In February, 2010, our parish, along with the Headley and Hicks families, purchased twenty acres in Bozeman with the hope someday of building a beautiful temple, two educational buildings, and two cottages on the pond that fronts Love Lane. Parishioner and architect Mark Headley donated a compelling master plan for the site, which also includes an extensive cemetery and the necessary roads and parking.
This land is owned as follows, with proportional contributions to the common road: St. Anthony one lot of 7 acres; the Headley family one lot of 5 acres; the Hicks family three lots totaling 8 acres. The Headley family intends to build on its lot, and the Hicks family intends to sell its three lots, ideally to a member of the parish at their cost, or otherwise outside the parish family for a profit that would feed the Church’s building fund.
Subdeacon and professional land surveyor Sean McFarland is donating his services to the Church for the purpose of completing the tests and managing the public hearing process necessary for subdivision approval. God willing, we anticipate approval in 2011.
We are, it hardly needs to be said, a poor parish, but rich in faith and in our love for one another and in the talents God has given us. Out of profound gratitude for all that God has given us, above all for the inestimable gift of His Son our Lord Jesus Christ and for the privilege to worship Him in this valley as our brothers and sisters in Christ have done since apostolic times, we count it a great blessing to be given this good work to do.
Fr. Peter Tobias, Rector of St. Anthony the Great Mission, and I have met with His Grace, The Rt. BENJAMIN, Bishop of San Francisco and the West of the Orthodox Church in America, to apprise His Grace of our plans and to receive his blessing and advice. Father Peter is also exploring the possibility of raising the funds for one of our cottages as a Mary and Martha maternity home. There appears to be a great need for this facility in our valley, and possibly there are those outside our Communion who would be willing to support it.
In accordance with our Orthodox traditions, we envision something beautiful, something useful, and withal, something to be won through prayer and labor. At the moment, our plan is to pay off our debt on the land through the weekly and monthly gifts of our members whilst at the same time preparing the land for the day when we can afford to break ground on an initial building. That building may be a roughed-in temple or one of the educational buildings to be used temporarily as our temple. In all likelihood, this work will be accomplished as much with our own talents and hands as with our money, as we see the work being accomplished today. The important thing is that we all give what we can, and that all we give, we give with a loving and generous spirit to the glory of God.
May God bless and multiply our loaves and fishes.
-David V. Hicks
