Our Parish Council is pleased to announce that in February 2025 we were able to secure full ownership of our parish centre.  By way of background, late in 2003 our Russian Orthodox community on the New South Wales Central Coast resolved to purchase a small industrial unit in West Gosford as a temporary parish centre.  Our community was then still newly-formed – the very first services were held here in November 2000, just three years earlier.  We reasoned at the time that a commercial property could be more readily sold if we could not afford to maintain it, and that such a property would also be an investment as the parish grew and we worked towards the purchase of land and the building of a permanent church.  The unit was purchased for $200,000.  We had $25,000 in savings and were able to secure a bank loan for a further $125,000.  The remaining $50,000 came from the Diocesan Council, who like us thought that the property would be a prudent investment.  Although the bank loan was for a 15-year period, we managed to repay it in full in just six years.  We soon realised that as the purchase of land and the construction of a church and hall would be a multi-million-dollar project, the move to a permanent church would not happen quickly.  With this understanding we focused on getting the best use we could of our parish centre by adding a mezzanine floor with a choir loft, an office, a meeting room, and a vestry.  We also adorned our small church with beautiful vestments, icons, candle-stands, and eventually a hand-carved iconostasis from Russia.  Finally, in January 2025 we were in a position to make an offer for the purchase of the Diocesan share of our parish centre, now valued at $700,000.  The offer was accepted and the arrangements concluded in February 2025.  In all of this we have been assisted by generous benefactors who have trusted our vision for a welcoming Russian Orthodox parish on the Central Coast and recognised all that with God’s help we have accomplished.  Glory be to God for all things!