Construction has begun for a new 168-seat church in Rivett, despite protest from locals at Rivett shops.
The church will be the first permanent home for the St Athanasius Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, a small parish which has had to hire out other churches and local school halls since it opened its Canberra chapter in 2008.
However, local shopkeeper Bill Pesi, owner of Rivett's Pitch Black Cafe next door, has concerns about the build.
"I'm not against religion," he said. "The church just can't go here."
In the five years he has owned Pitch Black Cafe, Mr Pesi has worried about the limited parking spaces at Rivett shops.
About 50 parking spots service the shops and two childcare centres. Both the nearby Burrangiri Aged Care Respite Centre and the Reformed Church of Canberra, an existing church next door to the future St Athanasius site, have dedicated parking.
Mr Pesi had not heard about the new build adjacent to his store until the fencing went up in early September, despite the community consultations held by St Athanasius Church in 2023.
"The government didn't come to fill us in. Nobody's come to see me about nothing."
In 2014, plans for a mosque to be built in the same area were blocked over concerns about parking.
The new church, which averages 150 attendees per service, will have 27 dedicated parking spaces. The church's development application anticipates most of the church members are families who will share a car, and that the nearby parking at the shops will likely not be used.
Ashok Pothen, a member of St Athanasius's building committee for the project, has been planning the build since 2020.
"We undertook a detailed parking consideration, and addressed everything that came up in community consultation," he said.
"That's what our approval was based on."
Mr Pothen noted that church services will mainly occur on Sundays, when Rivett shops are "quiet".
Mr Pesi disagrees.
"It's packed on Sundays. There's a church here already, and the footy's on. People visit their family at Burrangiri on the weekends," he said.
The nearby Kaiser Football Field has no dedicated parking, nor a toilet block.
"We need parking, we need infrastructure, we don't need another religious building," Mr Pesi said.
The new church, however, will offer facilities available for public use.
"Contributing to the community is important to us," said Jojee Joseph, another member of the St Athanasius building committee.
"These facilities are open to be used by the Rivett community."
"Most of our community lives in and around Rivett, especially older members in Rivett nursing communities."
For the members of St Athanasius, the new church is desperately needed.
"We keep moving from place to place, hiring other churches. Christmas Day and Easter are hard, we've had to hire school halls and facilities rather than churches."
In recent years, St Athanasius services have occurred at the Wesley Uniting Church in Forrest, the Lyons Church of Christ in Lyons, the St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Kaleen, among others.
"We've been running around since 2008. It's constantly setting up and packing down."
The church is anticipated to be open by the end of 2027.
Mr Pothen is looking forward to the stability.
"It'd be nice to have a permanent home," he said.
