17 December 1997
The Pious Priests and Deacons
of the Holy Diocese of
Denver
Beloved Brothers in the Lord,
We have just been informed that whenever the name of Metropolitan Isaiah is mentioned in a petition, he should be referred to as Archbishop Isaiah.
Thus, the proper phraseology for commemorating our Hierarch in the Great Litany will be as follows:
"Yper tou Archiepiskopou imon Hsaiou, tou timiou presbyteriou tis en Christo diakonias, pantos tou klirou kai tou laou, tou Kyriou deithomen."
"For our Archbishop Isaiah, the honorable presbyters, the diaconate in Christ, and for all the clergy and the laity, let us pray to the Lord."
Similarly the commemoration during the Consecration Prayer of the Divine Liturgy, will be:
"En protois mnisthiti, Kyrie, tou Archiepiskopou imon Isaiou on charisai tais agiais sou Ekklisiais en eirini, sošn, entimon, ygia, makroimerevonta, kai orthotomounta ton logon tis sis alitheia"."
"Above all remember, Lord, our Archbishop Isaiah, grant that he may serve Your holy churches in peace. Keep him safe, honorable, and healthy for many years, rightly teaching the word of Your truth."
At all other times he is to be referred to as "Metropolitan Isaiah." This includes correspondence as well as in conversation. In addition, he is to be formally referred to as Metropolitan in his Pheme:
"Hsaiou tou Sebasmiotatou kai Theoproblitou Mitropolitou tis Agiotatis Mitropoleos Proikonisou, ypertimou kai exarchou pasis Propontidos kai Proedrou Denver, imon de Patros kai Poimenarchou, polla ta eti."
"Isaiah, the Most-Reverend and God-Chosen Metropolitan of the Holy Metropolis of Proikonisos, the Right-Honorable Exarch of all the Propontus and Presiding Hierarch of Denver, our Father and Chief Shepherd, many years to him."
The title of "Metropolitan" is an administrative title, whereas the title of "Archbishop" is ecclesiological. This arrangement in fact preserves the ancient order of the Orthodox Church according to which the Episcopacy is comprised of Bishops, Archbishops, and Metropolitans, in that order.
With Love in Christ,
Reverend Luke Uhl