropriated by the General Assembly, George Metos, and Manoli Sargetakis, two of the three signatories to the account as the account is now established and administered at National Financial Services. The undersigned wish to participate in the dispute resolution both personally and by counsel of their choice.

Relief requested: The undersigned request that the funds remain in the custody of the Bapis Group, subject only to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Parish General Assembly, and also subject to the here signatory requirement, as directed by the General Assembly.

The undersigned believe that the best way to resolve the dispute is to invoke the provisions of Article 35 and the Addendum, and its appellate processes. Please note and apply the provisions relating to conflicts of interest.

Dated this 25th day of May, 2010.

/s/

Yannis Armaou

cc: Rev Fr. Michael Kouremetis, via fax: 801/424-1296
Rev Fr. Matthew Gilbert, via fax: 801/328-9688
Mr. Jim Mylonakis, President, via fax: 801/328-9688
Mr. Michael Petrogeorge, Esq., Secretary, via fax: 801/328-9688
Mr. Andrew Kornreich, President, Director HighTower, via fax: 773/326-0994

(handwritten post-script added, as follows:)

UPRs have never been followed since Fr. Kouremetis came to SLC.
The Parish Council is hand-picked to serve his agenda!
Leave the money where it is!
Nick Bapis has done so much for this community.

Friday, May 21, 2010

Still waiting.........

Seven weeks ago (on Holy Friday) the proistameno of Prophet Elias only was feverishly scampering to mail the letter which was the cause of a chain reaction of letters leaving several beloved members of our community wondering as to their ecclesiastical status. The last of this chain of letters was explained to the parish council by the proistameno of Prophet Elias only at their recent meeting. In this instance, there was no feverish scampering by the proistameno of Prophet Elias only to mail THIS letter from the Metropolitan to the community.

As we have read, the Metropolitan's first letter of April 16, 2010 was harsh in tone even saying to these members, "From the standpoint of the Church, this is outright robbery. " After listening to more than one side, the Metropolitan, to his credit, changed his position.

Some questions remain unanswered:

  • Why hasn't the proistameno of Prophet Elias only and the parish council mailed this letter to the concerned parties and to the community?
  • Why wasn't the same urgency exercised with this letter as the one of Good Friday?
  • Why is the proistameno of Prophet Elias only holding tight to this letter?
  • Do the contents of this letter conflict with the agenda of the proistameno of Prophet Elias only?
  • Is the proistameno of Prophet Elias only stalling to convince the Metropolitan to change the decision to fit his agenda?
  • Why have the people initially accused not been contacted regarding their ecclesiastical status?
  • Is there a fear that this latest letter exposes our assigned clergy to the community?
Answers and accountability from our assigned clergy and parish council certainly IS EXPECTED.

ΗΓΓΙΚΕΝ Η ΩΡΑ