The Methodist Church has raised more than $300,000 on the first day of the annual conference, which was opened this morning at Furnival Park.

Church General Secretary, Rev Ame Tugawe said the amount raised is expected to increase tonight and tomorrow.d

President, Rev Laisiasa Ratabacaca today thanked the 109 thousand 6 hundred and 17 devoted members of the congregation for their kind donations and financial assistance to the church.

In his opening address, Rev Ratabacaca said the financial assistance to the church shows that members have faith in keeping the Church to spread the good news.

The Methodist Church is expected to collect 2 million dollars during the weeklong festival before the actual conference meeting which will be held in Naduri, Macuata the following week.

The Methodist Church of Fiji choir competition organisers are working on a time table that will allow the competition to finish before mid-night compared to the past years when it used to be completed around 3am.

Organiser Reverand Tomasi Kanalagi said that they are confident that they will be able to achieve this time frame as there is a decrease in the number of choirs taking part this year.

600 choir groups will turn up in the one week event that will start today at the Furnival park in Toorak.