<div>Miro Rahnev , owner of KOCA Hair design &amp; Barbershop in Belmont, MA , together with his family has taken the initiative to raise awareness of this issue, create a go fund me page and collect as many donations as possible for reaching the goal of purchasing a building suitable for a church for the Bulgarian Orthodox Community and everyone else who feels in their heart to join.


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<div>A Holy Home for the Bulgarian Community.


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<div>A Church.


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<div>There is no church home , no holy building for the Bulgarian Orthodox believers. We, the Bulgarian Orthodox community in MA, do not have our own church. There is no Bulgarian Orthodox church for miles around. Not a single one from New York, NY to Montreal, Canada.


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<div>We have a Father, but we don't have a church building. There is no place to worship, to serve, to confess, to cry, to unload, to celebrate, to be baptized, to get married... to get together!


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<div>Churches are an invariable part of the life of Bulgarians for centuries, even in the first centuries of the Christian era. The first Christian monastery in Europe was founded in Bulgaria in 344. The Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized and its autocephalous status in 870. The Bulgarian Patriarchate was the first autocephalous Orthodox Church, predating the autocephaly of many other Orthodox churches by hundreds of years. Churches and monasteries were used to spread the Cyrillic alphabet, created in the second Bulgarian capital, Veliki Preslav, by St. Clement of Ohrid in 893. Even when Bulgaria fell under Byzantine rule in 1018, the autocephalous status of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church was recognized by the emperor. During the Ottoman rule, the monks in the monasteries managed to preserve the national character and continue the traditions of the Slavic liturgy and Bulgarian literature. The socialist regime in Bulgaria in the mid-1900s failed to separate the nation from the religion. Families gathered in secret for prayers, baptisms were performed in secret by the government. The church stood in silence and oblivion, but survived.


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<div>And we, the Bulgarian community in MA in 21st century, still do not have a Bulgarian Orthodox Church!


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<div>How do we, as part of this great American culture and population, preserve our heritage and pass it on to future generations?! With your help, here's how!


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<div>Today we stand before you and humbly ask you with open arms and hearts to help us fulfill this long-held dream. Help us raise funds to purchase a building and turn it into a holy home for the Bulgarian Orthodox community where people will gather in prayer, families will mourn or celebrate, the needy will look for support, children will grow with faith and love. This building will be a place where locals are always welcome to use it for all their community purposes and needs. 
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<div>Let’s come together and raise as much as needed to buy a building and make it our holy home!


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<div>For check donations, please make payable to KOCA Barbershop! 

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<div>Thank you!

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Edwin and Ann Ozawa, M.D

Vanya Guigova

Marieta Mircheva

David Coleman

Joseph Clark

Matt Trammell

Belmont Oral Facial and Implant Surgery Eckert

Nick Roche

Anonymous

Kevin Lloyd

Stoyan Stoyanov

David Morris

Peter Arsenault

Jenny Kresse

Paul Roberts

Eric Kaiser

Chris Brookins

Schuyler Wiggin

Join Miro and his family in Creating a Bulgarian H

Join Miro and his family in Creating a Bulgarian H

Still $3,985,794 to go. Help us build momentum.