Letter to Parishioners, Nov. 15, 2011 - Metropolitan Isaiah

GREEK ORTHODOX METROPOLIS OF DENVER

The Reverend Clergy
The Esteemed Parish Council
The Faithful Members
The Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake
5335 South Highland Drive
Holladay,Utah 84117

November 15, 2011

Beloved in the Lord,

I address this pastoral letter to every faithful Greek Orthodox Christian in Salt Lake City and Holladay who identifies with the historic Holy Trinity Cathedral and with the Prophet Elias Church.

Reflecting back to 1962 when I received my first assignment in the holy priesthood as the assistant priest to Father Steven Katsaris, I considered myself truly blessed. Thirty years later I was assigned as your bishop by the Ecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople in 1992. I have had the blessing of being your hierarch these past nineteen years, and it was always a joy for me to make pastoral visits to the Cathedral, as well as to the Prophet Elias parish during this time period.

Unfortunately, problems began to appear in 2008 regarding the proper administration of the parish. The beginnings of these problems were actually in existence even from 1962 and forced Father Katsaris to leave the parish in July of that year. The long term question which has plagued Salt Lake has been, "Is the community of Salt Lake City in harmony with the Metropolis, the Archdiocese and the Patriarchate, or is it only under the State of Utah as an independent association with no higher ecclesiastical authority over it?" In other words, is the Greek Orthodox Church in Salt Lake in direct continuity with the Church which our Lord Jesus Christ established on the day of Pentecost almost two thousand years ago, or is it to continue to be under the absolute control of a small handful of people, as it has for the past five decades? The fact that over two million dollars missing from the legal responsibility of the parish council, and in control of a few individuals with no official parish positions these past several years, attests to the reality that the existing corporation documents from 1974 contribute to the consistent disruption affecting your community.


Strong evidence of this uncanonical reality is that no less than seven dedicated priests of the community these past forty-seven years were forced to leave the community. For your historic community to have this many proistamenoi remaining on an average of not more than six years raises many questions. Were those priests who were forced to leave the cause of your unending administrative problems, or is it the fact that these same few individuals who have had fiscal control of the assets of the community for the past five decades bear much of the responsibility for your chronic problems?

I thank our loving God for all of you who see yourselves as the faithful inheritors of our holy, Apostolic faith which was brought to our nation by our beloved immigrant progenitors. You know the Church was established on the foundation of the holy Apostles with Jesus Christ as the chief cornerstone. You are aware that we have Apostolic succession indicating the divine nature of the Church. You know that the Church is in the world, but She is not of the world.

You also know the fact that the Church of our Lord is represented by every canonical bishop and can never be subjugated to any civil authority. I pray that this correct interpretation of the Church will come upon all who believe themselves to be faithful Greek Orthodox Christians.

It is a sad testimony that some who call themselves Orthodox Christians do not hesitate to sue the Church and her canonical representatives. They express no embarrassment attacking the very Body of Christ. Because of this, I want to believe that such people, who see nothing wrong in takingtheir Church to civil court have no understanding of the true nature of the Ecclesia, but see the Church as something far less. Consequently, since they have separated themselves from the other parishioners, the six individuals who were involved with the law suit are not in good standing at this time and may not attend the special general assembly.

If you wish to have this matter resolved once and for all, you will want to attend the special general assembly on Sunday, November 20, 2011 and put a stop to this situation. Now is the time for you to affirm that you are one of the over five hundred parishes of our holy Archdiocese under our Ecumenical Patriarchate, rather than an independent secular association as the corporation papers of 1974 state.
According to the letter I received from His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios, Parish Council elections in your community can only take place after the affirmative outcome of the upcoming special assembly.

If you love the Church, if you love your community, as I believe you do, you will step forward with faith at the special general assembly and declare that your community is under our Ecumenical Patriarchate and our holy Archdiocese. Moreover, you will declare that your community will no longer be a secular "association" controlled by a select few temporal humans, but rather by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who has promised that His Church will continue to be in the world, even to the great day of His Second Coming.

With paternal blessings

/s/

+Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver

Letter to Parishioners, Nov. 12, 2011

MEMBERS AND SUPPORTERS OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF GREATER SALT LAKE

SUPPORTING OUR CHURCH, OUR COMMUNITY, OUR CULTURE

November 12, 2011

Dear Friend,

Last week, the Parish Council sent a letter to Greek Orthodox parishioners celebrating their “victory” in a court case regarding efforts to stop the upcoming Special Assembly The letter was full of half-truths, was disingenuous, and did not tell the full story. And we also wonder: Why does the PC spend so much time on this “secular” court ruling, but still ignore the Holy Eparchial Synod ruling of March 24, 2011, signed by Archbishop Demetrios? That letter tells us to remain as one Parish with free, open assemblies, not to just adopt bylaws that can circumvent that ruling.

THEY SAY:
“In doing so, (denying the temporary restraining order) the Court recognized the ecclesiastical order of our Church and dispelled the notion that the Holy Canons, Traditions and Regulations can be circumvented by secular efforts.”
THE TRUTH
The Court believes both ecclesiastical and secular matters are relevant in our bylaws--it did not grant the Parish Council’s motion to dismiss, which is a “victory” for the plaintiffs (not mentioned in the PC letter). The plaintiffs may review all parish documents—including meeting minutes, stewardship rosters and financial reports that have been hidden from the parish for months. Concealing our parish records led to the court suit in the first place.

THEY SAY:
“This affirms that we are a Church, first and foremost, not just a civic club of casual acquaintances.”
THE TRUTH
No one involved in this effort believes we aren’t a Church. We are not a civic club of casual acquaintances.

THEY SAY:
“We are free to follow our Hierarchs without bowing to the personal agendas of those who try to get their way by legal maneuvering, intimidation and misinformation.”
THE TRUTH:
The only agenda in this struggle is for transparency, open general assemblies, elections and allowing the people their place in the governance of our Church. Intimidation comes from our clergy who threaten the closing of the Church if these bylaws are not passed. Misinformation comes from the “Parish Council” not only in their letter, but by not providing financial information and not holding regular general assemblies or elections in over two years.

THEY SAY:
“…to bring our local Articles of Incorporation and Bylaws into conformity with the Regulations of the Archdiocese by removing antiquated exceptions that have existed in our corporate documents for many years.”
THE TRUTH:
If the current bylaws were not in conformity with Archdiocesan regulations, why hasn’t the Archdiocese intervened in the last 106 years? Now suddenly they contain antiquated exceptions? Please provide documentation of other Greek Orthodox parishes which have adopted these proposed bylaws.

THEY SAY:
“These differences can best be exemplified by the return to the use of the proper name of the Parish: Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral and Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church.”
THE TRUTH:
We are and have been the “Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake” without issue. This argument is a red herring to further dilute a united community.

THEY SAY:
“At the Special General Assembly there will be presentations by members of our parish council, our clergy, and representatives from the Metropolis and Archdiocese.”
THE TRUTH:
The Archdiocese has spoken through the Holy and Eparchial Synod in their letter of March 24, 2011 (click HERE to read this correspondence). It is time the decision of that letter was enforced. No other presentations are needed.

Fellow Parishioners

November 10, 2011

Dear Parishioner,

You have heard about us. And what you have heard is wrong.

We are you. We are of one mind. We are an integral part of the Archdiocese of America. We belong to the Metropolis of Denver. We are members of the Holy Orthodox Church. We recognize the patriarch and the Holy Eparchial Synod as the highest Ecclesiastical Authority of our Holy Orthodox Ch urch.

For 106 years we have followed the rules, bylaws and canons of our Church. Yet, over the past several years, responsible administration of our Parish has been forsaken.  Reckless accusations and irmuendo pass for leadership.  We have not had open meetings. We have not had open elections. We have not been provided essential financial data about our commun ity. We need accountability. Our facilities are in disrepair. Our HT Sunday School classrooms are firetraps. The gym roof at PE is leaking.

  

ATTEND THE SPECIAL ASSEMBLY ON NOVEMBER 20, 2011 AND VOTE NO!

• If you want fair and open elections to determine membership of the Parish Council of our

Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake,

VOTE NO ON NOVEMBER 20!

• If you want a fair and honest general assembly of a duly-elected Parish Council, .

VOTE NO ON NOVEMBER 20!

• If you want to maintain Parish Assembly management of our hard earned  properties and specially designated donations as we have always enjoyed,

VOTE NO ON NOVEMBER 20!

• If you want an end to secrecy and bias that restricts some faithful members of our

Greek Orthodox Community from voting on the destiny of their Church,

VOTE NO NOVEMBER 20!

• If you want a return to fmancial accountability and honest governance of our Greek Orthodox Church Community,

  

VOTE NO  

ON NOVEMBER 20!

Note: The Unity Group, which is providing this information, consists of regular, stewardship-paying, God-fearing, dedicated, long­ standing members of the Greek Orthodox Community of Utah. Our love and passion for the Greek Orthodax Church of Greater Salt Lake has never wavered. It is that love and passion that motivates us to seek  better governance of our cherished churches than has been afforded us in  the past several years.  That  is why we are encouraging all parishioners to vote against affirmation of the restated and amended articles of incorporation and the new parish by-laws Nov.20 th at Prophet Elias Church.