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Take Our Church Back - October 15, 2007

[ Metropolitan Isaiah's Letter to Fr. John Kaloudis ]

2 June 1998

Reverend John Kaloudis
The Esteemed Parish Council
Holy Trinity Cathedral & Prophet Elias Church
279 South 300 West
Salt Lake City, UT 84101

Beloved in the Lord,

I am attempting to arrange my schedule so that I may make a pastoral visit to your parishes in the oncoming future.

Among the items I wish to discuss is the need for your Assistant Priest, Father John Tsaras.  |The reason I say this is because His Eminence Archbishop Spyridon assigned Father Tsaras to the Prophet Elias Church. Yet, I am told that he is rarely there from Sunday to Sunday.

My position in this matter is clear: Father Politis was assigned to Holy Trinity and Father Tsaras was assigned to Prophet Elias. Unfortunately, Father Kaloudis has ignored the assignment letters, as well as my letter to him and to you that only the head priest rotates between the two parishes and not what you have been doing.

Many of your members do not know who their priest is. The procedure you have been following has rendered the priests more as functionaries rather than spiritual fathers. This does not help the people to grow spiritually.

I am beginning to suspect that you do not need a third priest, since Prophet Elias Church is literally closed during weekdays. If your procedure does not change, and if the assignment letters of the two assistant priests are not honored, then I will have no choice but to reassign Father Tsaras to another parish.

I hope to inform you soon when I will be coming to Salt Lake City, so that this matter may be resolved, as well as any other problems which prevent your parishes from being Christ-centered congregations with the people identifying themselves with one spiritual father.

With Paternal Blessings,

[signature]

+ Metropolitan Isaiah
Presiding Hierarch
of the Diocese of Denver

[ Take Our Church Back
  http://takeourchurchback.blogspot.com/2007/10
  October 15, 2007 ]