It's been nearly four years since an arsonist lit Surrey’s St. George Coptic Orthodox Church on fire. The blaze burned the church to the ground and devastated the tight-knit community.
But the Coptic Orthodox parishioners battled through the adversity and are on the brink of breaking ground on a new place of worship.
Last year, the congregants started applying for permitting to rebuild their church in Port Kells.
Steve Faltas, project manager for the construction of the new church, recently made an appeal for donations, noting how much the church meant to the Coptic Orthodox community.
“Though the loss was profound, our faith and hope remain strong,” Faltas wrote on LinkedIn. “We are finally on the path to rebuilding, with plans to begin construction later this year.”
Faltas noted a GoFundMe has been set up to take in donations and he also appealed to the business community for some corporate donations.
“Your generosity can make a lasting impact,” he wrote. “Every contribution brings us one step closer to rebuilding our place of worship and community.”
Faltas told the Cloverdale Reporter the church has yet to sell its old property in Whalley, but they hope to sell it in the next few months.
“We do not anticipate the revenue from this sale to completely fund the construction of the new church as it is currently designed,” he noted.
Faltas said that design was based on the current needs of the church and the services it provides, while at the same time taking into account the church's future growth projections.
“We anticipate the shortfall to be in the range of $2-4 million,” he said of the final construction costs. “(We) are hopefully praying to be able to fundraise that amount over the next 12 to 18 months.”
He also noted their building permit application has been sent in and it is currently under review with the City of Surrey. He said the city has issued a demolition permit and they could start to do some work at the Port Kells site later in the spring.
“We're also considering submitting a foundation permit application in order to expedite construction once our construction funding is secured.
The new church is estimated to cost about $25 million. Some of that money will be generated from selling the old church property, some of it will come from insurance, and some will come in the form of grant money.
For more info on the church or the project, visit stgeorge.ca.
To access St. George's GoFundMe, visit gofundme.com and search “Rebuild St. George Coptic."
According to stgeorge.ca, the website for Surrey's St. George’s Coptic Orthodox Church, the church brings together “a diverse congregation of Coptic, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Iraqi, and Lebanese Orthodox believers.”
