Sermon?

"The Lord said to his disciples, 'You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hid. Nor do men light a lamp and put it under a bushel, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.'" (Matthew 5:14-16) This passage was read during Liturgy on July 17th and anyone attending Holy Trinity on that Sunday expecting to hear a sermon related to the gospel certainly must have been disappointed.

Fr. Gilbert relayed that the community is in great turmoil. He continued by stating that those who are holding back their stewardship thinking they are helping solve the situation are only making it worse and are the cause of the problem. According to Fr. Gilbert those withholding stewardship are withholding their money not from the church but from God.

A  viewing of the audit committee report of 2009 lists over $600,000 in expenses that were not approved by any general assembly. By Fr. Gilbert's logic it was God who spent that money. If God was really spending these monies wouldn't he rather fix the dome at Prophet Elias rather than construct a picnic stand?

We also learned that, according to Fr. Gilbert, that Archbishop Demetrios has nothing to do with our community and is not our leader. Metropolitan Isaiah and only Metropolitan Isaiah is our hierarch. This certainly must be news to Archbishop Demetrios and the Archdiocese.

It is evident that the proistameno of Prophet Elias only has lost all authority in this community. First is his silence and lack of leadership with Mr. Derby's letter. Second, if it is true that Archbishop Demetrios has nothing to do with our community, how can you, as a member of the Archdiocese Council, allow that statement to stand without response? It seems like you are no longer in charge.

Fr. Kouremetis what kind of action will you take?

Subject:	Follow up
Date:	7/8/2011 4:05:45 P.M. Mountain Daylight Time
From:	Yannisgocslc@aol.com
Reply To: To: Frmichaelk@gocslc.org,  FrMatthewg@gocslc.org

cc: archdiocese@goarch.org, bishopandonios@goarch.org, luhl@aol.com, Patriarchate@ec-patr.org

Fr. Michael,

on June 24 I wrote you an email asking you what kind of action will you take

for the letter that one of your APPOINTED parish council members wrote.

To this day you have not bothered to take any action whatsoever.

It is your responsibility to act,if you don't that means that you agree with the letter

as quite a few people say that you do.

Silence these rumors by taking action.

You used an accident to stage a MIRACLE to celebrate the so called split of our community, I wonder what will you do next to cover this unfortunate incident.

STOP MISINFORMING THE DIOCESE and you as well as your boss "kindly implement"

(as the letter from the archbishop said) the Synodal decisions for the "benefit of the Greater Salt Lake City Community".

Also I urge the Archdiocese as well as the Patriarchate to resolve this matter.

The sooner the better for our community!

P.S

The letter (Mr.James Derby) is attached.

Yannis Armaou

2751 Highland dr.

Salt Lake City

Utah

Three Thoughts Concerning Recent Events from John Saltas

Moderator's note: John Saltas sent this comment in as a response to the previous blog article, "It Takes a "Given the Threat"?. We thought the comment deserved its own space as a blog article, and have posted it as such with Mr. Saltas' kind permission.

Three thoughts.

1. Why are our church clergy and leaders so disingenuous on this topic? Had they followed established protocol, we could have had our General Assemblies long ago. Every rule established for an upcoming General Assembly in this letter could have and should have been done in the first place without "threat of a lawsuit." Why is it so hard for our current leaders to do the right thing for the entire community (and not just as salve for their bandaged egos or to accomodate demanding priests?) and to follow established, simple and ethical guidelines? Simply, if our church wants the benefits the State of Utah grants it--like certain tax benefits and other corporate protections--it must act in accordance of the state charter which allows it. Hiding behind "he (you fill in the blank) told me to do it" is no excuse.

2. Our parish bulletin should be used for alerting parish members to parish services, events, and calendars--not as a place to insert bias and nonsense on church matters. This letter is full of half-truths and un-truths, there only to make even more one-sided accusatory statements. Leave the bulletin neutral!

3. But because you have again carelessly not done so, and have made private church matters public, same for Mr. Derby whose letter is equally public, same for my own comments here, don't be surprised when you see your words cited in a newspaper or other media.