“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, July 1, 2011

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.

5 comments:

Steve Gamvroulas said...

Regarding John's third point. Is it my understanding that this appointed and illegitimate board is running in the red over $100,000 per month?

We demand to see the financial reports. This needs to end.

Jim Sefandonakis said...

Steve,

at this rate I can only see two outcomes that will pay off the debt created by the small handful of people that want to divide our community:

1) We will be blessed with yet another miracle, this time an icon will bleed gold coins into a large pot at a rate of $100,000 per month.

or

2) Zions bank will be happy to give us an equity loan against the value of our property at PE so we can pay off our past due bills. When we can't pay the equity loan off then Zions bank will repossess our Church.

And what will Zions do with the property?

BUILD A MORMON WARD!

Bill Rekouniotis said...

Whoa boys, easy now, easy. No need to worry, the Treasurer told Mr. Nick Colessides, "rest assured I have nothing to lose...." with that in mind we'll be just fine. Jim, I'm still holding out for a Walmart not a Ward, they can put the front door where the Altar is, and do I have the perfect door greeter. Giddy up! "If work is so great, priests would have a job".

Steve Gamvroulas said...

Indeed Jim, indeed. How sad that they (The Council of Derbys) think that they are helping the community when they are driving us deeper and deeper in controversy and debt as every day passes.

When the books are finally revealed I wont be surprised they blame it on us rather than themselves and the Popes of Denver and Holladay where the blame actually lies.

Bill Rekouniotis said...

"A tree is known by it's fruit; a man by his deed. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love." (St. Basil)
In other words "you catch more flies with honey."