OUR COMMUNITY'S ONGOING LACK OF REPRESENTATION AT THE METROPOLIS COUNCIL

Moderators' Note: please refer to the attached minutes of the Metropolis Council Meeting held January 25, 2014. The original can be viewed here. 

---

---

The recent Metropolis Council Meeting (held January 25, 2014) indicated why we are, and have recently been, despite our Metropolitan's grudging and presumed "acceptance", in dire straits.

In the midst of this chaos, it is interesting to note that we have NO REPRESENTATION from any of this community's properly acknowledged, elected leaders with the Metropolitan.

The Meeting Agenda SPECIFICALLY describes "Parish Pastors and PRESIDENTS".

Our current, and properly ELECTED, President's name is conspicuously absent! (We don't think this is an innocent oversight!)

Further, the supposed community representative, the ONLY representative currently listed as being from this community, is one who was a past elected president, but who resigned, under rather odd circumstances, in the spring of 2010! Nearly FOUR YEARS AGO!!!

It is further interesting to note that at the Metropolis Clergy-Laity Conference held in Dallas in 2009, this former elected President (along with the Proistamenos-of-Prophet-Elias-only) was listed as the representative from Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church, Holladay, Utah.

This same person, who now holds no properly authorized elective or appointive office (since the spring of 2010), is currently listed as a representative from Holy Trinity Cathedral!

SINCE WHEN???

In the meantime, our Metropolitan will not even take calls from our PROPERLY ELECTED Parish Council President of the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake - the ELECTED LEADER of the actual LEGAL entity (like it or not!) encompassing BOTH churches - Holy Trinity AND Prophet Elias - in this community!

OUR FOREFATHERS KNEW WHAT THEY INTENDED!

They also KNEW from what - and FROM WHOM - they were protecting us!

WHY THIS COMMUNITY IS PREVENTED FROM HEALING AND PROGRESSING ...

Moderators' Note: please refer to the attached minutes of the Metropolis Council Meeting held January 25, 2014. The original can be viewed here. The excerpt cited below (with emphases) is on page 10.

---

… and who is the source of these problems? The excerpt from the recent Metropolis Council Meeting says it all!

Having FAILED, again and again, to effect that the parishioners of the Greek Orthodox Community of Greater Salt Lake MUST split their community (although EVERY VOTE AND SURVEY REGARDING SUCH HAS RESULTED IN A RESOUNDING NO!), our Metropolitan continues to work the back-door channels with a minority of parishioners to effect a FORCIBLE split.

Now, apparently, and with no discouragement from their spiritual leaders, this minority has been encouraged to resort to the behaviors of BULLIES to see this done.

WHO sent the request to separate the parishes, when, and UNDER WHAT AUTHORITY???

Meanwhile, our Metropolitan continues to sabotage our properly elected leadership, and we wonder why we cannot progress as a community?

"Saving souls..."

Fr. Kouremetis,

Will you please tell us if you condone or condemn
last Sunday's unfortunate events ? 

The Parish will be waiting.

Yannis Armaou

Parish Council Letter to the Community - January 22, 2014

The Parish Council has responded to the events that took place last Sunday. Their original correspondence may be viewed here.

January 22, 2014

Dear Parishioners,

Your parish council is very concerned with the events at Prophet Elias last Sunday, January 19th.  For those of you who may not be aware, one of the parish council was assaulted in the narthex by one of our fellow  parishioners.   This  altercation  was  physical and resulted in the authorities being called to the scene. No one was injured.

We have filed a formal report with the  local authorities and  our  Hierarchs.  We  are  taking  this event very seriously and will be taking necessary precautions to prevent further violence.

At this time we ask everyone to refrain from altercations in our houses of worship.

In His Name and Service

Your Parish Council

THREATS AGAIN? IT WOULD BE FUNNY IF IT WERE NOT SO PATHETIC!

We are not looking for the PC to fund our Priest, we are doing that OURSELVES thank you very much! As I've said before, stay in your playground and we'll stay in ours. What took place after church today will continue to happen until you and yours get the message that we REFUSE the PC's authority. The PC are NOTHING but simple-minded parishioners hungry for properties, power and control. Don't come to PE looking to cause problems or you will surely find them.

- from the former first "lady" of our community

---

It should come as no surprise whatsoever that these holier-than-thou "orthodox" "Christians" are not ASHAMED of their disgraceful and cowardly actions, incited by the priest to whom they have a cult-like devotion.

This promised threat is directed toward properly elected officials of OUR community, and presumably, toward anyone they deem as "not belonging" to their cult.

They claim our church now as their turf. Further, as with all BULLIES their "enforcers" chose to pick on the most elderly of the Parish Council members who served that day.

Now they claim that if we don't stay in our "playground" (really?) this will happen again.

Our church, the church where we were married, where we christened our children, where we buried loved ones, where our forebears are memorialized, is called a "playground"?

Again, we call on the hierarchy to put a stop to this lunacy - to these bullying THREATS - before someone gets seriously hurt!

The Time for Laughter Has Passed; It's Time for Tears!

What can one say about a group of people, who, while clearly in the minority (a fact proved over and over again) have simply decided to behave like vicious squatters who claim what belongs to ALL of US solely for themselves?

The facts are still coming in regarding yesterday's debacle at Prophet Elias. We have refrained from commentary thus far in order to give those involved time to give statements to the authorities and to the Archdiocese.

What is clear is that Father Michael, in refusing for far too many months now to deal with, a) the properly elected lay authorities of this community, and b) in using the Nave as his forum, is continually creating what is evolving into an incendiary and now dangerous situation.

We have asked several people if any can ever recall a priest using the Divine Liturgy and the Antidoron to express his contempt for a community's lay leadership. Despite several historical instances of tensions, no one ever remembers such.

For several weeks now, the minority and former anointed appointed have made it their business to harass any Parish Council member, or anyone who has been vocally against the split, who dares show his or her face AT THEIR OWN CHURCH!

Father Michael's comments to the assembled congregation during the Antidoron have, in effect, incited some of his more ardent supporters, first to ugly and unseemly outbursts during services, and afterward, to violence.

Of course, in the manner of all bullies, the most "ardent" of what is becoming the cult of Fr. Michael, chose to threaten, then assault - physically - a gentleman in his late 80s.

This gentleman has served this community long before most of us were born. He was part of that great generation of immigrants who clung to the church and community as a harbor. He is part of what should be our collective memory as he has, for several decades, chanted during liturgies, holidays, memorial services. Agree with him, or not, NO ONE has the right to tell him not to come to his own church, let alone to threaten or to assault him, or other members of the Parish Council, or anyone else for that matter.

---

To the Metropolitan, to the Archbishop, and to the Patriarch: 

If you cannot understand that your one-sided, top-heavy Uniform Parish Regulations have led to this sorry pass, then woe unto you all!

We have BEGGED you to understand that the clergy you now have here do not lead with a shepherd's love. Instead, they now sow bitterness, hatred, divisiveness. They are directly responsible for pitting us against each other, for dividing families and friends, and for leading with examples of pettiness, greed and arrogance. 

Are you all willing to continue with the ugly construct you have created and condoned until your dithering leads to someone being seriously injured or worse? 

MEA MINIMA CULPA …

Moderator's Note: (from a previous comment - refer to 2nd comment, previous blog)

---

We are sorry we had a respondent who had some difficulties posting a comment.

[Strange are the ways of Google, indeed? (NOTE: few others have had problems?)]

That said: please be aware that, a) the hierarchy, the clergy, and the former anointed appointed IGNORED several requirements of the highly flawed UPRs as have suited their purposes, and, b) in this community, it is NOT the job of the Parish Council to FUND a PRIEST - ANY PRIEST - for Prophet Elias ONLY!

That is a MINDSET that exists in a brainwashed small minority of this community, and in the notion that THAT minority can take HALF this community's assets for themselves, and do with such as they wish.

We don't have a "priest at Prophet Elias". We don't have a "priest at Holy Trinity".

We insist on priests who will serve a unified Greek Orthodox Community of Greater Salt Lake. If this Archdiocese and Metropolis won't provide such, they have only to say so.

If the current "standards" in the benighted UPRs, passed through several "kangaroo" Clergy-Laity Congresses insist on something else, so much the worse for them! (Who can take such nonsense seriously, when the hierarchy themselves won't abide by them?)

WE ARE ONE COMMUNITY.

We insist on priests who will serve a unified Greek Orthodox Community of Greater Salt Lake.

We know what our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents had in mind! These exist in writing - in resolutions that have been passed.

If you want to change them, bring them to a vote. If you lose the (SEVERAL) votes, be GRACIOUS enough to accept that - and MOVE ON!

Thoughts for the New Year: If You Don't LAUGH, You'll CRY!

We've been offline a while. It was the holidays; everyone is tied up, busy, planning for family visits, holiday festivities, winter colds, and the like.

Well, well,well ... since our last posts:

- the anointed appointed put out numerous disingenuous messages regarding "lack of transparency" and such from the current Parish Council. (Note: these are the same people who "can't find" the recordings of the Parish Council meetings when they were in (appointive) "power", and whose financials were a nightmare.)

We would remind them that, a) unlike them, this Parish Council WAS fairly elected, despite their ongoing disingenuous and idiotic excuses regarding "absentee ballots" which the Metropolitan is so fond of parroting as well; b) they themselves found the accounting, after a separate investigation of such, to be to their satisfaction, though they were too disingenuous to follow up with the local media after initially claiming (and then reclaiming) "problems"! (Note: they tried mightily to curb the power of the vote, yet again, by demanding NO absentee ballots even though their vaunted and flawed UPRs allow them!)

- we were treated to a ridiculous tirade that the November General Assembly, with its nominations, was "invalid" because the priests walked out; a further ridiculous tirade was launched because the parishioners present chose NOT to elect a former "anointed appointed" to the Audit Committee (where he would have had an OBVIOUS conflict of interest);

- we were also told that the former anointed appointed were going to pay for the Proistamanos of Prophet Elias Only through a separate account established at the Metropolis.

Really? Good luck with that! (And in setting such an extraordinary precedent, nowhere mentioned in your beloved, flawed UPRs, you might find yourselves paying for far more than you bargained for! Just saying …)

- they also "objected" to the involvement in our community's problems of a nationally and internationally prominent archon, advisor to the Archbishop, in our community's issues;

Because, of course, it was and is OK for them to involve an advisor to the Metropolitan, related to some of the former anointed appointed; but, of course, it's wrong if this community's MAJORITY turns to persons who might also have an interest in the future of our community and, for that matter, for our faith in the entire country? 

- it was also evident that the majority in this community would not "buy in" to the fact that anytime a clergyman didn't like the course of the discourse, he/they could "negate" any discussion they wished not to hear simply by leaving - yeah, the majority here doesn't buy into that anymore either!

How convenient is it to have priests simply choosing to walk out when they do not care for the turn of conversation? How convenient is it for the former anointed appointed to have the priests walk out when they realize they do not have the votes? (they even whined about such in a follow-up letter to their supposed supporters!) How interesting is it that they still do not understand, no matter what, THEY ARE A MINORITY!!!???

The only reason they think they are a majority is that we, THE REAL MAJORITY, have made a serious mistake! Because many are sick and tired of the ongoing lunacy, they have decided to avoid such by driving the extra miles downtown. As such, we have abandoned OUR COMMUNITY'S CHURCH in Holladay to them. Thus, they delude themselves that they've "won"!

- being so certain of their "majority", they actually have had the nerve to confront various properly elected Parish Council members, including one of our outstanding youth, demanding to know "what are YOU doing here? WE can handle this (meaning the pangari/candle donations)!"

Again, our mistake is quite evident. 

The reply is:

NO ONE has the RIGHT to tell ANYONE that Prophet Elias is NOT their church!

The youngster who was chastised, is an elected Parish Council member and an outstanding young man in our community. How smart is it to antagonize one of our youth, since it's not that easy to keep them engaged? Our co-Treasurer is a lifelong member who has served in various capacities for over three decades, and mostly at PE. Our President, as well.

NONE of the people who are being harassed currently needed an appointment from Denver; they were fairly ELECTED, after this community's majority had been denied voting privileges allowed by those same UPRs for so long.

Stewards actually ELECTED THEM - and re-elected many of them! (If some chose not to participate, that was their choice.)

We ALL, as stewards of this community, have an ABSOLUTE RIGHT to attend either of OUR community's churches (where so many of us were baptized, married, or had parents and loved ones memorialized) whenever we wish!

No one should tell any member of our community, regardless of his or her thoughts on the problems we face, to leave, or to ask "what are YOU doing here!?"

Both churches belong TO ALL OF US - and NOT TO SOME OF US!

Letter to the Patriarchate

December 20, 2013

His All Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew

Rum Patrikhanesi

342 20 Fener-Haliç

Istanbul, TURKEY

ΑΘΠ τόν Οικουμενικόν Πατριάρχην Κωνσταντινουπόλεως κύριον  κύριον  Βαρθολομαίον.

Παναγιώτατε Πάτερ και Δέσποτα,

Ευλογημένος ό ερχόμενος!

Πρόσφατα εσταλλει  στην Παναγιώτητά σας ηλεκτρονικό γράμμα από την κοινότητά μας

Σολτ Λεικ  Σιτι, Γιούτα. Επιτρέψτε μου να σας πληροφορήσω ότι οί αποστολείς αποτελούν  το 13% τής μαρτυρικής κοινότητάς μας. Ο σκοπός μου δεν είναι να αντιπαρατεθώ στα όσα εγράφησαν. Είναι όμως απορίας άξιον στά όσα αναφέρονται οι εν λόγω αποστολείς. 

Είναι αναντίρρητο και καθ’όλα αποδεκτό  και σεβαστό θα προσθέσω , στο να  υπάρχη αντίθεση γνώμης σέ ορισμένα ζητήματα. Στη περίπτωση μας όμως η αλήθεια είναι μόνο μια.

Σάς παραθέτω το ένθετο το οποίο εστάλλει από το κοινοτικό συμβούλιο στους ενορίτες κατά το οποίον είς εκ των υπογραφόντων εκθειάζει τον τρόπο με τον οποίον το συμβούλιο  χειρίζεται τά οικονομικά της κοινότητος. Δυστυχώς όμως  στο εν λόγω γράμμα αναφέρονται ακριβώς τα αντίθετα. Ένα από τά πολλά παραδείγματα.  click here

Παναγιώτατε,

Θα λάβω το θάρρος να παρομοιάσω τη μαρτυρική  κοινότητα μας με το Φανάρι το οποίο γνωρίζει από πόνους και οδύνας ως και από στεναγμούς και δάκρυα. Έχει την εμπειρία τού Γολγοθά και της Αναστάσεως. Σας παρακαλώ θερμά όπως επιλειφθείτε  της υποθέσεώς μας προσωπικά και εύχομαι για μια ταχεία επίλυση του προβλήματος μας.

Εύχομαι ολόψυχα το πνεύμα τών Χριστουγέννων να φωτίση τις ψυχές μας με το φως της αλήθειας.

Με Σεβασμό.

Ιωάννης Αρμάου

cc: Archbishop Demetrios

HAND-PICKED TO "ANNOY THE MET"?

It has been "suggested" that the current Parish Council, and the latest PC nominees and electees, are "hand-picked" to annoy the Metropolitan of Denver. The assertion is nonsense!

The elected Parish Council has tried mightily to work with the Metropolitan and the local clergy since its election, despite the Metropolitan's going back on his word countless times, his nearly constant provocative correspondence, and his obvious encouragement to the local clergy and their former anointed appointed to remain imperious and uncooperative. 

No group of people has been more patient, or has tried harder. Sadly, to little avail. Despite proper elections and general assemblies, despite a now open and transparent governance, the Metropolitan's heart - like the Pharaoh's - remains hardened.

Let's talk about the Met and his local toadies' actions in this community for oh, say, the past half-dozen-plus years.

These are the scheming minority who, in collusion with an unloving Metropolitan:

- condoned an action by the Proistamenos who "tattled" to the Metropolitan and managed to remove a respected elder from the Parish Council. Not being enough, that led to that elder's sacramental sanctioning - albeit temporarily. After the fact, the Met claimed that he had been "misled", and though he lifted the sanctions, having been "misled", he did NOT reinstate said gentleman to the Parish Council. In the meantime, of course, as with all provocateurs and snitches, the Proistamenos raised his hands and claimed to "know nothing" and threw his own superior under the bus! (He of course, has a good example in that the Metropolitan has thrown his brother bishop, Archbishop Demetrios, under said bus numerous times as well.)

- condoned and remained SILENT, following clergy and hierarchy directives, during Parish Council nomination "culls", betraying their own brothers and sisters in the community. 

- condoned the suspension of elections and General Assemblies, in direct violation of the UPR. 

- condoned and congratulated themselves upon serving as "anointed appointed", lording it over the "less holier-than-thou" VAST MAJORITY of this community, who were left VOICELESS and UNREPRESENTED while the anointed appointed "led", and led badly. 

- engaged in utterly dishonorable and despicable actions designed to impugn the integrity and destroy the reputation of a community elder who has given vast amounts of time, talent and treasure both to this community and to Greek Orthodoxy throughout the nation and the world. In fact, the anointed appointed still - shamefully - refer to this highly respected professional as a "robber"!  Our Metropolitan has not discouraged such shameful behavior!

- condemned the majority when they resorted to the only "voice" they had left, the withholding of funds to their beloved community, and then being FORCED to resort to civil courts when the anointed appointed would not, in violation of both the UPR and civil law, provide a mailing list upon a proper request. (This community paid for both its own lawyers and their counsel as well in that fiasco!) 

- condoned a winter meeting that essentially held a gun to the community's head, with a carpetbagging "hired gun" from Houston who castigated elders forced to remain outside their own church - in sub-freezing temperatures - and STILL won't admit that this community has the fortitude that our forefathers would be PROUD of, to tell them and all their ilk - whether they be hierarch, clergy, archon, "anointed appointed", "NO! OXI!"

- condemns the majority and still demands a split of this community - still holding it HOSTAGE! - despite numerous surveys and votes indicating that the community is not in favor of such action. Unbelievably, the splitters claim that those who object to their ongoing hard-headedness are not "unifiers" and are "spewing hate". 

- condemn still, those who correctly identify the clergy, particularly the Proistamenos-of-Prophet-Elias-only, as an ongoing instigator of dissension and disunity. His and his toadies' continuing EFFORTS in encouraging a split are directly responsible for sluggish stewardship. No one will give generously while this poisonous situation continues!

When pointing to past and ongoing outrages, the majority is blamed for the dissension in the community, blamed for the community-at-large laughing at us, blamed for trashing a tradition lasting 2,000 years. That these situations exist, is not because of the majority of good Orthodox Christians in this valley, but because of flawed apostolic successors and a benighted minority who think themselves holier-than-anyone-who-disagrees with them!

In truth, it is the minority dissenters, who have ignored their minority status - and the FACTS on the ground - along with an egotistical and compassionless clergy, who are entirely responsible for the ills troubling our beloved community.

Merry Christmas! Καλα Χριστουγεννα! Και ο Θεος βοηθος!

PS - Those who are tired of these antics have in past years, to avoid the hassle, have avoided Prophet Elias and mainly attend services at Holy Trinity. As such, the former "anointed appointed" have continued to lay false claim, improperly, to this COMMUNITY'S church in Holladay! We encourage all members of the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake to attend BOTH churches, as was the intent of our wise forebears!

JOHN SALTAS RESPONDS TO LATEST PROTECT OUR CLERGY EMAIL

Moderators' Note: Mr. Saltas has given his permission that his response to P.O.C. be posted. 

On Dec 11, 2013, at 1:01 AM, John Saltas wrote:

---

Dear POC

Thank you for another soul less email.

I am taking your advice though and am sending my response not just to you but to the entire "rogue" parish council and to the Metropolitan as well. In your email, you asked this question:

Is it possible to step back from the cliff’s edge before our Parish falls into a thickening mire of conflict and hatred?

It appears that you, or some of you, have been quite busy at that already......Here's just one of many samplers from the Devil's right hand, Facebook, where Dimitri Tsagaris has been compared to Nikita Khrushchev, and the parish council labeled a bunch of communists, devils and heathens:



You've already crossed the hatred abyss POC. Please keep on going. You're a disruptive, faceless coward with a keyboard. Nothing more. On that score, I will credit Mary for signing her name and she has once or twice exposed a bit of clever wit. But you? A spud. A potato. All eyes and thin skin. No heart nor brain. All rot when exposed to the light of day.

Enough of your protracted maligning of so many good people of this community!

My message to the council: Affect the will of those who voted for you. If you indeed had a mission of "unity" then never forget why that mission originated and who was behind the mayhem that begat the mis-unity in the first place. I suspect that POC and those who brought this community to its financial knees these past, many years are one and the same or combinations thereof. Why else doth they protest so much? Why do they hate dancers and basketball players? Why do they play with decoder rings when a cup of coffee and some eye contact is more effective? 

Why do they get so many facts wrong? Why do they "make sh*t up"? Oh, oops. Forgot. It's because the faceless and anonymous (and the afraid) can and do lie with impunity. And if you think that is a lie, ask yourself this: Have you ever seen a Klansman without a hood?

My message to the Metropolitan: Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

John Saltas

---

Mr. Saltas wrote the above in response to this e-mail

Date: Tue, 10 Dec 2013 22:29:32 -0700
Subject: Brace Yourself For Another Church Closure Compliments of the Parish Council
From: protectourclergy@gmail.com

To:

As predicted, our rogue Parish Council is again pursing its agenda to secede from the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese, but this time without the pretense of a “heavy heart”. We must brace ourselves for yet another closure of our Churches while dance and basketball programs continue unhampered.  See the attached “Salt Lake Parish Council Letter 12-9-2013” for a complete display of its secular and legalistic approach to managing Christ’s Church. The code words “eliminate the highest clergy compensation package” translates to “we are firing Father Michael”.

The Council persists in its belief that the vast majority of our Church members agree with their tactics and goals, in spite of the letter signed by over 500 members pleading for a return to normalcy. The Parish Council claims that it is implementing the directives of the Parish Assembly, but the truth is that its decision to terminate a Priest is contrary to the motion made in August to reinstate clergy salaries.

His Eminence did not ignore the decision of the August Parish Assembly. He specified only one prerequisite to his considering a reduction of clergy, that being to follow the UPR requirement that all Parish funds be under the control of the Parish Council. This would be a simple task that the Parish Council has inexplicably refused to follow.

The inevitable result from the most recent Parish Council action will again be the closing of our Churches. We need to understand that such closing is not a refusal by the clergy to perform their duties over a pay issue, but in fact is the only option that the Hierarchs have. The Parish Council surely anticipates this consequence, but again, places its agenda before the wellbeing of the entire Parish, young and old, regardless of where they worship.

The Parish Council has orchestrated the current financial situation and has made no effort to improve stewardship, discredit the campaign to withhold stewardship, or truly unify the community. Most recently it resorted to giving away funds that the Parish Assembly directed towards Church operations. The disbursement of $20,000 to the Holy Trinity Philoptochos from the Greek Festival account is not only unauthorized, but if the Council’s claims that the parish is near insolvency are true, it is an extravagant and reckless expenditure, regardless of the philanthropic nature of the Philoptochos.

The hypocrisy of this clergy reduction is exemplified in the fact that those who most ardently advocated for a third priest in 2007 are those who now push to discharge clergy, and never in the interim worked towards increasing stewardship to cover the cost of a third priest. But rather, they promoted withholding of stewardship as a form of political protest.

Further irresponsible behavior on the part of the Parish Council can be seen in the circumstances surrounding the “elections” held last Sunday. Election results, for unknown reasons, were first published through unofficial social media sources.  We have learned that the tally reports 84 in-person votes from PE, which conflicts with eye witness accounts of the voting activity, and also included 54 absentee ballots (along with 13 via email) which equates to 20% of the total 272 votes cast. If the election was in any way valid, these results would seem to be somewhat questionable.

Is it possible to step back from the cliff’s edge before our Parish falls into a thickening mire of conflict and hatred? The Parish Council seems steadfast in its desire to bring ruin upon us all, but we should at a minimum question their intentions and authority to do so. We suggest contacting the Council members directly to express your opinions and dissatisfaction. We also recommend communicating your concerns and frustrations with His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah.

Listed below are the email addresses for the Parish Council and the contact information for the Metropolis.

Parish Council
George Adondakis gadondakis@nicholasandco.com
Gus Colessides gcolessides@gmail.com
Steve Gamvroulas sgamvroulas@gmail.com
Philip Kithas philipkithas@comcast.net
Alicia Mares alicia_mares@bd.com
John Mastakas john@usemetro.com
Maria Oneida mariaoneida@comcast.net
Tom Peters twp@psplawyers.com
Chris Sakellariou csakellariou@hotmail.com
Sakis Sakaellariou jsiouris@hotmail.com
Pete Saltas pete.saltas@gmail.com
Pete Sefakis pns@yahoo.com
Tikey Skedros tsked@aol.com
Dimitrios Tsagaris dimitrios.tsagaris@gmail.com

Metropolis of Denver
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver
4550 East Alameda Avenue
Denver, Colorado 80246-1208
Tel.: (303) 333-7794 • Fax: (303) 333-7796
Email: metropolis@denver.goarch.org

Second Note from the Parish Council: December 10, 2013

Moderator's Note: The second correspondence sent from the Parish Council today may be viewed here.

---

December 10, 2013

Dear Parishioners,

Our Thanksgiving dinner was a great success thanks to a wonderful group of volunteers and some very generous donations. We would like to give special thanks to AAA, Nicholas & Co, Kessimakis Produce, Stone Ground Bakery, Costco, Village Inn and the LDS Church. There were also two anonymous donations of $2,500.00. We were able to serve 1,112 dinners at the Memorial Hall, delivered to 427 shut in’s and had 400 people take dinners home for a grand total of 1, 939 meals.

Special thanks to all of our co-chairpersons, Yannis Armaou, Bill Rekouniotis, Zeljko Milovic, and Philoptochos, to just name few. There were many other volunteers that worked behind the scenes for several days prior to and or during the event.

272 ballots were cast at the Parish Council Elections. Your newly elected Parish Council members are:

Nick Bapis
Greg Skedros
Ted Sargetakis
Cindy Skedros
Alicia Mares
Maria Oneida
Yannis Armaou
Steve Gamvroulas

There will be a Community Christmas Card this year. If you would like to participate you can use the Parish website to give your $10.00 donation or you can submit it to the Church offices. The final date for submissions will be Monday December 16th.

The Parish Council will once again be hosting the New Year’s Eve party. Tickets will be sold at both churches on Sundays.

Adults: $30.00
Children, 12 and under: $15.00
Children, under 5: free

Doors open at 7:00PM with Cocktail Hour at 8:00PM and Prime Rib Dinner at 9:00PM.

Please plan to share this wonderful evening with us.

We are grateful for all of your continued support.

In His Name and Service,

Your Parish Council

"Spirituality" That NO ONE NEEDS!!!

Current "wisdom" from one of the (self) anointed, (self) appointed:

...

No one can argue that when a Parish Council takes the Oath of Office to uphold the Uniform Parish Regulations, and as a Parish, we accept clergy, who administer the Mysteria of the Faith, we acknowledge THEY are an extension of Apostolic Succession, which, in fact ratified OUR Uniform Parish Regulations after OUR Clergy-Laity Convention.  

... 

Each of us SHOULD have a Spiritual Father to guide us BEFORE we stray, and WE should reach out to them whether or not we think we are improving.  We set a bad example to our children by trashing UPRs and Clergy.

---

How seriously LAUGHABLE! Somehow the doctrine of Apostolic Succession ratifies "OUR" Uniform Parish Regulations? The ones that have been passed by lay "leaders" handpicked by the clergy in kangaroo-court legislative sessions? The same ones that are stagnating our once thriving churches, communities, our Greek-American lobby efforts?

We would submit that if the original Apostles and Evangelists went to the ancient pagani and proposed a set of strictures such as contained in the current Uniform Parish Regulations, the apostles would not have had to wait for the Romans to arrest and torture them, the peasantry would have taken take care of the job themselves!

The Uniform Parish Regulations are DIRECTLY responsible for the lethargy in which our community, in particular, and in fact, the church in this country as a whole, finds itself.

If these rules and regulations are so well thought out, so wonderful, SO JUST, why does this particular statement NEED to be added in the regulations?

Article 15, Section 7:

The Parish shall furthermore abide by the decisions of the Clergy-Laity Congresses irrespective of whether it was represented thereat, (emphasis added) the administrative determinations of the Archdiocesan Council, and such interim legislation as may be adopted between Congresses by the Archdiocesan Council.

Why the need for such a statement? Unless one well knows, in advance, that something will be SHOVED down the throats of an unsuspecting flock in an unjust, unfair manner?

As for the types of "spiritual fathers" the self-anointed, self-appointed suggests we all "need", one should look at another side of such "devotion". We invite him and our readers to investigate such at the following Web site: http://gotruthreform.org.

Such spiritual fathers NO ONE NEEDS!!!

CORRESPONDENCE FROM THE COMMUNITY'S PARISH COUNCIL: December 10, 2013

Moderator's Note: This correspondence was sent out today by our Parish Council. It may be viewed in the original form here.

---

December 10, 2013

Dear Parishioners,

Please find below the Salt Lake Parish Council Letter of 12-9-2013.

Your Parish Council met last night for a scheduled Parish Council meeting to discuss important community issues including the Parish Council election results.

Many Parishioners were present.

Our Proestamenoi were not present and no prior notification of their absence was given. (Fr. Elias notified our President on Sunday Dec 8, 2013 that he would be on vacation).

We were informed by one of the parish council members at the beginning of the meeting that Fr. Michael was not coming. Towards the end of the meeting the same parish council member received a text from Fr. Michael stating that the proestamenoi were directed by our Metropolitan to not attend the Parish Council meeting.

Election results and other important issues will be communicated to the Parish via separate communication.

We are in constant communication with the Archdiocese and pray for resolution of our present difficulties.

In His Name and Service,

Your Parish Council

---

December 9, 2013
VIA E-MAIL AND FIRST CLASS MAIL DELIVERY

His Eminence Metropolitan Isaiah of Denver
Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Denver
4550 East Alameda Ave. Denver, CO 80246

Your Eminence,

Attached please find the resolution and motion passed by the Parish Council. Please note that this will take effect on January 1, 2014.

MOTION FROM 11-11-2013 PARISH COUNCIL MEETING:

On January 1, 2014 the Parish Council will implement the Parish Assembly directives made on August 25, 2013 and November 10, 2013 and eliminate the highest clergy compensation package to balance the budget.

In His Name and Service
Respectfully,

/s/ Dimitrios Tsagaris

For the Parish Council

Dimitrios Tsagaris
2013 Parish Council President

CC: His Holiness Patriarch Bartholomew; His Eminence Archbishop Demetrios; Mr. Michael Jaharis; Fr. Michael Kouremetis; Fr. Mathew Gilbert.

---

RESOLUTION OF THE GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCH OF GREATER SALT LAKE
DATED NOVEMBER 11, 2013

WHEREAS, in 2007 the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake (“GOCSLC”) held its Spring Parish Assembly;

WHEREAS, during that Spring Parish Assembly, the membership in good standing, against the advice of the then parish council and Clergy, approved a request for a third priest to be assigned to GOCSLC;

WHEREAS, since 2007 the GOCSLC has had difficulty in meeting its financial obligations;

WHEREAS, the current Parish Council has repeatedly warned the Community and Metropolitan Isaiah of the pending financial crisis its faces;

WHEREAS, in July 2013, the current Parish Council reduced Clergy salaries by 40% (net overall reduction of 27%) to prevent financial default on its payroll obligations and accounts payable;

WHEREAS, in August 2013 a Special General Assembly was held and the membership in good standing voted to restore Clergy salaries to full compensation levels, including the payment of all back pay, and additionally voted to request Metropolitan Isaiah reassign one of the priests as soon as possible;

WHEREAS, despite the directive from the August 2013 Special General Assembly and repeated pleas from the Parish Council, Metropolitan Isaiah has not reassigned a priest as of this time;

WHEREAS, on November 10, 2013 in accordance with Article 1, Section 31 of the Uniform Parish Regulations, the Fall Parish Assembly consisting of members in good standing (the appropriating and policymaking body) voted in support of and passed an amended balanced budget for 2014 with Clergy salaries reflecting only 2 priests;

WHEREAS, absent the relief provided by the balanced budget, the GOSLC will be in financial stress and struggle to meet its financial commitments by year end December, 2013; and

BE IT RESOLVED that on January 1, 2014 the Greek Orthodox Church of Greater Salt Lake will implement the directives from the Fall Parish Assembly reflecting a balanced budget with only two Clergy salary positions receiving compensation.