Cape Town - Christ The Saviour Anglican Church in Lentegeur, Mitchells Plain, will be celebrating their 40th Anniversary on November 15 with a spectacular event to show their appreciation to the parishioners for their loyalty and commitment over the years.
The church was built and commissioned in November 1984 and, as a non-profit organisation, the church depends on the generosity of the parishioners in their giving to sustain the ministry, church administration and day-to-day operations.
Church warden Aletta Brown, who has been part of the church for more than 30 years, said that most of their attendees are pensioners who are dependent on their social grant.
“Lentegeur is one of the poverty-stricken communities with subsequent low socio- economic status and a high-unemployment rate.
“Most of the younger people who earn a decent income, moved out of the community for various reasons and this has a knock-on effect on the finances of the church.
“Despite that, safety risk is also a factor because if people don't come to church then they don't contribute.
“Summer months are good because then we have about 250 people coming to church but in winter months, only about 100 people attend.”
Brown said that the church does lots of fund-raising events, which often is not well supported but their aim now is to continue with fund-raising to generate funds to have the event in November.
They will be hosting a Snack Dance on August 2 at 8pm in aid of the 40th celebration in November. The event will be hosted at the Portlands
Indoor Centre with live music from Abe Landsberg Live Band. Entry costs R120.
She said that they are targeting 400 people to attend the event but to date they do not even have a 100.
“We unfortunately cannot take from our monthly income to pay for everything needed for the event.
“As a leadership we just felt like giving something back to the parishioners but because of the financial state of the church, we unfortunately need to sell tickets for people to attend.
“We knew it was going to be challenging but we try to remain positive and understand that not everyone can afford it.
“We want to give our people something decent and memorable. The support of the public and any other donor or support will be highly appreciated to make this dream a success. We trust God with this.”
Brown is appealing for any donations or support by means of buying tickets to the event to contact [email protected]