Facing $100K roof repair bill, Ethiopian church seeks community help

When it rains during service at Dibre Hail Qulibie Saint Gabriel Ethiopian Orthodox Church, members of the congregation have to set down their Bibles and break out the buckets. 

"The rain gets in the building and we have buckets everywhere, just trying to collect the water because it's damaging our carpets and precious paintings," said Bilen Araya, the church's public relations co-ordinator. "That's what worries us most. This is a very old building, and it's going to lose its heritage if it continues like this."  

The church on Elizabeth Street in the heart of London's Old East Village was built in 1924, originally operating as the Church of Christ Disciples. 

It was bought in 2006 to serve London's growing Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Christian community, a group often collectively referred to as Habesha. Prior to that move, the congregation met in various rented meeting spaces.

It's a community that now numbers a few thousand strong, and the church operates as much as a community centre as it does a place of worship. 

"We do New Year's celebrations here, weddings and non-religious gatherings, so it's like a very central hub to the community," said Araya. 

Century-old building brings challenges

Araya said they love the building's facade with its large pillars, the 30-foot ceiling of the main chapel and the original stained glass windows that depict scenes from the Bible. 

"We really love this building," said Araya, "but it comes with a lot of challenges." 

Those challenges include a long list of staggering costs to upgrade and maintain the century-old structure. 

Right now, work is underway to fix a persistent leak in the roof, which has left the main chapel's 30-foot ceiling pocked with holes. Fixing it will cost $100,000, an expenditure the church is financing while also asking the community for help through an online fundraising campaign. 

The roof isn't the only area of concern.

The church is heated by a leak-prone hot-water radiant system plumbed with rusty metal piping.

"Even finding people to do maintenance on that is another challenge," said Araya. "No one knows how it works because of its old age." 

Replacing the heating system would be the best option; the church has been quoted $100,000 for that work. 

"That's our next project," she said.

There are also challenges that come with the church's location in the heart of Old East Village. The area is front and centre to London's struggles with homelessness and drug use. The church is surrounded by fencing, but it isn't always enough to prevent break-ins and vandalism. 

Araya said the church has looked into selling and moving into a newer space, but the building's challenges and the restrictions that come with being a heritage-listed property limit its market value.

"We will be here for some time," she said. "We don't have a choice." 

So for now, the church is asking for help, hoping to raise the $100,000 to cover the roof repair. It's an ask she admits is beyond the ability of the congregation to cover. They're asking for outside help, including assistance from other faith groups. They're also looking into government grants. 

"We want to be able to keep building this community," she said. "We don't want to lose this building and lose the services that we are giving." 

More information about the church is available on its website.