Leaders of the Greek Orthodox Church are hoping they can work out some solutions to the troubles of the parish in Salt Lake City at a meeting in Denver this week.
Archbishop Demetrios, the head of the Greek Orthodox Church in the United States, is coming to Denver to meet withMetropolitan Isaiah, who oversees Orthodox congregations in the Mountain West. The meeting on Wednesday, March 12th will also include clergy and congregational leaders of Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Salt Lake and Prophet Elias church in Holladay.
An ongoing dispute over the control of parish assets and how many priests it should employ led to a brief suspension of church services last summer. Some members have since circulated a petition asking church authorities to divide the parish.
The worldwide head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Patriarch Bartholomew, asked the American archbishop to step in and help resolve the dispute.
The meeting will include members who’ve backed the three priests that serve the parish as well as leaders of the parish council. The council adopted a budget this year that has funding for only two priests.
Some church members say the issues involved in the dispute go all the way back to the founding of the parish by Greek immigrants more than a hundred years ago, but they’re hoping the archbishop’s intervention will help to resolve them.