Surrey, B.C., community aims to rebuild torched Orthodox church [Video]

Nearly three years after a devastating fire reduced their church to ashes, members of the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Surrey say they are determined to rebuild.

Dozens of churchgoers came together on Saturday in Fort Langley for a walkathon and car wash fundraiser, hoping to raise funds to construct a new place of worship.

The fire that devastated the St. George Coptic Orthodox Church on 108 Avenue and 139 Street in the city’s Whalley neighbourhood in October 2021 was confirmed to be an act of arson.

The perpetrator, a 35-year-old woman, has been sentenced to nearly five years in prison after pleading guilty to two counts of arson, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.

The fire left the congregation without a permanent home, says Father Armia Gerges.

“So many things, valuable things, in our church burned down,” he told CBC …