Abu Dhabi: More than 2,500 Christians from 21 different denominations celebrated the construction of the new facility for worshippers on Friday.
"This is a historic day as we celebrate 30 years of the Christian community in Abu Dhabi at this facility," said Cameron Arensen, pastor of the English-speaking Evangelical Community Church.
The Evangelical Church of Abu Dhabi is home to 21 different churches that hold services back-to-back from Thursday to Saturday.
For more than a decade, 21 different churches and denominations have been meeting in the small facility in Khubairat. The churches' new home now has the capacity to accommodate the growing number of its congregations.
"The land was granted to us by the rulers of this country, who have been very generous. The old facility was getting way too small for us and this is a very exciting new phase for us as a church," the pastor said.
The new church is built adjacent to the old facility and more expansion is planned. "The second phase will be to build another chapel, offices and classrooms," said the pastor.
Pastor Stuart Briscoe from the UK delivered a message on unity and worship to the congregation. The Evangelical Church goes back to the 1970's as an extension of the Oasis Hospital in Al Ain and grew through the years as different denominations came to the UAE.
"The significance of all these different churches meeting in one facility is to give a visible demonstration of our unity as a Christian community despite the many nationalities and cultures," Arensen added.
When John Kochummen, a member of the church, came from India 10 years ago to work in Abu Dhabi, the church was not only a place for him to worship, but also to establish a social network. Over the last 10 years he has seen the changes in the church.
"It has been amazing to see new nationalities from around the world coming here every week," he said.
