St Mary and St Abraam | |
---|---|
50°49′51.89″N0°9′21.04″W / 50.8310806°N 0.1558444°W | |
Location | Davigdor Road, Hove, East Sussex, BN3 1RF |
Country | United Kingdom |
Denomination | Coptic Orthodox Church |
Website | www.stmary-stabraam.co.uk |
History | |
Founded | 1994 |
Dedication | Mary and Abraham of Egypt |
Dedicated | 1909 (as Anglican church); 1994 (as Coptic Orthodox church) |
Architecture | |
Architect(s) | Clayton & Black (original building); Antonius Saad, Brighton (alterations) |
Style | Early English Gothic Revival |
Completed | 1909 |
Administration | |
Division | The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate |
St Mary and St Abraam Church is a Coptic Orthodox Church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of 27 such churches in the British Isles, [1] twelve of which are British Orthodox churches. [2] The Race community in Brighton and Hove was founded in 1990; [3] four years later it moved to its present site on Davigdor Road, on the Brighton/Hove border. [4]
The church is based in a much older building: the former church of St Thomas the Apostle, an Anglican church built in 1909 by the Brighton-based architecture firm Clayton & Black [5] (who were responsible for many local buildings including the Duke of York's Picture House, the French Convalescent Home on the seafront, and a reconstruction of the Theatre Royal). The tall red-brick building, in Early English style, [5] has a large pointed-arch window in its eastern face and five smaller windows across the northern face, where the entrance is situated. The last service was held on 17 January 1993, [4] and the church was declared redundant on 20 July 1993. [6] Although the Diocese of Chichester identified the building's poor condition as one of the reasons for closure, [4] the Coptic Orthodox Church bought it shortly afterwards. St Thomas the Apostle's parish was subsumed into that of All Saints Church nearby, and its locally-produced Stations of the Cross were moved to St Mary's Church, Kemptown. [5]
The founders of the Race community in Hove were refugees from the Second Sudanese Civil War, and many of the worshippers are from Sudan. Many Copts of Egyptian origin also attend the church. [3] In 2000, there were believed to be around 4,000 Sudanese worshippers, [4] with two priests.
The former leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Pope Shenouda III, travelled to Hove and performed a dedication ceremony to consecrate the church on 23 September 1994. The church has been licensed for worship under its new identity in accordance with the Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 and has the registration number 79284; [7] and in 1995 it was licensed to perform marriage ceremonies. An extension to the building was approved in 1998. [4]
The church has some noteworthy interior features. An enormous mahogany and oak iconostasis was installed in 2000: at 7.5 metres (25 ft) tall, it is said to be the tallest such structure in the world. [4] [8] Small pieces were individually carved in Egypt; they were taken to Hove and assembled in six hours by a team of volunteers in time for the Easter celebrations at the end of April (in Eastern Christianity, Easter is celebrated according to a different calendar calculation than in Western Christianity). Pope Shenouda III returned to the church on 13 August 2000 to dedicate the iconostasis, [4] which depicts the Last Supper, Jesus Christ and several other holy figures across 24 icons. [9] Father Zakaria Botros, an Egyptian priest who was in charge of the church at that time, also painted a large icon of Christ above the altar, despite having no formal art training. [9]
Father Botros' departure from the church in 2003 caused hundreds of members of the congregation to protest against what they believed to be his forced removal. Some protestors occupied the church and went on hunger strike, and Pope Shenouda III had to intervene by speaking to hundreds of churchgoers via a mobile phone link from Egypt. [9] [10]
St Mary and St Abraam was the first Coptic Orthodox church in the south of England (outside London). Some of the other churches in the British Isles (many of them British Orthodox) are in Kensington in Central London; Croydon in south London; Lapworth in Warwickshire; nearby Solihull in the West Midlands; Manchester; Newport in south Wales; Kirkcaldy in Scotland; and Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. Currently, there are about 30,000 members of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom, [11] and another 5,000 [Note 1] Copts who are directly under the British Orthodox Church. [12] Between them, they are served by 27 Coptic Orthodox churches. [1] [2]
The Coptic Orthodox Church, also known as the Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria, is an Oriental Orthodox Christian church based in Egypt, in Africa and the Middle East. The head of the church and the See of Alexandria is the pope of Alexandria on the Holy Apostolic See of Saint Mark, who also carries the title of Father of fathers, Shepherd of shepherds, Ecumenical Judge and the 13th among the Apostles. The See of Alexandria is titular. The Coptic pope presides from Saint Mark's Coptic Orthodox Cathedral in the Abbassia District in Cairo. The church follows the Coptic Rite for its liturgy, prayer and devotional patrimony. Christians in Egypt total about 10 million people, and Coptic Christians make up Egypt's largest and most significant minority population, and the largest population of Christians in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
Pope Shenouda III was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See of St. Mark. His papacy lasted 40 years, 4 months, and 4 days, from 14 November 1971 until his death.
The Coptic Orthodox Church in Wales has two churches in Wales. The first is in South Wales and the other in North Wales.
St Mary and St Mercurius Coptic Orthodox Church is the first Coptic Orthodox Church in Wales, at St Mary Street in Risca, Newport, Wales.
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has several churches in Great Britain and Ireland under the jurisdiction of four diocesan bishops.
Copts, many of whom are adherents of the Coptic Orthodox Church, began migrating to the United States of America in the late 1940s. After 1952, the rate of Coptic immigration from Egypt to the United States increased. The first Coptic church in the United States, St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church, was established in the late 1960s in Jersey City.
The Coptic Orthodox Church in South America has bishops in Bolivia and Brazil.
St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church is a Coptic Orthodox parish in Woodbury, New York. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States.
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church is notably the first Coptic Orthodox parish and church building in North America, if not the Western Hemisphere, located in Jersey City, New Jersey. This is in comparison to St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in which is considered the first parish in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States. The Church belongs to Archdiocese of North America.
St George Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches established in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US. The church belongs to Coptic Diocese of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware & West Virginia.
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox parishes to be established in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.
St George Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox churches in the United States.
St George & St Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church is the second Coptic Orthodox church that was established in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States.
St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches established in Pennsylvania. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.
The Church of the Holy Trinity is a Greek Orthodox church in Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1838 in one of Brighton's most notorious slum districts, Carlton Hill, it was an Anglican church for most of its life: dedicated to St John the Evangelist, it was used by the Anglican community until it was declared redundant in 1980. After some uncertainty about its future, it was sold to Brighton's Greek Orthodox community in 1985 and has been used as their permanent place of worship since then. Reflecting its architectural and historical importance, it has been listed at Grade II since 1971.
Coptic Australians are Australians of Coptic descent or persons of Coptic descent residing in Australia. According to the 2011 census, there were 24,693 Copts in Australia, mostly members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic population within Australia is estimated to be between 70,000 and 100,000 people.
The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England, also referred to as the Coptic Diocese of New York, is a diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It was founded in 2013 and encompasses the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States of America. Bishop David was appointed diocesan bishop when the diocese was created.
The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii, is a diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which was founded in 1995. It is currently headed by Metropolitan Serapion the bishop of Los Angeles, and Metropolitan of Southern California and Hawaii.
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