“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


Wednesday, November 2, 2011

CASTING THE FIRST STONE

GOCGSL Pledged Stewards  as of  O ctober 27, 2011
Only members in good financial and ecclesiastical standing have the right to attend, participate and vote in a Parish Assembly. The member must have completed a proportionate amount by quarter of their pledge to be considered in good financial standing. This list of pledging members has not been reviewed by His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah or local clergy to determine ecclesiastical good standing in the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake and members who are deemed not to be in good ecclesiastical standing will be identified and notified in advance of a meeting. A member in good standing has a right to attend, participate and vote in a Parish Assembly.
=============================================================================================
Dear Parishioners,

The new list of stewards reserves to the Clergy the right to determine whether we are “Good Christians” eligible to participate and vote in a general assembly.

What unmitigated arrogance on the part of people who should exude humility !!!

The dynamic trio at it … again !!!  Another stupendous fiasco in the making !!!

Metropolitan Isaiah, Fr. Kouremetis, and Fr. Gilbert want to sit in judgment of all of us !!!!

Can you imagine one of the defendants in the Katinas’ sex scandal litigation, sitting in judgment of us … as to whether or not we are good Orthodox Christians ??

Can you imagine a Proistameno with questionable veracity, sitting in judgment of us … as to whether or not we are good Orthodox Christians ???

Can you imagine a Proistameno who keeps money belonging to the Parish in secret accounts, sitting in judgment of us … as to whether or not we are good Orthodox Christians ???

Can you imagine a Proistameno who denies candidacy [for election to the PC] to an individual because the candidate’s wife writes for the Blog, sitting in judgment of us … as to whether or not we are good Orthodox Christians ???

Can you imagine the inventors of the blue/yellow fiasco, denounced by their superiors, sitting in judgment of us … as to whether or not we are good Orthodox Christians ???

What a ridiculous judgment call on their part.  Let alone the legal travesty !!!  Have they looked themselves in the mirror ??  Where did these people come from ??? Do they belong in our community ??

Sitting in judgment of others is NOT A CHRISTIAN THING TO DO. It is reserved and exercised by our Lord and Savior ONLY.

These people should know better than most of us, that the Christian thing to do, is to let the one who is without sin, throw the first stone.

Best regards,

Nick

Nick J. Colessides
Attorney at Law
466 South 400 East, Suite 100
Salt Lake City, Utah, 84111-3325

Tele: 801-521-4441
Fax: 801-521-4452

4 comments:

Yannis Armaou said...

«Ο Αναμάρτητος πρώτος το λίθο βαλέτω»
Την ρήση «μην κρίνεις, για να μην κριθείς», φαίνεται να την αγνοούν παντελώς!

ΚΑΤΑ ΜΑΤΘΑΙΟΝ

"Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταί, ὅτι κλείετε τὴν βασιλείαν τῶν οὐρανῶν ἔμπροσθεν τῶν ἀνθρώπων· ὑμεῖς γὰρ οὐκ εἰσέρχεσθε, οὐδὲ τοὺς εἰσερχομένους ἀφίετε εἰσελθεῖν."
"οὕτω καὶ ὑμεῖς ἔξωθεν μὲν φαίνεσθε τοῖς ἀνθρώποις δίκαιοι, ἔσωθεν δὲ μεστοί ἐστε ὑποκρίσεως καὶ ἀνομίας."
Self explanatory from the Gospel.

Yannis Armaou said...

Translation of previous comment.

"""Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."

Bill Rekouniotis said...

"There is only one lawgiver and judge, He who is able to save and destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?"
(James 4:12)

"You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye". (Matthew 7:5)

And there's a lot more where these came from.

Steve Gamvroulas said...

I'm curious. would an unnamed appointed parish council member who threatens parishioners with physical violence considered "in good standing"?