Received via e-mail at the website:

Dear All,

For those of you who have already received this appeal, we have managed to get a reprieve of about 10 days to allow us to garner more pledges.

Sorry for the intrusion. I am choir director of the Greek Orthodox Community of The Holy Apostles in Preston, Lancashire, UK. We have been hiring halls for the past 15 years on Sundays for Liturgy while constantly searching for a building or plot of land to open the first Orthodox Church in Preston. After such a long time we have now found an ideal place (which is a very large hall with all facilities and large car park on one of the main roads into the city just outside the centre), but urgently need to raise at least £100,000 in pledges & donations to be able to put an offer on the table. It would be a terrible shame to miss out on such an opportunity so all support whether large or small will be appreciated.

If you are a parish priest or church council member we would really appreciate it if you could ask your councils & communities this Sunday about whether you are able to promise a donation, whether large or small, as individuals or communities. If you are a company that may have connections with the Orthodox Church we would really appreciate any pledges or donations too! I have e-mailed this appeal to a lot of people so if everyone was able to offer only a small gift, it would make all the difference!

Please read the attached letter from our priest (bear in mind that it was written before we found out that we have a few more days to gather funds). The letter is also in Greek, but if the font does not work, the letter can also be seen on our website.

For information about our community please visit our website http://www.holy-apostles.org.uk

If you can pledge some money please e-mail our chairman gregory.baker@blueyonder.co.uk as soon as possible. Otherwise you can make donations by paypal via the website.

Please forward this to all your own Orthodox contacts and mailing lists of which you may be members.

Much appreciated!

In XC, Ephrem (Yew Han) Baker

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Orthodox Community of the Holy Apostles
Worshipping at: The Galloway Hall, Brackenbury Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire, UK.
Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain


Dear Friends
An exciting opportunity has just arisen which raises the possibility of purchasing a building for our church.
Some time ago our Chairman and I had very friendly discussions with the diocese of another church concerning the use or purchase of various buildings in Preston which might become surplus to their requirements in the next few years.
We had originally enquired about one particular building which had been used as a parish hall and club but at the time it seemed that the whole area around and including the hall was to be developed for commercial use with City Council support. However the main developers have just pulled out of the deal and following this we enquired again about the building. It is available again but there have been other firm offers to buy for some time. However I am sure if we were able to place a competitive offer to the trustees of the hall they would be happier for it to continue in a Christian use rather than go to commercial developers.
We would need to offer about £400,000 very quickly to secure the property as the trustees of the building have a legal responsibility to secure the best deal for their charity. This is obviously a great deal of money but, compared to the cost of other property in Preston, it is good value for the extensive building and car park we would get. There are also possible sources of income that could be derived from the hire of parts of the building and car park which would help with the upkeep.
Archbishop Gregorios is very interested in exploring this project and will hopefully give his blessing and seek some financial supporters. We however need to do our part by asking ourselves what we can do to raise as much finance as possible as quickly as possible. We would then need to look at a possible mortgage for the remainder.
We are now joining together as an Orthodox Community to pray about this and to consider what amount of money we might each be able to make available. However, as a community, we are all ordinary people without extensive assets and we are prayerfully calling upon the wider Orthodox community for support in this project. If you can help please confidentially inform me by telephone or email of the amount you can pledge but it is essential to tell me by THURSDAY 10th November so that we can decide if the purchase of this good property is possible.
Your help might possibly be offered by a straightforward gift (preferably with an Inland Revenue form signed so that the tax can be reclaimed) or a long term interest free loan to the Community. As an Orthodox Community in this area of Lancashire we have been in existence for 15 years. During this time we have scoured the region to find a place to call our church, without success. We believe that this is an opportunity not to be missed.
Please think and pray in the next few days, and then tell me the extent of gift and support that you could make available to the church. With the promises given to us, we can then be in a position to see if our Community can proceed to the next stage of our hope for the purchase of a permanent Church building.
Your Servant in Christ
Fr Christodoulos Orthodox Community of the Holy Apostles
Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
Worshipping at: The Galloway Hall, Brackenbury Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire Priest:
Fr Christodoulos Fyles
Freshfield
Gidlow Houses
Gidlow Lane
Wigan
Greater Manchester
WN6 8RU
United Kingdom
Tel: UK 01257 421521
email: xcdoulos@onetel.com


Δευτέρα 8η Νοεμβρίου 2004 Αγαπητοί φίλοι
Έχει παρουσιαστεί μια εξαιρετική ευκαιρία από την οποιά οι πιθανότητες να αγοράσουμε το δικό μας ναό αυξάνονται.
Πρίν από κάποιο χρονικό διάστημα ο εγώ και ο επίτροπος της εκκλησίας έιχαμε μια φιλική συζήτηση με την αρχιεπισκοπή άλλου χριστιανικού δόγματος όσον αφορά την αγορά κάποιου κτιρίου στην περιοχή του Πρέστον το όποιο θα είναι μη λειτουργικό για αυτούς στα επόμενα χρόνια.
Είχαμε αρχικά ενδιαφερθεί για ένα συγκεκριμένο χώρο ο οποίος χρησιμοποιόταν ώς κέντρο κατήχησης της καθολικής εκκλησίας. Το κτίριο αυτό βρισκόταν στο στόχαστρο μιας αλυσίδας καταστημάτων για την ανακαίνιση του με την υποστήριξη του Δήμου.
Συμπτωματικά οι επενδυτές ανακάλεσαν το ενδιαφέρον τους και για το λόγο αυτό ενδιαφερθήκαμε για δεύτερη φορά για το κτίριο. Είναι πλέον διαθέσιμο αλλά υπάρχουν και άλλοι ενδιαφερόμενοι εδώ και καιρό. Παρόλα αυτά πιστεύω ακράδαντα ότι έαν προσφέραμε κάποιο ανταγωνιστικό ποσό στην καθολική αρχιεπισκοπή τότε και αυτόι θα ήταν ευπρόσδεκτοι να παραμείνει το κτίριο ως χώρος χριστιανικής λατρείας και όχι εμπορευματοποιήσης.
Θα πρέπει να προσφέρουμε ένα ποσό της τάξεως των £400000 έτσι ώστε να εξασφαλίσουμε τον χώρο. Αύτο είναι ένα μεγάλο ποσό αλλά συγκρινόμενο με άλλα κτίρια στην περιοχη του Πρέστον είναι πολύ φτηνό και επιπλέον έχει μεγάλους χώρους και πάρκιν.
Ο αρχιεπίσκοπος Γρηγόριος ενδιαφέρεται ιδιαίτερα για να βοηθήσει για τον σκοπό μας με την ευλογία του και με οικονομικολυς πόρους. Έμείς από την πλευρά μας πρέπει να αναρωτηθόυμε πώς θα συγκεντρώσουμε ένα μεγάλο ποσό τόσο γρήγορα και ίσως να χρειαστεί να δανειστούμε κιόλας για κάποιο ποσό.
Αυτή τη στιγμή μαζευόμαστε ως Ορθόδοξη κοινότητα και προσευχόμαστε για αίσια έκβαση, όπως και για το ποσό που μπορούμε να προσφέρουμε. Σύν της άλλης η κοινότητά μας απαρτίζεται από απλούς ανθρώπους δίχως πολλά περουσιακά στοιχεία, επομένως ταπεινά ζητούμε την υποστήριξη όλων των ορθοδόξων χριστανών για την διεκπεραίωση αυτού του στόχου.
Εάν μπορείτε να μας βοηθήσετε τότε μπορείται εμπιστευτικά να μου τηλεφωνήσετε και να προσφέρεται ότι είναι δυνατόν. Είναι σημαντικό να μου πείτε το αργότερο μέχρι την 11η Νοεμβρίου έτσι ώστε να δούμε πόσο πιθανή είναι η αγόρά αυτού του κτιρίου.
Η προσφορά σας μπορεί να είναι είτε σαν δώρο , είτε ως δάνειο υποστήριξης. Εδώ και 15 χρόνια οπότε και ξεκινήσαμε την εκκλησία μας στην περιοχή έχουμε αναζητήσει πάρα πολλές πιθανότητες μόνιμης στέγασης αλλά χωρίς επιτυχία. Πιστεύουμε ότι δεν πρέπει να χαθέι αυτή η ευκαιρία.
Θα ήθελα ταπεινά να ζητήσω τις προσευχες σας και την όποια υλική υποστήριξη Στην χρονική αυτή στιγμή η κοινότητα βρίσκεται κοντά στην πρώτη μόνιμη Ορθόδοξη εκκλησια του Πρέστον.
Ο δούλος του θεού


Fr Christodoulos
Πάτερ Χριστόδουλος Orthodox Community of the Holy Apostles
Oecumenical Patriarchate of Constantinople
Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Thyateira and Great Britain
Worshipping at: The Galloway Hall, Brackenbury Road, Fulwood, Preston, Lancashire Priest:
Fr Christodoulos Fyles
Freshfield
Gidlow Houses
Gidlow Lane
Wigan
Greater Manchester
WN6 8RU
United Kingdom
Tel: UK 01257 421521
email: xcdoulos@onetel.com