History of the Diocese of Egypt and North Africa
					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.
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