The Church in Egypt originated from the needs of British expatriates notably with the opening of the Suez canal in 1869. Building of the Church of St Mark in Alexandria was started in 1839 and a chaplain appointed in 1841.
While missionaries (German) came to Egypt in 1825 the Church Mission Society first appointed the Rev F.A. Klein in 1882 to Egypt, who worked among the poor in Cairo – work previously begun by Miss Mary Whatley. That year, the British occupied Egypt on the pretext of supporting the Khedive against the Nationalists led by Arabi and British presence increased thereafter. The first All Saints’ Church in Cairo was opened in 1878.
In 1888, Dr Frank Harpur arrived to establish medical work in Old Cairo and the Harpur Memorial Hospitals in Menouf and Sadat City are named after him. Under the Rev Adeney, the CMS appointed the Rev Douglas Thornton in 1898 and in 1899 the Rev Temple Gairdner to work among the people in Cairo. Both men had first to set about learning Arabic. Thornton took over the book shop previously run by Adeney and opened it up with a meeting room for discussions.
Rev F Adeney
Dr Frank Harpur
Rev Douglas M Thornton
Canon W H T Gairdner
Later Thornton and Gairdner shared with their families the large house Bait Arabi Pasha. This became the CMS open house where meetings were held to promote dialogue and debate among Muslims and Christians. A child, who was 5 years old at the time, in later life remembered the ‘loud noise that came from the meeting room downstairs.’ In 1904 they started the Orient and Occident magazine which circulated from this house throughout Egypt and the Mid East .
Bait Arabi Pasha 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 (near to the American university of Cairo in the centre of the modern map of Cairo. ) Seephoto on ‘Early Evangelisation‘ page.
Gairdner 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.” Thornton died in Cairo aged 34 in 1907. Gairdner was joined in 1923 by Constance Padwick.
Gairdner issued a policy statement in 1923 (which had been followed in previous years) that: ” ……. the Anglican Church in Egypt …………. 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 developed an Arabic congregation at the Church of the Savior, in the district of Boulac where Girgis Bishai was the first Egyptian Anglican Priest. Sadly, Gairdner died in 1928 only aged 58 and the Church of Jesus the Light of the World was built in his memory in Old Cairo, next to the present day deaf school.
The church established 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. Miss Elsie Anna Wood established an embroidery industry in Boulac in 1930. Schools and social work continue today.
Go HERE to see the Bishops of the Diocese from1920 to the present.
Photographs from the EDA Archives
These are just a selection of historical photographs from EDA’s extensive archives (which are yet to be digitized and catalogued fully). These archives have been used by a number of advanced degree students for research purposes. Please contact us if you are interested in discussing use of these archives.
Athanasius Ghobrial 1899
Atallah Athanasius 1899. Grandfather of Ramez, director of the Bible Society of Egypt since 1990
Teachers & Enquirers 1930
1924 group with Bishop Llewellyn Gwynne (centre) Canon Temple Gairdner (bottom far right)
Church built by English soldiers: Libya 1943
Canon Aziz Wasif and Amathil c1950
Archdeacon Adib Shammas and Bishop Geoffrey Allen c1950
Rev Trimingham, Rev Pat Fedden, Bishop Geoffrey Allen, Archdeacon Adeeb Shammas, Rev Barnes c1950
Archdeacon Adib Shammas c1950
Village Outreach 1950s
In Old Cairo 1954 – Archdeacon Shammas and Bishop Johnston with congregation
Archdeacon Ishaq Mussad and Canon D Butcher 1970
Rev Ghais, Archdeacon Shammas and Canon Blackburn 1971
Ordination of Ghais Abdel Malik (later Bishop) with Bishop MacInnes, Fawzia, and family in Jerusalem 1972. (As Rev McInnes he went to Egypt and moved into Bait Arabi Pasha in 1908 after the death of Rev D M Thornton)
Kenneth Cragg (Asst Bishop in Jerusalem) with Archdeacons Ishaq Mussad and Adeeb Shammas c1972
Teachers and children of the Deaf School 1988
Bishop Ghais with Clair Mailk (Deaf School) and Rev Gad 1988
Social group 1988 with Mme Ansaf and Rev Gad at Boulac
Canon Aziz Wasif 1988
Rev Gad Manfaluti 1988 in Boulac office, using the same roll top desk used 1903-1907 to launch the Orient & Occident Magazine
Archbishop of Canterbury Dr Rowan Williams at opening of new AST Building 2009
Bishop Grant baptising the Opo peoples in Ethiopia 2009
Bishop Bill Musk, Bishop Grant and Dr Wendy LeMarquand and Bishop Mouneer – consecration of Bishop Grant as Area Bishop in the Horn of Africa
Alexandria School of Theology 2013
