A Surrey church congregation of about 250 families is heartbroken after a 鈥渟uspicious鈥� fire early Monday morning destroyed their St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Whalley.
鈥淲e are still in a state of shock, mourning,鈥� Father Bisenty Gerges said Tuesday. 鈥淚t鈥檚 unpredictable what the future will be. I think we will rent a place.鈥�
The priest said their bishop has come to Surrey from Mississauga to help. 鈥淔rom there we can start.鈥�
Meantime, a GoFundMe raised $8,100 during its first day, toward helping rebuild the church.
Gerges stressed he is not pointing figures at who might be responsible. 鈥淲e leave the investigations to the authorities, we trust them,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t is not for us to say, we leave it to the RCMP and the investigators. It鈥檚 not up to me.鈥�
The fire erupted at the church, at 13905 108th Avenue, on July 19. The Surrey RCMP was called to the scene at 3:17 a.m. Nobody was injured as the church was empty at the time. It happened five days after an attempted arson at the church, in which police say video surveillance footage confirms a woman lit 鈥渋tems鈥� on fire at the door.
鈥淪he entered from the gate outside, which is unlocked. We reported that to the police and they have the video,鈥� Gerges said.
The suspect is described as Caucasian, five feet seven inches tall and heavy-set with dark hair. The woman was wearing a black hooded sweatshirt, a black tank top, black tights with a flower print, and black flip flops. Investigators are asking anyone with information related to either of these investigations to contact the Surrey RCMP (604-599-0502) or Crime Stoppers (www.solvecrime.ca, 1-800-222-TIPS).
Surrey RCMP Sergeant Elenore Sturko said Tuesday police have no evidence connecting the woman to the second fire.
鈥淲e鈥檙e saying at this time there is no evidence connecting either of these incidents, so the fire that destroyed the church on the 19th and the arson to those sort-of flowers on the front door, they鈥檙e both suspicious events and concerning, but at this time there is no evidence that they鈥檙e connected but we do want to find out the identity of that woman who lit that fire on the 14th.鈥�
鈥淭here is no evidence at this time that links this fire at the church to any other incidents throughout the city or across the province but we鈥檒l be doing a full investigation and we鈥檒l allow the evidence to lead us in the proper direction.鈥�
Asked if police are keeping an eye on nearby Saint Mary Coptic Church, Sturko replied that because other churches have been set on fire across B.C., police have been reaching out to churches 鈥渢o talk to the about concerns they might have.
鈥淲e鈥檙e also doing extra patrols around the area of churches and gurdwaras and other places of worship in the community,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e had some graffiti targeting the Muslim community, so we鈥檝e also been doing extra patrols and reaching out and doing work with those community members as well because it鈥檚 important to us that people in the community can feel safe both in the community and in their places of worship.鈥�
Surrey Fire Chief Larry Thomas noted at press time that investigators had a lot of ground to cover while trying to discover what caused the fire as the church was a 鈥減retty big building.鈥�
鈥淭hey鈥檙e probably trying to recover the video recording system that was on site if it鈥檚 not destroyed totally and see if they can get any evidence off that, trying to confirm what they may or may not suspect,鈥� Thomas said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not lots left there, so it鈥檚 pretty hard, pretty challenging. We鈥檒l see.鈥�
Nancy Yacoub, a member of St. George鈥檚 since she emigrated to Canada from Egypt in 1982, was among about 200 mourners who attended a vigil at the smouldering ruin on Monday night. 鈥淢y heart was so broken,鈥� she said.
In 2011, Mounties kept vigil over Whalley鈥檚 two Coptic Orthodox churches - St. George and Saint Mary - after a deadly terrorist attack against their church in Alexandria, Egypt, and subsequent threats made here in Canada and elsewhere in the world. Surrey鈥檚 churches did not receive any threats but the Surrey RCMP nevertheless increased its presence around them.
Yacoub said Monday鈥檚 fire is bringing back bad memories from Egypt. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a shock.
鈥淚t鈥檚 definitely hate,鈥� she said, 鈥渘othing more than hate, someone who is extremely hateful.鈥�
She said she鈥檚 disappointed with politicians who haven鈥檛 spoken out against the fire. 鈥淚 think being quiet or being silent is encouraging this hate to come out, because nobody is blaming this hate, nobody is saying 鈥榮top it.鈥欌��
鈥淚 believe it鈥檚 politics. Bad politics are taking it鈥檚 toll on us, everybody, everyone.鈥�
Surrey Mayor Doug McCallum told the Now-Leader on Tuesday he was meeting with police and city bylaws staff 鈥渢o go over the situation up there, it鈥檚 a terrible situation and especially when there appears to have been an attempt to do it a week before.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a serious situation and we need to deal with it to see whether we can get it corrected,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a very serious thing. When I was phoned about it, when the fire, soon after it got started in the morning, three in the morning or something, I immediately felt it was a very serious situation and so we need to work real hard, all our public safety people.
鈥淲e need to address the situation very quickly.鈥�
The Coptic Orthodox Church is an ancient church founded on the teachings of Saint Mark, who brought Christianity to Egypt during Nero鈥檚 reign in the first century A.D. There are more than 50,000 Coptic Orthodox Christians throughout Canada, with 74 priests serving some 40 churches.
Coptic church Pope Tawadros II in September 2014, on his first papal visit to Canada, performed the liturgy at St. George and also visited Saint Mary before attending a special luncheon at the Sheraton hotel in Guildford.
鈥� with file from Tom Zillich
tom.zytaruk@surreynowleader.com
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