Category: Uncategorized

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

We are happy to inform you that the repairs and mold remediation works at our facility are being finalized. So far we have managed to:

1. repair the roof, stopping all leaks (Royal Roofing Company Inc.),
2. repair the drainage in the chapel and the rooms at the lower level (Go Waterproofing Inc.),
3. we are in the final phase of the mold decontamination at the lower and ground floors (Canada Decon Ltd.).

and we are at left with completing air duct cleaning, hopefully in the next couple of days.

Therefore the Holy Liturgy on Sunday, December 3, at 10 am will still be held in the St. George Center at 9116 Bayview Ave, Richmond Hill, ON L4B 3R9, as well as on Monday, December 4th, at 9am for the Presentation of the Theotokos.

Thank you for your understanding and your unselfish support.

– The Governing Board of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Parish

Dear brothers and sisters,

We would like to inform you that we have hired Canada Decon Ltd. to remove the mould from our premises at 49 North Lake Rd in Richmond Hill. Their work commenced on November 9th, and we will inform you once the job is completed.

Yesterday, H.G. Bishop Mitrofan paid a personal visit at our premises to see how the ongoing work is progressing. He told us that he will be visiting us again, blessing this work and effort.

Upon completion of the mould remediation, we will organize volunteers to help with setting-up and habilitating our place for worship services again. You will be informed about it in a timely manner.

Thank you for your understanding and your unselfish support.

– The Governing Board of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Parish

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

The members of our Parish Board, including Fr. Vladimir Vranic, met with His Grace Bishop Mitrofan on October 24th at the Holy Transfiguration Monastery near Milton, ON. We were welcomed wholeheartedly by Fr. Abbot Vasilije at the Monastery. Following the reception at 19:30 our meeting commenced. At the end of the meeting His Grace Bishop Mitrofan provided us with the following direction:

1. His Grace asks our parishioners to respect the administrative laws and processes of the Serbian Orthodox Church. Mainly if parishioners have any questions they are to direct them to the parish board via a board member and/or the parish priest. They are welcomed to also contact the diocese directly with any questions. He explained that the parish has by-laws which clearly outline processes and that the Diocese has a statute which also outlines processes and we are all expected to follow them.
2. His Grace has instructed us to immediately repair our existing building at 49 North Lake Road in order to bring it into a satisfactory state with all the necessary modifications and approvals to allow for our Services to be held there again.
3. His Grace has denied us the request to host an AGM at this time.
4. His Grace passes his Archipastoral love for our parish, his blessings to all the parishioners and calls us altogether to join forces and do our part in helping restore and maintain our Chapel and property at 49 North Lake Road. Also, he promised that he will soon deliver a letter of his fatherly love, support and teaching to our Parishioners.

Thank you for your understanding and your unselfish support.
– The Governing Board of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Parish

Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ,

We would like to inform you about that Chapel reconstruction process that is underway. The roof has been repaired by Rasho Aleksic of Royal Roofing Company Inc. We thank Rasho for all his hard work, contributions and dedication.

We have thus far obtained 3 quotes (from Breathe Air http://www.breatheair.ca/, GRA Restoration http://gtarestoration.com/, and The Mold Guy http://www.moldguy.ca) and will soon be receiving a 4th quote (from Crime & Trauma Scene Cleaners http://crimescenecleaners.ca/) for mould remediation in the building. As soon as we get it, we will decide on which company to employ to begin the work as soon as possible.

Also, we would like to point out that all mould experts that have viewed the property have given us clear directions and explained the extent of damage and necessary repairs as well as steps to be made. Based on the information and directions provided we made necessary decisions and actions.

Finally, we are currently collecting data about zoning, uses, capacity and heritage status implications on a former church that has been converted and re-zoned to an Office space located at 13456 Dufferin Street. We will keep you informed about the progress of this initiative in future correspondence.

Thank you for your understanding and your unselfish support.
– The Governing Board of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Parish

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

As you may already know, due to the mould infestation in the chapel and other rooms of our church building at 49 North Lake Road in Richmond Hill, we had to temporarily move to the Cultural Center of the St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church at 9116 Bayview Ave to keep with our regular worship and gatherings.

In the meantime the Board, along with the help of our parishioners, have invested their efforts in solving this critical problem in our building, with the budget that we have at our disposal. The first necessary action was to repair the roof in order to stop further leakage, and thus prevented the main source of moisture in our premises. The roof repair started on September 18th, and was completed by September 23rd.

We also contacted several mould removal companies to assess what work would be necessary and how much it would cost. We currently have 3 such estimates. With the help of parishioners who have expertise with these kinds of problems, we are currently deliberating which of the offers would by most suitable based on our real needs and operating budget. We will inform you as soon as we make this decision based on reliable criteria and opinions, and by then we should know how much longer it will take to finish this.

Finally, to emphasize, at one point we will also ask for volunteers to help complete the part of the needed work through our own strength and skill that does not require specialists; you will all be informed about it in a timely manner.

Thank you for your understanding and your unselfish support.

– The Governing Board of St. Archangel Gabriel Serbian Parish