Memo regarding Greek Protestants of Ordou, 1895

Memo of the present state of the Ordou Protestant worship case.

The Greek Protestants of Ordou, seeing that any attempt to persist in meeting for worship in their parsonage would, rightly or wrongly, cause new difficulties, have decided to abandon what they deem their right to secure the building and to build a church. To this end they have selected two different sites and have requested the local authorities so far to depart for the usual practice in the matter of applications for such Firmans as to state before the purchase of the land, instead of insisting on the purchase being made before consideration of the question, whether the sides are held to open to objection

objection. After this question has been settled and the land approved ^{has been} bought they hope that the Imperial Government in its solicitude in behalf of their enjoyment of religious privileges, will issue the {spacing sign} Firman authorizing the construction of the Church immediately on receipt of the application, with the necessary certificates from the local authorities. In the {spacing sign} meantime, until the Church is built this congregation will forego the privilege of meeting for worship altogether. This is because they cannot find a house in Ordou large enough to accommodate a gathering of 400 persons. They will hold regular meetings however in the chapel of

of the Armenian Protestants at Ordou where half of their numbers can assemble at a time. For these meetings no special authorization will be required since the building already possesses a permit as a place of worship.

Since the Protestants have shown {spacing sign} respect to the wishes of the Greeks in abandoning their claim to worship at their parsonage, they consider that the Greeks should on their part refrain from opposition to the holding of the Protestant schools in that building, which is in every way adapted to the purpose, and which offers no possible ground of objection on the part of others. It is so greatly to be desired

desired that the formal permit be speedily issued for the holding of the schools in this building. Until this permit is insured the schools must perforce {spacing sign} remain closed, since the community has not the means to provide a school house as well as a Church. Her Majesty's Embassy has the honour to urge a prompt settlement of this vexed question on the general lines here suggested.

{written vertically in pencil along the right margin: "95 Ordou Protestant worship"}