By Lian Cheng
KUCHING, Aug 29: The St Francis Anglican Church in Samarahan which was completed in May this year will be consecrated by Bishop of Sarawak and Brunei, the Right Reverend Danald Jute on Sept 29.
The church which cost RM5 million is presently the biggest in Samarahan District with its capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 worshippers at one time.
“So far, it is the biggest church building in Samarahan District as it can accommodate more than 1,000 people. We wanted a building that can accommodate more people but due to the limited land size, this is the biggest we can go,” Rev Canon Dennis Gimang, the vicar of Samarahan parish told DayakDaily.
He said one of the reasons the new church needed to be built because the former church building was too small to accommodate the present congregation.
“We also demolished the old church building because it was no longer compatible with the surrounding new buildings and development.
“Samarahan District is fast-developing. That was why we raised funds to get the new building in order to commensurate with the new development taking place in the area.
“We also hope that we can also cater to the students of UiTM (Universiti Teknologi Mara) and Unimas (Universiti Malaysia Sarawak),” said Dennis.
Dennis believed that the church will also be able to accommodate ecumenical services like Combined Christmas Services and National Day Services, and other activities such as youth camps and gatherings for Samarahan area.
Following the consecration date set on Sept 29, the eminent problem faced by the church now is its application for occupational permit (OP).
“There were some technical problems within the building which we have rectified. We hope we can the given OP before the date of consecration as it is already set,” said Dennis.
On the church building process which started in April last year, he said the whole project took only 13 months to complete.
“The cost for the building was RM4 million and RM1 million was the expense for interior furnishing.
“We are very impressed by the contractor, Leyan Sdn Bhd. If it was not for some additional works, the whole building could have been completed within one year.” — DayakDaily
