“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


Friday, April 1, 2011

APRIL FOOLS!??? ? NOT !

The original of this letter which most of us in this community received (expecting, in light of Archbishop Demetrios' message, to perhaps receive something else, no doubt), can be found by clicking here.

GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF DENVER

March 21, 2011 (Moderator's note - the DATE is NOTEWORTHY)

Reverend Michael Kouremetis Proistamenos
Reverend Matthew Gilbert, Proistamenos
The Esteemed Parish Council Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake
c/o Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church
5335 Highland Drive
Holladay, UT 84117

Beloved in the Lord,

Having recently returned from our recent Holy Eparchial Synod meeting at the Archdiocese in New York City, at which a number of issues were discussed, including the pending matter in your beloved community, various decisions came about.

In the press release from the Archdiocese, dated March 18, 2011, the following was stated:

The Holy Eparchial Synod discussed current and urgent administrative matters related to the life and activity of the Church of the Holy Archdiocese. It was noted by all the Members that the responsibility of shepherding the parishes in each Holy Metropolis of the Holy Archdiocese belongs to the respective Hierarch who shepherds them according to the order of the Church, her Canons, the Charter, and the Regulations of the Holy Archdiocese
This indicates that the Archdiocesan process regarding the Salt Lake City matter is now over.
It is now time to move ahead for the good of the faithful members of the Greek Orthodox people of Utah. This means that all of the Uniform Parish Regulations of the Archdiocese must be followed faithfully. For this to be done, it must be understood that any reincorporation statements that call the Greek Orthodox parishes in Salt Lake City "The Association" rather than a religions institution, such as the reincorporation in 1974, must be eliminated from the legal documents of the Greek Orthodox community. There are also other statements made in the 1974 documents which are completely contrary to the Uniform Parish Regulations and the Canons of our Holy Orthodox Church which must also be eliminated.

It is long overdue for the faithful Orthodox Christians of the greater Salt Lake City area to express themselves and to decide if they want to identify their church as an "Association" or as a religious institution. It is time to honor once again the founders of the Greek Orthodox community of Salt Lake City, who incorporated their parish over one hundred years ago as the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. It is time to re-incorporate with the Original name of the parish of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church and the Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church. In so doing, all of the Greek Orthodox people on Utah will see themselves as a continuity of the Church which our Lord Jesus Christ established almost two thousand years ago, and not as a secular investment entity hiding behind the respected name "Hellenic".

As for those individuals who came to Salt Lake City from the "old country" much later, and have achieved a kind of leadership status, who are responsible for eliminating the most revered name of our loving God, the Holy Trinity, and who show no sense of honor for those who established the Holy Trinity Church over a century ago, let us pray for them that they will see the errors of their ways. Our loving God also desires their salvation.

As we continue on in this holy period of Great Lent, let us beseech our loving God to soften the hearts and minds of those expressing un-Christian feelings against us, and to forgive them their sins. Let US also fervently pray to our Lord that He will also forgive our sins, thereby furthering our progress toward Christ and His Coming Kingdom.

With Paternal Blessings,
/s/
Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver

9 comments:

TOCB Moderator said...

Are you kidding me? When we were told that this clergy and hierarchy had become irrelevant, I did not fully believe it until NOW.

Barbara Billinis Colessides

TOCB Moderator said...

Our Metropolitan wants soft minds and hard hearts. He surely personifies it!!!

HOW ABOUT PRAYERS TO SOFTEN THE HEARTS OF THE HIERARCHY? HOW ABOUT PRAYERS TO HARDEN THEIR HEADS,(when they had half a brain among them, all of us, including THEM, did well!)

INSTEAD WE ARE EXPOSED TO THEIR SOFT MINDS AND HARD, HARD, HARD HEARTS!!!

- The MODERATORS

Yannis Armaou said...

Αραγε τι εννοουσε ο ποιητης οταν ειπε "τον αραπη κι'αν τον πλενεις,το σαπουνι σου χαλας"?
"τ'ειχες γιαννη,τ'ειχα παντα"...
From the "old country" with love!

Bill Rekouniotis said...

The letter from Archbishop Demetrios dated March 24th, as I stated before is the birthday of Harry Houdini. Maybe we should have looked up their sleeves or in this case their vestments. Stay tuned, more adventures to come.

Mitch Manousakis said...

More expounding of vengeful hatred from our spiritual leader. And during such a Holy Season at that. It seems to me that he is either ashamed or has forgotten where his roots came from. He dishonors all immigrants, both early and later who started and continue to build upon the beautiful and functioning Greek Orthodox Parishes of America. I pray that our children and grandchildren take note of this vengeful hatred and not subscribe to its beliefs.

Steve Gamvroulas (son of the old country) said...

Is it just me or do these seem to be the musings of a frail mind?

The infallible Pope of Denver needs better advisers who will warn him against sending such odd correspondence in the future.

I am proud to be a son of one of those "old country" bumpkins. I prefer being the son of one rather than being one of the "new country" sheeple who allow themselves to be blindly led by the money-changers.

Jim Sefandonakis said...

If you have about 15 shots of vodka
the letter makes perfect sense.

Steve Gamvroulas said...

"If you have about 15 shots of vodka
the letter makes perfect sense."...or would that be Johnny Walker Black?

Bill Rekouniotis said...

My poor mother, she's a two time loser. She came from the "old country" and lived in Greektown here in Greater Salt Lake. Tomorrow she's being deported.