St.Vladimir Orthodox Church

Financial Support of St. Vladimir’s

Our Financial Obligations

St. Vladimir church exists only on our parishioners’ and other private people’s donations. It’s not financially supported by any government, cultural, or church structures. So, it is solely in our own hands to make it live long and prosper!

You may ask, “Why does St. Vladimir’s need money anyway? This is a holy place, and at least here we should not worry about money!” It is a holy place indeed, but there are expenses which still need to be covered:

• Liturgical supplies (candles, oil for lampadas, charcoal, communion wine, incense, etc.)
• The priest’s salary
• Priestly and altar goods (Holy Gospel, priestly vestments, lampadas for the altar, icons, etc.)
• Building maintenance (heating, electricity, snow removal, minor repairs, insurance, etc.)
• Community expenses (drinking water, tea/coffee) and cost of parish events
• Library books and Sunday School supplies
• Other administrative expenses (banking, stationary, postage, etc.)

Additionally, St. Vladimir’s has been donating money to other charitable causes, both domestic and international.

How Can You Help?

There are many ways to contribute:

• Donate cash or a personal cheque by putting it into the “Offering Basket” (circulated at every Divine Liturgy) or into the “Donation Box” by the entrance (any time the church is open).
• Make an electronic donation — at any time and from any location — by Interac e-Transfer to halifaxorthodox@gmail.com or by PayPal (see below).
• Buy candles, liturgical calendars, icons, crosses, or any other products sold at St. Vladimir’s as a fundraiser for our parish.
• Donate items that are needed by the parish (so-called “donation-in-kind”) — but please first verify with the priest, the treasurer, or any member of the Parish Council what St. Vladimir’s actually needs.

It is good to give, and on a regular basis, even if it is the smallest of amounts (remember the Gospel passage about a poor widow’s mite: Mark 12:41-44). However, your presence at the services, and your time and talents are most valuable!

Please volunteer to help keep our church clean and beautiful. Consult the bulletin board near the entrance for a list of tasks to be filled (washing the dishes, mowing the grass, cleaning the church after services). Sign up for such services as preparing food for the parish coffee hour or baking prosphoras for the Liturgy. Additionally, your ideas on how we can fundraise inside and outside of our community are crucial!

Tithe

From the Old Testament, comes a tradition of tithe — to give 10% of one’s income to the Temple of God (Deut. 14:22-26). Many of our parishioners tithe their income to support St. Vladimir’s.

In addition, St. Vladimir’s itself tithes by giving 10% of all the offerings it receives to the Archdiocese of Canada, to provide support for the governing body of our Church (to support the Bishop and the administration of the Archdiocese, Canadian OCA conferences, various ministries, etc.).

Note: All special offerings and funds (such as Capital Campaign) are not tithed; they remain at St. Vladimir’s in full.

Charitable Donation Receipts

St. Vladimir’s is a Registered Charitable Organization with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). If you donate to St. Vladimir’s or buy things for the church (with a receipt) and provide your full name and address, you will receive a Charitable Donation receipt for the full amount donated in a given year.

Submit it with your annual tax return, and you may receive some of the funds back depending on the amount of your donation, your income, and the province in which you reside. Visit the CRA website for more details.

If anyone is donating NEWLY purchased items (with a receipt) for the church, then the church must issue a cheque for the amount on the receipt, the donor could endorse the parish’s cheque and return it to the treasurer (deposited at bank as proof of donation) or they can cash the cheque and issue a personal cheque for said amount in order to receive a tax receipt.

Church Services

The sacraments are not for sale. Everyone is able to receive a sacrament regardless of one’s income or lack thereof. So there is no such thing as paying for a baptism, a wedding, a blessing of the vehicle, a memorial service (panikhida), etc.

However, it has been a tradition to provide the priest, the choir (if involved), and the parish with an offering as a sign of appreciation for their service and, in some cases, as a reimbursement for the incurred costs.

Please note: Money given directly to the priest or the choir will not be counted towards one’s charitable donation, as it would not be entered into the church books.

Capital Campaign

We have been blessed with an opportunity to rent a redundant Anglican church building in Purchell’s Cove for free, only in exchange for upkeeping the building. However, our ultimate goal is to have our own temple, either by purchasing this or another exiting building, or by constructing a new one.

Just like the Israelites of Old, God’s people continue to wander until they find a place where God can dwell in their midst. History speaks clearly about how the Church responds to the need of permanency. Throughout the centuries, where ever the Faith spread, the great Founders of the Church established temples where Christ and the Holy Trinity could be worshipped.

The need for permanency for the faith community of St. Vladimir’s is no different. It is now our turn, in this time and place, with a faithful acknowledgment that God has visited our community for the past 20 years and has blessed it to continue, to become the founding saints of a permanent temple in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Since 2013, we have been actively raising money towards this goal. You can see our progress on the “dome chart” by the entrance.

We ask you to consider making a one-time donation and/or a pledge, above what you already give, to the work of the Church through this Capital Campaign — building God’s kingdom in this time and place. Give according to your means, prayerfully and joyfully.

Over the years, our parish also held various fundraising events (such as yard, bake, and souvenir sales) to direct proccedings to the Capital Campaign Fund. If you have any suggestions, please send them to capitalcampaign (at) halifaxorthodox (dot) org.

The money donated towards this cause will be used 100% for the goal to which it was donated — establishing a permanent home for St. Vladimir’s.

Further Info

Please refer to this brochure, Ten Questions about Money and St. Vladimir’s That You Always Wanted to Ask but Never Did, for further info. If you have more questions, you can send an email to council (at) halifaxorthodox (dot) org, and someone from the Parish Council will address your concerns.