Penampang church services to be held temporarily at parish hall

PENAMPANG –  St Michael’s Church here will hold liturgical services at the parish hall to enable major renovation works in the church building to proceed smoothly effective 1 March 2017.

The services affected are as follows: Saturday Sunset Masses (English), Sunday Masses (Kadazan and Bahasa Malaysia), weddings, funerals and others.

Those who have made earlier bookings, and wish to change to other churches and parishes may do so.

Ernest Mojikon, chairman of the parish finance and property committee,  said that the works must be carried out by contractors without any obstruction in order to ensure smooth implementation of repair jobs, as well as to save cost.

“These renovation works are expected to be completed in three months’ time. In order to maintain quality of work, and to achieve cost-effectiveness, it is important that the works must not be interrupted.” he said.

Installation of air conditioners, upgrading of power supply, and window changes are part of the renovation works that are being carried out in the church building.

Recent improvements to the infrastructure around the church compound include the relocating and building of a new bell tower to make way for the construction of the new one-way descending exit road in order to improve the traffic flow and parking arrangement.

The church has also built a concrete staircase at the rear of the building following the opening of a new parking area at the base of the hill next to the cemetery ground.

The perennial parking problem caused by limited parking areas, plus the increased number of church goers, are the main reasons for these new developments.

In the pipeline are also improvement works and a new facelift for the parish hall after the completion of the church renovation works. An extension at the church’s left wing, named ‘Peter & Paul Hall’, can accommodate the congregation while improvement and facelift works are being done at the parish hall. – Soccom Penampang