STORY:
Christianity Saved At Millennium Dome

Christianity will be the major religion celebrated and the Spirit zone is being renamed Faith zone. According to a story from This is London, the move should help silence critics who feared that the Christian significance of 2000 would be lost.

The Laing construction and engineering family rescued the religious zone with £2 million, supported by other trusts linked to the Christian faith, including that of millionaire former Tory minister Sir Timothy Sainsbury, offering a further £1 million between them.

The £758 million Dome has been widely criticized for substituting Christianity with commercialism. Six months ago it appeared the religious zone was doomed after it failed to attract any sponsors.

Then millionaire Asian entrepreneurs, the Hinduja brothers, who have a business base in the UK, offered to under-write the project, leading to fears that the Christian significance of the 2000 celebration would be obscured.

This left dome organizers with a dilemma. The money would get the zone built but would not appear to represent traditional British Christian faiths. After months of bargaining the Hinduja brothers agreed to give £1 million for the Faith zone with the remaining £3 million of the £4 million sponsorship coming from trusts linked to the Christian faith, including the £2 million from the Laing family.

Construction work on the Faith zone has started. A tented structure, it will tell the story of Christianity and celebrate leading British Christians as well as describing other UK faiths. It will have a quiet space for reflection and a demonstration of rites of passage, including a Hindu wedding, a Christening and a Jewish funeral.

Another £6 million has been pledged for the Transaction zone - renamed from today as the Money zone - one of 14 themed exhibitions within the Dome. A consortium of City firms, including Woolwich PLC, the Prudential and Reuters, have come up with £3 million. Diamond company De Beers has also given £2 million and the Royal Mint £1 million from the sale of Millennium Crowns.

The zone, which examines the role of finance, is already part-sponsored by the City of London with £6 million. It was also revealed today that Coca-Cola has beaten rival Pepsi to sell its soft drink in the Dome in a £3 million sponsorship deal.

Source: This Is London

DATE: 6/04/99

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