Learning Centre
Aincroft, Cove Road, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 2RT. See brochure
Pars’ leadership is considering taking steps to purchase a substantial property near London
to be used as its new Learning Centre. This will both crown Pars' success in getting accreditation from the European Council for Accreditation and will cater for Pars’ vision and plans for the next 20 years and beyond.
Rationale and Plan for Purchasing a new Learning Centre
- We have outgrown our present rented office space. As a result, we must squeeze people in small rooms that do not provide good working conditions for our staff, and there is no possibility of renting more space within the present building in the foreseeable future.
- Our post-Covid experience of our currently rented office in time revealed limitations such as the high level of noise due to single glazed windows and the building’s facing a roundabout on the main street, plus getting too hot at warmer seasons especially on the second floor.
- The new Learning Centre will not only provide us with more than sufficient working space for our current needs but will also be enough for us for many years to come. Located in a 1.4 acre of land, there is great potential for extending the building when the need arises in the future.
Rev. Dr. Mehrdad Fatehi, Director of Pars Theological Centre
Dear Friends and Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
I am Reverend Mehrdad Fatehi, director of Pars Theological Centre. Pars Theological Centre is the only completely Iranian college of Christian theology that for over ten years has been engaged in teaching and training Iranian pastors and Christian leaders for service in Iranian churches.
We have more than 500 students studying at Pars, and alongside training these pastors and leaders we offer another ministry to Iranian Christians, namely the ministry of Christian counseling, which is worthwhile for every Iranian right now. We are the only Christian counseling organization that offers this degree of specialization. We also have a discipleship website, shagerd.co.uk, that contains diverse and valuable topics such as Christian worldview, spiritual growth, Christian leadership, Christian counseling, and different things that every Iranian can use. We also have television programs that are broadcast monthly by satellite, and these programs are broadcast both inside and outside of Iran. The Iranian church is the fastest growing church in the world; thousands of people today are members of Christian churches both in and out of the country. Of course, those in country are underground and gather in secret, and we hope that soon they can meet freely. All of these groups, all of these large groups of Iranian Christians, benefit from our ministry, and they need qualified pastors and Christian leaders to be appointed in their churches to serve, lead, and rightly guide them.
For the past ten years, Pars Theological Centre has been moving from rental location to rental location, and this year, on the occasion of the accreditation we received from the European Theological Association, we made the decision to purchase a place of our own that we can use as a centre of learning to better serve our community. In order to do this, we need to put together a down payment for a bank loan. The place that we have found is about 30-40 minutes from London. It is a large property, and we can minister more comfortably from there. We will have a larger studio; we will have in person classes; we will have small gatherings on the weekends, and we will do other things that currently are not possible. So, we need our friends and supporters to help us, and today I want to invite you to share and partner in this work. Anything you are able to give toward the purchase of this place and provide a down payment for it helps us.
In summary, our ministry of strengthening the Iranian church will provide better leaders and more qualified pastors to better serve God and His people. In advance of your assistance and love, I wholeheartedly thank you. God bless you abundantly.
The property can cater very well for our strategic plans:
- Even as it is, it can provide us with enough space to hold live in-person classes, to be also recorded to enhance the educational quality and effectiveness of our video material – something we have desired for many years.
- It is large enough for holding mini training conferences and retreats for smaller groups of people. A motel (Travelodge) and steakhouse located in walking distance (10 minutes’ walk) of the property, make it possible to cater easily for such small gatherings, if need be.
- The building provides enough space in a current spacious double garage for a larger studio to be used for recording wider audience teaching material for broadcasting.
- The building has the potential of being extended to provide further space for Iranian church leaders, including those from among our students, to come to stay with us for short periods of time to receive face to face counselling, mentoring and spiritual direction.
Location
The property is only 30 minutes’ drive from the London bypass (M25) and only about 45 minutes to Heathrow. And the Fleet train station is only 0.9 miles away. This makes it possible and very easy for our friends and partners as well as the growing number of our stakeholders to visit and stay with us. This will contribute significantly to the strengthening of our bonds with our friends and partners.
Financial Overview
Financially, it seems to be an opportune time to make this investment and acquire such a property for Pars for several reasons:
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- The weakness of the British pound relative to the US dollar is to our great advantage. As most of our income is from the US, our dollars can work quite a bit for us at this time.
- House prices at this level have come down a little because of the economic uncertainty.
- As a result of the pandemic, we have carried forward a significant amount of non-designated funds. Even setting aside our reserve, we can still put together a sizable part of the needed deposit.
- We are talking to a few mortgage advisors and lenders, and it seems that there is interest to lend us the kind of amount of money we need to purchase a suitable place for a term of 25 years.
- The property includes a separate office block that is currently rented out. Keeping the present tenant who is eager to stay will cover a significant part of our yearly mortgage repayment, reducing it to a level not much more than our current rent.
The Aincroft property that we would like to purchase is put for sale for a guiding price of £1,850,000. We hope to be able to purchase it for £1,600,000. The deposit we need is about £640,000 (40% of the price). Of this amount, we can ourselves put together about £300,000. Considering all the other expenses to prepare the place for our optimal use, we need to raise about £400,000 (around $500,000 US dollars).
Bring the Learning Centre to life
Last year the Economist Magazine reported that “Christianity is growing faster in Iran than in any other country.” This rapidly-growing, persecuted church in Iran has an urgent need to train faithful and effective servant-leaders. We believe this new Learning Centre can be part of the solution and help the church in Iran move toward greater long-term health and mission so that it can flourish for years to come.