1) Period from Abraham to Christ (BC.) See page BC. Modern research, have enabled connections to be made between biblical characters and events, and archaeological evidence in Egypt. Evidence of the origin of the first 5 books (the Torah) is included.

2) The history and growth of the Christianity from circa 2 AD until today. This includes a historic summary of the Coptic Orthodox Church and an account of the Holy Family in Egypt.

3) The emergence and growth of the Episcopalian (Anglican) church of today. The anglican church grew with the presence of the British in Egypt.

All Saints Cathedral was built in 1934/5 but was deconsecrated in 1978 and pulled down to make way for a bridge and new road. The Cathedral was rebuilt in a new design on Zamalec where the main compound and buildings are now situated; adjacent to the Marriott Hotel.

 

History of the Episcopal Church in Egypt in period 1839 - 1936 by the Reverend Matthew Rhodes.

The origins of the Episcopal Church in Egypt are twofold. The first was the development of trade between Western Europe and the Levant. The British demand for cotton in the nineteenth century brought a growing number of businessmen to Egypt. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 gave a further boost to trade in Egypt as well as increasing its strategic importance.

It was the British mercantile expatriate community that built the first Anglican church in Egypt. The foundation stone for the Church of St Mark in Alexandria was laid on 17th December 1839. A chaplain was appointed by the Bishop of London until 1841 when the Diocese of Jerusalem was inaugurated jointly by the Crowns of Britain and Prussia with the Rt Revd Michael Solomon Alexander as its first bishop.

The other force which lay behind the development of the Anglican Church in Egypt was a missionary one. The first missionaries to arrive in Egypt in 1825 were German. All of the missionary organisations in the Middle East at that time recognised that there was already a Christian presence and that the ancient eastern Churches were the natural means of witnessing to the Christian Gospel. From a base in Malta, the Church Missionary Society worked in translating and distributing the Scriptures and other Christian works throughout the Middle East. It was not until 1882 that the Revd F.A.Klein, an experienced Arabic scholar, was appointed by CMS to take up residence in Egypt.

In the same year, the British had occupied Egypt on the pretext of supporting the Khedive against the Nationalists led by Arabi. The British were to continue to dominate Egypt for the next seventy years. Though further churches were built (the first All Saints Church in Cairo was opened in 1878), the British occupation provided few new opportunities for Christian missions. Evangelism among a mainly Muslim population would have complicated political and mercantile relationships. Opportunities for mission therefore were mainly in the form of service. F.A.Klein continued the work among the poor of Cairo begun by Miss Mary Whately. In 1888, Dr Frank Harpur arrived to establish medical work in Old Cairo which was, with the work of the Revd W.H.T. Gairdner, to become the main source of membership and leadership in what was to become the Episcopal Church in Egypt.

Temple Gairdner was sent to Egypt by CMS in Egypt in 1899, a year after his friend Douglas Thornton. Gairdner sought to witness through dialogue, providing an open house where Muslim students could come and debate theological questions with him. He expressed his aspirations thus:-

We need a song note in our message to the Muslims, not the dry, cracked note of disputation, but the song note of joyous witness, tender invitation.

Some of these debates formed the basis of written works. Under Gairdner, the Episcopal Church began publishing literature, notably the magazine ‘Orient and Occident’ which was circulated as far as Palestine, Syria, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. From 1923, Gairdner and Thornton were joined in this work by Constance Padwick. Gairdner also used Egyptian songs and wrote plays in Arabic to convey the Gospel.

Fearing persecution, the Coptic Church was reluctant to accept Muslims who converted as a result of Anglican witness. Copts who were attracted by the message of Gairdner and others were also treated with suspicion. By 1921 he realised that an indigenous Anglican Church with its own pastors was necessary. Evangelical churches founded by American and Scottish missionaries had already sprung into being. In 1923, a policy statement was drafted by Gairdner and approved by the Archbishop of Canterbury:

The primary aim of the Anglican Church in Egypt is the evangelisation of the non-Christian population, and it does not desire to draw adherents from either the Coptic or the Evangelical Churches. Those who, in sincerity, find the Anglican Church their spiritual home are welcome to join it, but the Church does not set out to gain their allegiance. Instead, it seeks to extend the right hand of fellowship to the Coptic Church so as to render it every possible form of service, and at the same time it strives for closer co-operation and greater unity between all the churches in Egypt.

Gairdner built up an Arabic congregation at the Church of the Savior, in the poor district of the Boulac. The first Egyptian to become an Anglican priest, Girgis Bishai, was ordained deacon in 1924, and priest the following year. Sadly, Gairdner died soon afterwards in 1928. In 1934, the Church of Jesus the light of the World was built in his memory in Old Cairo.

Another opportunity for witness lay in the provision of schools. By 1910, a teacher training class, a small boarding school and two day schools for girls in Cairo, a boys’ day school in Old Cairo and a school for the daughters of the well-to-do in Helwan had been established. Financial pressures after WWI and political pressures after the 1936 Treaty of Independence meant that the number of schools had shrunk to four, one for either sex in Old Cairo and Menouf in the Delta. A large number of single female missionaries worked tirelessly to educate the steady stream of students that they produced. Others helped provide evening classes and acted as social workers. Miss Elsie Anna Wood established an embroidery industry in the Boulac in 1930 that continues to this day.

The two parts of the church in Egypt, indigenous and expatriate, were united in the office of the bishop. In 1920, a new and independent Diocese of Egypt and the Sudan was created with Bishop Llewelyn Gwynne as its Bishop. He was mainly responsible for the building of All Saints Cathedral on the banks of the Nile (the predecessor of the present cathedral) which was consecrated in 1938. He was instrumental in founding the ecumenical Fellowship of Unity in 1921. He also ordained the first four Egyptian pastors of the Episcopal Church. As well as Girgis Bishai, these included Adeeb Shammas who was to bear the burden of running the Episcopal Church after the Suez Crisis in 1956.

This was the nadir of a long and often troubled relationship between Egypt and Britain that inevitably had an impact on the Church in Egypt that owed its origins to Britain. Nationalist aspirations in Egypt led to the 1936 to the Treaty of Independence. This would ordinarily have led to the gradual withdrawal of British forces but the Treaty provided for Egypt’s reoccupation in the event of war. The outbreak of the Second World War led to large numbers of British and Commonwealth troops being stationed in Egypt. The Cathedral became an important centre for many of them, attracted by the inspiring sermons of Bishop Gwynne, who had been Deputy Chaplain General to the British forces in WWI.

The following books cover the history of the Episcopalian Church in Egypt:-

Nile Harvest, by Brian de Saram (1992). About the Episcopalian Anglican Church in Egypt and the Sudan. Printed by Bourne Press ltd Bournemouth. 'This book attempts to provide the Episcopal Churches in Egypt and the Sudan with a strong historical foundation on which to build for the future, and a clear sense of purpose to establish the Kingdom of God among the peoples of the Nile Valley.

Cathedral on the Nile, by Arthur Burrell (1984.) A short history of All Saints Cathedral set within the framework of Egyptian history. The first chapter, origins and foundation, gives the background; the final chapters by Bishop Cragg giving a 'forward look full of challenging wisdom.'

Temple Gairdner of Cairo by Constance Padwick published by SPCK. 1928. Obtainable from CMS Library. Covers the period from 1899, when Temple Gairdner first lived in Egypt up to his death in 1928, the early work of missionaries and the later work and life of Temple Gairdner himself.

D M Thornton a Study of missionary Ideals and Methods by W H Temple Gairdner published by Hodder and Stoughton 1908. Obtainable from CMS Library. Covers the period from 1898 when D M Thornton first lived in Egypt to his death in 1907, the early work of the missionaries in that period.

The two story CMS missionary house Bait Arabi Pasha, used from 1903 for meetings and which was the birth place of the Occident and Orient magazine was pulled down circa 1911 and replaced by the much taller buildings of today. Its location is the triangle to the left of square Midan Falaki, on Sharia El Bustan (to right of American university of Cairo) in the centre of the modern map of Cairo.

Christianity in the land of the Pharaohs. The Coptic orthodoc Church. by Jill Kamil published by The American University in Cairo Press. Approximately 10% of people in Egypt belong to the Coptic faith. See also the web page of the Copticpope which includes the very early history of the time of the Holy Family in Egypt.