“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, March 6, 2011

Define Sermon

Congratulations to all the children of Holy Trinity and Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Churches of Greater Salt Lake City, who participated in the Oratorical festival. Those who will participate in the Metropolis competition will do so as members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake and not from the "Prophet Elias parish" as was mistakenly announced today by the proistameno of Prophet Elias only.

A good sermon can go a long way in setting the tone for the upcoming week. It is an opportunity for the clergy to connect with their flock and inspire them. Lately, the proistameno of Prophet Elias only has taken the liberty of turning the sermon into an question and answer session.  Here are some highlights from his  "sermon" today:

  • He explained how we have a new parish council.  Our question is:  Is this parish council legal?  We believe it is NOT.  
  • He explained how the Prophet Elias "parish" nominees were sworn in but the Holy Trinity "parish" nominees refused to be sworn in.  Our question is:  When was the split finalized making two parishes?
  • He unsuccessfully tried to explain how the current "parish council" came to be.  What he didn't explain is that one "member" was not part of the initial interim parish council and therefore in violation of the directive of the metropolitan.
After concluding with the mundane, he asked if there were any questions.  Seeing none he was convinced that everyone understood the state of affairs.  He did happen to mention that those with questions will post them to the blog or talk about them at Einstein's.  (Glad we could be of service)

It might benefit Fr. Kouremetis to review the linked Protocol from the metropolitan which states in part: "In this light, I exhort each of you who are pastors to ensure that the sermon or homily  in the Divine Liturgy is always focused on the readings given to us by the Church for our edification and is invariably in accord with the Apostolic tradition of our faith." http://www.denver.goarch.org/protocols/1996-Protocols/protocol-96-08.html

For the record, the Gospel reading today was from Matthew 6:14-21

2 comments:

Steve Gamvroulas said...

I have a few questions.

At what point does a person, regardless of position, decide that they have either become ineffective or they are the cause of dissent and strife?

What should a person do once they have recognized that they are the cause of these afflictions?

How long should it take for that person to step down from his/her position in hopes of reversing what had been ravaged?

Is it not the goal of any leader to build rather than destroy?

Would we allow these pernicious or sinister behaviors to take place within our own homes?

Would any person not battle for the sanctity and unity of their own family?

Is HIS Church and our community not also our family?

Bill Rekouniotis said...

Oh, oh, I have a question. When are you leaving Dodge, Marshal Dillion? Giddy up.