The Rev Clive Handford, the Anglican Bishop based in Nicosia in Cyprus and the Gulf, said: "We are there as guests in a Muslim country and we wish to be sensitive to our hosts . . . but once you're inside the gates it will be quite obvious that you are in a Christian centre." The grounds of the church, on the outskirts of the capital, Doha, will have crosses and flower motifs resembling those used in early Christian churches.

Bishop Handford said "We hope that the centre can be a base for ongoing Muslim- Christian dialogue," Qatar has in recent years estimated the number of its Anglican community to number between 7,000 and 10,000 people. The site for the church has been levelled and a quarter of the £4 million needed has been raised by the Anglican community in Qatar, with the rest to be met by fundraising abroad. The church will be run by Ian Young, a 58-year-old Scot who has served as Doha's chief Anglican priest since 1991. History books will show that Christianity disappeared from most Gulf Arab states within a few hundred years of the arrival of Islam in the 7th century AD.

But with no surprise, Westerners including Christians migrants have started to move back to the region over the past 100 years, particularly since the discovery of oil. As a consequence, some Gulf states have allowed churches to be built, for example Kuwait, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, where Westernfriendly governments have sought to provide amenities in tourism and the labour force to attract skilled migrants. Some citizens of Qatar have expressed their dissatisfaction at their governments decision to make a church, stating that the money would be better spent in helping Muslims in poorer countries. Bishop Handford accepts that some people of Qatar might not be happy saying that "In the conservative Muslim world you'd expect it," he said. "You'd get the same in the conservative Christian world where mosques are being built." He added: "However we haven't experienced any problems or difficulties with the local people where the Church is being built. They have been welcoming and felt that this was right."

The congregation will take security precautions but no "dramatic" measures are planned. Qatar, home to huge gas reserves and enjoying an economic boom, prides itself on its security. With a population of fewer than one million, centred mainly in Doha, it is confident that it can keep an eye on everybody.