Patronal Festival

The Holy Apostles’ Fast started on the Monday 19th June and ends on the 28th June.  On the 30th June is the feast of the Holy Apostles.

On the following Sunday, 2nd July, after the Holy Liturgy, we will be having a feast afterwards which will be held at the home of Mr & Mrs Anji Adam and their  address is  4 Brookway, Wrea Green, Preston. Map available at church. This is a very happy occasion, and gives us time to renew our friendship with people whom we have not seen as often in the past year. Encourage a friend to come with you, and please bring a bottle of wine or beer if you wish to. The cost of the meal is £5.00 per adult. Money to Koulla as soon as possible.

This year it will be a very special occasion for us all. Our Archbishop Gregorios has written to us to confirm that he will be very glad to come and minister to us all, both in the Holy Liturgy and hopefully at the meal afterwards. This is a great honour for us all, so please make every effort to be sure you are present on the day.

Possible Church Premises

Dear Friends,

Many of our friends are aware that we have been searching for a suitable church building in Preston to call our own for over 15 years without anything coming to fruition.  We are now eager to tell you about probably the best opportunity for years to obtain a building at a reasonable price to further the work of the Orthodox Church in this area. 

Near the village of Woodplumpton, just outside Preston, there is a former Church and hall being offered for sale by auction on the 19th of July by the Methodist Church.  The church building is solidly stone built from about 1830 and of a size and condition ideal for our needs.  The attached larger hall and ancillary rooms are dated from the early 1960s and also appear in reasonable structural condition.  Obviously we are obtaining a full professional survey to confirm the condition but it seems that most work required will be internal decoration and refurbishment suitable for Orthodox worship.

The property is classified as D1 planning group which is “non-residential institutional” and there is a moratorium on new development in the area until 2016.  Due to the severe planning restrictions the initial auction guide price is set at offers over only £150,000.  As far as I am aware, despite a lot of interest, we are the only possible bidders so far that would have no planning problems which may be in our favour in the final bidding level.

Archbishop Gregorios has given his blessing and support for the project including possible loans to assist in purchase.  However time is very short and we need to know how much money we can raise initially and how much regular income thereafter to pay for the upkeep and to service a loan.  The more we raise ourselves initially, the less we need to borrow.

We now appeal to your generosity to support our ongoing Orthodox work in this area for the Lord.  With a building of our own, which will gradually be beatified following a correct Orthodox schema as befits proper worship, there is no limit to what we could achieve.

Please prayerfully consider how you might help us in this project.  This could take the form of gifts, pledges, loans or regular banker’s orders remembering also to maximize this by signing a Gift Aid form if you are a taxpayer.  Many people have already made pledges to us in late 2004 for the then project that proved to be beyond our means.

This new project is a unique opportunity to have a permanent church for the Orthodox Community in this area.  We respectfully ask that you let us know as soon as possible how you might help, the amount and, if you have already pledged, whether this will still stand.  If this is done quickly we can more confidently approach the auction on the 19th July.  Please contact Fr Christodoulos or Gregory at the numbers or addresses above.

Thank you for your help!  We will keep you informed about the situation and also keep you always in our prayers.

Yours Servants in Christ,

Fr Christodoulos Fyles & Gregory Baker

Young peoples Camp

This camp is held in Shropshire for 12 days, starting on the 24th July. If you would like your child to attend, please ask for further details, and book them in quickly. It will be a good time for them spiritually, as well as a time of making new friends from a number of other churches and nationalities.

Welcome

It is a joy to welcome amongst us Bob & Sylvia Kahn. They have been active in several churches before coming to live in Warrington. It is good to see them! May the Lord Bless them both!

Thanks

To Barbara Kelsall, who has been our Secretary for many years, and who has now handed over the office to Andrea Georgiou.

To Ian Dewhurst, who has been our Treasurer for several years. Please remember that we will need a new Treasurer.

To Gregory Baker, who has continued in his office as our Chairman, who is also covering the duties of the Treasurer until we have someone appointed and who has been very active in our needs regarding the coming Auction.

Commiserations

Our deepest sympathy to the armed forces in Greece for the next 9 months. Our friend Christos Gaitatzis is to leave us during the next few weeks to do his National Service. His cheerful and smiling face will be missed by us all, our prayers will be with and for him. We look forward to his return during 2007. But….are the Greek Armed Forces really prepared for someone like this…..?