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New Greek Orthodox Mission Parish in Salt Lake City

Elaine Emmi
Iconostasis at Prophet Elias Greek Orthodox Church

  The Greek Orthodox church has sanctioned a new mission parish in Salt Lake City. 

Back in April, about two dozen members of Salt Lake City’s Greek Orthodox parish decided to study options to resolve ongoing issues within the congregations.  The parish includes both Holy Trinity Cathedral in downtown Salt Lake and Prophet Elias church in Holladay.

About 200 people met with a representative of the church hierarchy at a junior high school in Murray on Saturday and voted to form a new mission parish.  Its first worship service is planned for this coming Sunday at The Woods on Ninth, a reception center at 6775 South 900 East.  The Metropolis in Denver will provide a priest to officiate at services temporarily.

The new parish has the approval of Metropolitan Isiaiah, who oversees Greek Orthodox congregations in the Mountain West.  The Metropolitan had been part of an effort by both the church’s Archbishop in New York and the ecumenical patriarch in Istanbul to resolve disagreements over the parish budget and the number of priests that should be employed.  Those disagreements led to a brief suspension of worship services last year.

DimitriosTsagaris, who chairs the existing parish council, says the new parish will not share the assets of the old one, including a building fund and revenue from the annual Greek Festival.

Tsagaris says there are no bad feelings as the new parish forms and he wishes them well.

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