SUPER SHORT SYNOPSIS WITHOUT BELOW NARRATIVE
Yesterday at the parish council we received GREAT news and CHALLENGING news. Thank God! We need the good news to meet the challenging news with joy in the Lord as an opportunity for spiritual growth!
GREAT NEWS: we are extremely thankful that our parishioners have hearkened to our requests to tithe in support of our building project. Our Treasurer, Mikhail Fisenkov, reported that at this point we can afford a construction loan of $10,000-$12,000, in addition to meeting our parish monthly expenses. THANK YOU ALL! And for those who have not yet had a chance to establish your tithe, please talk to one of our Financial Ambassadors listed below.
CHALLENGING NEWS: A construction loan of $10,000-$12,000 is not enough to cover a loan for the entire construction project: church and hall. This amount IS enough to cover a loan of $1MM to $1.2MM. If we add that to the approximately $380K we have in our construction fund we would fall short on what we as a parish council feel is a reasonable stretch goal: to build the church (fully - so we can obtain an occupancy permit), the parking lots, and the shell of our hall. We feel strongly that if we can build the shell of the hall we can build most of the interior ourselves, as we did with our school.
OUR GOAL FOR SUMMER/FALL 2026: Our goal is to build the church, the parking lots, and the shell of the hall. Based on Lima Township feedback we feel we can break ground when Bishop Spyridon visits us on August 30 and begin construction essentially immediately thereafter. The cost to accomplish this goal is $2.4MM. The cost of a construction loan for that amount would be $24,000 per month. This is beyond our present financial capacity as a parish. Thus, we need to gather additional funds in cash BY ST. VLADIMIR DAY – July 28, 2026 – to accomplish our goal.
- TOTAL COST OF PROJECT 2026: $2,4000,000
- CASH ON HAND: $380,000
- LOAN WE CAN AFFORD: $1,200,000
- NEED TO RAISE IN CASH: $820,000
The Parish Council is not counting money in anyone’s pockets. Only YOU can decide if YOU can make a significant contribution to help us get to the $820,000 goal. That being said, a good number of our parishioners have told us that they will make significant contributions only once we have begun construction. This is fair. But this is also a chicken and egg question. :) We need the funds to build, but the funds are on offer only after we start to build. We ask that you prayerfully consider this and make the decision that you feel is best. We said we would build a barn, a school, and a cemetery – and we did exactly that. We have a record of doing what we have said we will do. And with God’s help we will continue this consistent performance with this project as well.
OPTIONS TO CONSIDER TO REACH OUR GOAL TOGETHER:
- The housing market in our area of Michigan is extremely “hot” right now. Most of us who own homes are living in a building that has significant equity that could be used to help meet our goal. We are not telling you that you MUST do this by any means. But if you are motivated to examine this possibility we ask you to do so. If you do not have someone that you usually work on such questions with you are welcome to contact our STV parish family member Ekaterina Racine (248-854-4865 ~ caterinagol@gmail.com) who is a professional in the home mortgage field.
- For those over 59.5 years old it may be possible to contribute a portion of your retirement funds towards this goal without negative financial implications/penalties. We are not telling you that you MUST do this by any means. But if you are motivated to examine this possibility we ask you to do so. If you do not have someone that you usually work on such questions with you are welcome to contact our STV parish family member Dmitri Knysh (734-358-5996 ~ dmitriknysh@hotmail.com) who is a professional in the financial planning field.
- Of course there are other options to help us get to our goal as well, and we ask that you prayerfully consider how you might help given the reality of your financial situation. Prayers are CRUCIAL to our success! PLEASE PRAY FOR THE LORD’S BLESSING ON OUR INTENTIONS!
Discuss Financial/Spiritual Aspects of Tithing/Supporting your Parish:
- Fr. Gregory Joyce (734-649-5746 or ogrisha@stvladimiaami.org or https://calendly.com/ogrisha)
- Fr. Colin Bower (734-890-8236 or priestcolin@stvladimiaami.org or https://calendly.com/cmbower10)
- Mikhail Fisenkov (248-773-9616 or fisenkov@yahoo.com)
- Marina Edwards (734-358-9458 or mpsomsk@yahoo.com)
- Dmitri Knysh (734-358-5996 or dmitriknysh@hotmail.com)
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