Hide your Bible is the rule for tourists in Saudi

From Eternity News-

Neighbouring countries in the Middle East are taking very different approaches to religious freedom – with churches gaining legal status in Abu Dhabi, and open display of the Bible being banned in Saudi Arabia.

In Abu Dhabi, one of the United Arab Emirates, eighteen places of non-Muslim worship had received official legal status. This includes St Andrew’s Anglican Church which, like several of the others, is built on land donated by by Sheikh Zayed, the nation’s Founding Father.

“Today marks the coming of age between the church and the United Arab Emirates,” Canon Andrew Thompson, senior Anglican Chaplain of St Andrew’s  told The National, the local broadsheet newspaper.

“The sheikhs [sic] has been generous in giving churches land for the last decade but we have never really had a mechanism to deal with government departments.

More here-

https://www.eternitynews.com.au/world/hide-your-bible-is-the-rule-for-tourists-in-saudi/

Abu Dhabi church pays tribute to Zayed on 50th anniversary

From Abu-Dhabi-

An oasis of peace, a refuge, a home away from home, an institution for life: St. Andrew's Church has been all of this and more to the Abu Dhabi Christian community, its long-time members recalled as the Anglican church celebrated its 50th anniversary on Wednesday.

Jose Bernado Gomes, 62, who worked as a parish clerk for 32 years from 1980 to 2012 at the church, said he was "beyond happy."

"It is a very special moment for me. This church has been my life and existence since I arrived in the UAE in 1979," Gomes told Khaleej Times. He left the UAE in 2012, but was specially invited by the church for the anniversary ceremony.

"I used to work in the church when it was on the corniche first, and then moved to this new building in Muroor. I used to do everything from running errands to taking care of the paper work. Today, I see a lot of old faces. It is like a homecoming to me," said Gomes, who is married with three grown-up children. He currently lives in Goa, India, with his family.

More here-

https://www.khaleejtimes.com/nation/abu-dhabi/abu-dhabi-church-pays-tribute-to-zayed-on-50th-anniversary

Region’s largest Anglican church being built in Abu Dhabi

From Abu Dhabi-

In a testament to the UAE’s multicultural tolerance, the region’s largest Anglican church is currently being built in Abu Dhabi, with the land for the church donated by President His Highness Shaikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan.

Currently under construction in Musaffah, the All Saints Anglican Church will be able to accommodate over 4,000 worshippers when complete. The church is currently looking to raise Dh8 million to reach its target of Dh20 million, which is the total cost of the church, and it expects to receive its final funding by December.

“At a time when walls are being erected between different faith communities in the world, the UAE continues their tradition of welcoming people of different faiths as a genuine and mature expression of their Islamic hospitality,” said Reverend Andy Thompson, senior chaplain in charge of Anglican churches in the emirate of Abu Dhabi.

More here-

http://gulfnews.com/news/uae/society/region-s-largest-anglican-church-being-built-in-abu-dhabi-1.2026406