Centre plans open air services a day after Jesus Dome burns down

08 June 2016 - 11:17 By TMG Digital

The lead pastor of the Durban Christian Centre‚ also known as the Jesus Dome, on Wednesday praised “the efforts of the firefighters and all of the authorities involved” in quelling the blaze that engulfed it the night before. “Despite the devastation of watching the Jesus Dome auditorium burn down last night‚ we have been overwhelmed by the love and kindness from the people of Durban and the hundreds of messages from South African and international pastors and friends‚” said Pastor John Torrens.“We thank God that no one was injured in the fire and the prayers and concern of so many people has been a heart-warming experience amidst the tragedy.”Torrens said staff will be back at work on Wednesday “to plan the church services for this Sunday‚ which will be held in the open air in our parking area”.“We will be looking at using a tent for the next several months until the Jesus Dome is repaired or rebuilt‚” Torrens said.“At present‚ the church premises are out of bounds as the authorities carry out their investigation to determine the cause of the fire.”Although the cause of the blaze is still to be determined‚ the South African National Civic Organisation “urged authorities to investigate the cause of the explosion” and “not to undermine terror attack warnings they have received from America‚ Britain and Australia”.“We are concerned when places of worship experience such incidents‚” said its spokesperson Jabu Mahlangu. “Precautions have to be taken to neutralise any potential threats and the public assured that nothing is being taken for granted‚” he said‚ seemingly drawing a link between eyewitnesses reports of “a massive explosion” before the blaze to the US and British alerts about “a high threat from terrorism” in SA.ER24 said on Tuesday night: “When paramedics arrived on scene they found the roof and part of the building structure alight.“Fortunately no injuries have been reported at this stage.”..

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