“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


Thursday, July 3, 2014

Progressives? NOT!

We have taken what we feel to be a well-earned hiatus; a break also well-earned by the community at large. A fellow parishioner recently asked us about the "silence". Our reply was, "we were brought up not to kick someone when they were down."

In truth, we welcomed the initial e-mails circulated, indicating that those who disagreed with the majority in this community would seek to build their own church. We applauded such efforts. Such actions have been taken before in other communities throughout this country, and the results have been positive. The courage of these groups is admirable, and their determination, remarkable.

We are, however, dismayed to discover that the Orthodox Christian "Progressives" in this valley have now faltered on their original intent to build their own separate community. Once again, they seek, in spite of the decision of the hierarchy they claim to revere, to take over Prophet Elias GREEK Orthodox Church. (We emphasize "Greek" because there was never any doubt as to which Orthodox jurisdiction this particular church belongs.)



A final note… It is highly hypocritical and arrogant of these people to assume that they are the only "Christ-centered" among us. Further, these people, who would have us live under a medieval-style theocracy, are NOT progressives! Our church needs input from all: its hierarchy, its clergy, its laity. It's what our truly PROGRESSIVE, insightful and visionary forebears bequeathed to us! Anything less is NOT progressive; it's REGRESSIVE!