Inter Denominational Christian Church (IDCC)
Inter Denominational Christian Church (IDCC) is established "in view of the State of Qatar in the principle of freedom of religions and in order to reinforce the adopted approach of prompting dialogue, enhancing interaction of thought and culture, fostering respect for divine religions and understanding of the situations of the Christian communities residing in the state of Qatar, His Highness Sheikh Hamad Bin Khalifa Al Thani, Emir of State of Qatar issued and approved whereby Christian communities are allowed to establish their own churches wherein to practice their religious rites and rituals". [Letter addressed to IDCC dated July 27, 2003 from Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State of Qatar].
Inter Denominational Christian Church is a conglomeration of twenty eight different Indian expatriate Christian communities in Qatar. His Highness the Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani granted land for the construction of place of worship to the Inter Denomination Christian Church on 22nd July 2003 and the twenty eight churches from different denominations united together under the umbrella of IDCC to build their own place of worship.
The IDCC complex is located on a 12,000 sqm plot and the building occupies 4,800sqm, providing places of worship for 24,000 Indian Christians. There are seven buildings in this complex built at a cost of QR40mn and the funds were raised as donations from community members.
The above 28 member churches have merged and/or grouped into eleven churches as follows for all future proceedings of Inter Denominational Christian Church.
No Names of Churches 1 St. Thomas Syro Malabar Church
2 Malankara Orthodox Church
3 Mar Thoma Church Qatar Doha.
4 Pentecostal Churches
5 St. Mary’s Malankara Church
6 The Pentecostal Mission
7 Doha Tamil Churches
8 Brethren Churches
9 St. Thomas CSI Church Doha – Qatar
10 Telugu Christian Fellowship
11 St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India
From the nominees of the Inter Denominational Christian Church, a panel of four members were approved as "Coordinators" by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs based on the strength of the communities (above 1000 members), which are St. Thomas Syro Malabar Church, Malankara Orthodox Church, Mar Thoma Church and the Pentecostal Churches. These four Coordinators are responsible for the interaction between the Government and the Inter Denominational Christian Church.
Inter Denominational Christian Church (IDCC)Complex was inaugurated on 28th March 2009 by the Deputy Premier & Minister of energy and Industry H.E Abdulla Bin Hamad Al-Attiyah . The inaugural function was attended by the Minister of State for energy and Industry, His Excellency Dr Mohammad Bin Saleh Al Sada, Her Excellency Mrs. Deepa Gopalan Wadhwa, Ambassador of India to Qatar, senior officials from various Ministries, leading members from Indian Community, Priests and Pastors of Orthodox Churches, Anglican Church, Catholic Church, Coptic Church, Syrian Orthodox Church and other inter denomination churches and around 600 committee members of various IDCC Churches.
