Christ Church, Jerusalem (), is an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

church located inside the Old City of

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

, established in 1849 by the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews. It was the original seat of the

Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem The Anglican Diocese of Jerusalem () is the Anglican Communion, Anglican jurisdiction for Israel, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Lebanon. It is a part of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East, and has diocesan offices at St. George' ...

until the opening of St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem in 1899; the compound also included the 19th century British Consulate. From its inception, Christ Church has been supporting a form of Christianity focused on Jesus' Jewishness, offering Christian texts translated into Hebrew by its own leaders.Klawans, Jonathan
''The Shapira Fragments''
Biblical Archaeology Society (BAS), 21 April 2022. Accessed 24 April 2022. The building itself is part of a small compound just inside the

Jaffa Gate Jaffa Gate (; , "Hebron Gate") is one of the seven main open gates of the Old City of Jerusalem. The name Jaffa Gate is currently used for both the historical Ottoman gate from 1538, and for the wide gap in the city wall adjacent to it to the ...

opposite King David's citadel. Consecrated by Bishop Samuel Gobat on 21 January 1849, it is the oldest

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

church building in the

Middle East The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq. The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...

. Its congregation is mainly composed of English-speaking Anglican Jewish Christians, with both

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

and Jewish festivals being celebrated.

History

Originally named the "Apostolic Anglican Church", it was consecrated as "Christ Church" on 21 January 1849 by Bishop Samuel Gobat. Three architects worked on the church: the first (William Curry Hillier) died in 1840 of typhus, while the second (James Wood Johns) was dismissed and replaced by Matthew Habershon in 1843. The construction of the church was met with considerable local and Ottoman opposition. Lord Shaftesbury and other prominent Restorationists lobbied consecutive Foreign Secretaries in its advocacy. On 18 March 1845 a petition signed by 1,400 clergy and 15,000 laity was presented to

Lord Aberdeen George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen (28 January 178414 December 1860), styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a British statesman, diplomat and landowner, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite politician and specialist in fo ...

in support of the project. Hyamson, Albert M., The British Consulate in Jerusalem in Relation to the Jews of Palestine, 1838-1914, , cited in Lewis, D. Christ Church was the seat of the

until the opening of St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem in 1899. Prior to the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, the Christ Church compound was also the site of the British Consulate. The building survived the

1947–1949 Palestine war The 1948 Palestine war was fought in the territory of what had been, at the start of the war, British-ruled Mandatory Palestine. During the war, the British withdrew from Palestine, Zionism, Zionist forces conquered territory and established ...

and the

Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...

intact and continues to function as an Anglican church with several English,

Arabic Arabic (, , or , ) is a Central Semitic languages, Central Semitic language of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family spoken primarily in the Arab world. The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) assigns lang ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

speaking congregations. The current rector is David Pileggi. The London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews (now known as the

Church's Ministry Among Jewish People The Church's Ministry Among Jewish People (CMJ) (formerly the London Jews' Society and the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews) is an Anglican Missionary, missionary society founded in 1809. History The society began in the ...

or CMJ) helped finance the church's construction. The church is conservative evangelical and supports

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a communion of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches, aligned with the Confessing Movement, that formed in 2008 in response to ongoing theological disputes in th ...

's Jerusalem Declaration.

Archaeology

In 1862,

Conrad Schick Conrad Schick (1822–1901) was a German architect, archaeologist and Protestantism, Protestant missionary who settled in Jerusalem in the mid-nineteenth century.Perry & Yodim (2004) For many decades, he was head of the "House of Industry" at the ...

described "a shaft by which access is obtained to a passage running east and west under the Mission premises" (i.e. Christ Church), and which subterranean passage was thought to be a water conduit or drain from the Roman period.The Subterranean Tunnel System beneath Christ Church
(2019), New Studies in the Archaeology of Jerusalem and its Region, Collected Papers Volume XIII The subterranean passage was re-examined in 2001 by archaeologists, Shimon Gibson and Rafael Y. Lewis. Lewis conjectured that the subterranean tunnel was part of the upper aqueduct system that carried water eastward towards the

Temple Mount The Temple Mount (), also known as the Noble Sanctuary (Arabic: الحرم الشريف, 'Haram al-Sharif'), and sometimes as Jerusalem's holy esplanade, is a hill in the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem that has been venerated as a ...

and that it was probably connected to the cisterns that were under Herod's palace in the Citadel area. After proceeding to a distance of little over in an eastward direction, they could not proceed any further, as the passage was blocked by a caved-in roof.

Description

In the church's apse a plaque contains the

Apostles' Creed The Apostles' Creed (Latin: ''Symbolum Apostolorum'' or ''Symbolum Apostolicum''), sometimes titled the Apostolic Creed or the Symbol of the Apostles, is a Christian creed or "symbol of faith". "Its title is first found c.390 (Ep. 42.5 of Ambro ...

, the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also known by its incipit Our Father (, ), is a central Christian prayer attributed to Jesus. It contains petitions to God focused on God’s holiness, will, and kingdom, as well as human needs, with variations across manusc ...

, and the

Ten Commandments The Ten Commandments (), or the Decalogue (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , ), are religious and ethical directives, structured as a covenant document, that, according to the Hebrew Bible, were given by YHWH to Moses. The text of the Ten ...

, all three in

Gallery

File:Jerusalem nach eigener Anschauung und den neuesten Forschungen By Philipp Wolff. P. 70 B.jpg, 1862 File:The English Church & Consulate, and the the Tower of David.jpg, 1878, with the

Tower of David The Tower of David (), also known as the Citadel (), is an ancient citadel and contemporary museum, located near the Jaffa Gate entrance to the Old City of Jerusalem, Old City of Jerusalem. The citadel that stands today dates to the Mamluk Sult ...

File:Samuel Gobat, Bishop of Jerusalem, his life and work - a biographical sketch (1884) (14803284503).jpg, 1884 File:Jerusalem Christ Church, Behold (17).jpg, 19th-century model of the church

References

External links