Church leaders salute UAE's tolerance

Abu Dhabi: The inauguration of a new building to house the Evangelical Church of Abu Dhabi on Sunday saw church leaders fondly remembering the support and backing they had received all along to follow their faith in the UAE.

Reverend Carl Sherbeck, who founded the church ministry in Abu Dhabi in 1972, delivered the keynote address at the function.

"Long back, there was no such plan to build a church but later the church in [its] own building became a reality with the benevolence and support of the rulers of the UAE," Sherbeck said,

For the past 37 years, the church has been hosting thousands of Christians (26 congregations in all) from more than 60 nationalities. It is situated off Airport Road.

Role model

Mohammad Obaid Al Mazroui, executive manager of Islamic Affairs and Endowments (of the UAE government), officially inaugurated the new church building by cutting a ribbon. The UAE has always encouraged religious, cultural and racial diversity and has shown itself to be a role model for religious tolerance, he said.

"We always foster interaction among various faiths. Attending this type of occasion give us the opportunity to have dialogue with different faiths," he said.

Cameron Arensen, the current pastor of the church, told Gulf News on the sidelines of the function: "Many of the people who are lonely find the Evangelical Church of Abu Dhabi a home… a spiritual home, so the church community has become a spiritual family.

"When I joined the church in 1990, the building could host just 120 members, but now the membership has gone up to about 1,000," recalled Arensen. "About 5,000 worshippers including members from other 25 congregations attend the prayers in a week."

Several dignitaries and a large number of church members were present.

Sherbeck and Barbara recalls UAE of 43 years ago

 "Five years after enjoying religious freedom in Al Ain [1966-1971], we didn't have any apprehension about the ideals of the new country [the UAE was formed in 1971], said Reverend Carl Sherbeck, 74, who was a staff at Oasis hospital in Al Ain.

"Because we knew Shaikh Zayed, the father of the UAE was a reasonable man and the religious freedom would be there".
 
His wife Barbara ,72, still remembers that Bedouins from remote deserts in Oman used to come to the hospital, riding on the camels for about four or five days.

Snail mail was the only way of communication with outside world and it took two weeks for a letter to reach the US (their home country), they said.