The Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) (also called the Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Egypt,

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

: الكنيسة الإنجيلية المشيخية ''El-Kenisa El-Engileyya El-Mashyykhia'') is a

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

church that started as a mission of the

United Presbyterian Church of North America The United Presbyterian Church of North America (UPCNA) was an American Presbyterian denomination that existed for one hundred years. It was formed on May 26, 1858 by the union of the Northern branch of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church ( ...

among

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christians, Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since Ancient history, antiqui ...

Egyptians Egyptians ( arz, المَصرِيُون, translit=al-Maṣriyyūn, ; arz, المَصرِيِين, translit=al-Maṣriyyīn, ; cop, ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, remenkhēmi) are an ethnic group native to the Nile, Nile Valley in Egypt. Egyptian ...

in the late nineteenth century. The Evangelical Church of Egypt became autonomous in 1957 and officially independent in 1958. It has eight presbyteries, 314 congregations, and about 250,000 members. Emile Zaki is a pastor and also the general secretary of the Evangelical

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

Church of Egypt, also known as the Synod of the Nile. The Synod of the Nile has about 250 congregations worldwide, including a few worshiping groups without their own building. It helps with running hospitals, clinics, social service and employment agencies, retreat centers, day schools, and its own seminary. The Evangelical Presbyterian Church founded the nation's first primary school for girls. To train pastors the denomination maintains the Evangelical Presbyterian Seminary in

Cairo Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...

. It is the oldest Protestant Seminary in the country. These

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

Christians operate in a context far different from

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. Between 88 and 90 percent of Egyptians are Muslim. Of the 10-12% who are Christian, over 90-92 percent are

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

. The 8-10 percent of non-

Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pa ...

Christians include

Catholics The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

and several Protestant groups. However, a steady trickle of Orthodox and Catholic Copts are joining the Evangelicals because they are seen as (among other things) less laden with heavy ritual, more generous with welfare and more flexible over marriage and divorce. The church is a member of the

World Communion of Reformed Churches The World Communion of Reformed Churches (WCRC) is the largest association of Calvinist churches in the world. It has 230 member denominations in 108 countries, together claiming an estimated 80 million people, thus being the fourth-largest Chris ...

Middle East Council of Churches The Middle East Council of Churches (MECC) was inaugurated in May 1974 at its First General Assembly in Nicosia, Cyprus, and now has its headquarters in Beirut, Lebanon. Initially it consisted of three "families" of Christian Churches in the Mid ...

, and the Egypt Council of Churches, which formed in February, 2013. A partner church is the

Church of Scotland The Church of Scotland ( sco, The Kirk o Scotland; gd, Eaglais na h-Alba) is the national church in Scotland. The Church of Scotland was principally shaped by John Knox, in the Scottish Reformation, Reformation of 1560, when it split from t ...

. Among others, the

Gustav-Adolf-Werk The Gustav-Adolf-Werk (GAW) is a society under the roof of the Evangelical Church in Germany which has for its object the aid of feeble sister churches and congregations. It is responsible for the taking care of the Diasporawork of the EKD, in co ...

(GAW) as the

Evangelical Church in Germany The Evangelical Church in Germany (german: Evangelische Kirche in Deutschland, abbreviated EKD) is a federation of twenty Lutheranism, Lutheran, Continental Reformed church, Reformed (Calvinism, Calvinist) and united and uniting churches, United ( ...

Diaspora A diaspora ( ) is a population that is scattered across regions which are separate from its geographic place of origin. Historically, the word was used first in reference to the dispersion of Greeks in the Hellenic world, and later Jews after ...

agency actively supports persecuted Protestant Christians in Egypt with aid projects.Lage- und Tätigkeitsbericht des Gustav-Adolf-Werkes für das Jahr 2013/14 Diasporawerk der Evangelischen Kirche in Deutschland (GAW yearly report, in German) The church currently claims to own property held by the

Anglican Diocese of Egypt The Episcopal/Anglican Province of Alexandria is a province of the Anglican Communion. Its territory was formerly the Diocese of Egypt with North Africa and the Horn of Africa. On 29 June 2020 the diocese was elevated to the status of an eccles ...

. Evangelical Christians belonging to this group form a tight-knit community where everybody knows everybody and share common rituals like serving as "Beit Feel" i
Beit El-Salam
in Agami and, more recently, going t
Kasr El Dobara Evangelical Church
s hip camps known a
Wadi Sports Camps
The early evangelicals played a role in Egypt's education and this was documented in Paul Sedra's book: From Mission to Modernity. The biggest evangelical church in Egypt is Kasr El Dobara Evangelical Church (KDEC). The most famous Evangelical choir in Egypt is
The Better Life Team
" There are lesser known teams that include: The Praise Team, among others. Fun fact: Rafiq Habib, the son of the former head of the Synod, Samuel Habib, was the Vice President of the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party. The Synod owns 4 schools in Egypt: Ramses College, New Ramses College, British Ramses College and Al Salam school in Assiut (formerly known as Presley Memorial Institute, founded by former American Evangelical missionaries). The sons and daughters of the Egyptian Evangelical community tend to attend these schools. Evangelicals of the Arab world (mainly Egypt and Lebanon) air most of their content on Sat-7.

Famous Egyptian Evangelicals

* Maestro

Nayer Nagui Nayer Nagui (born 1970) is an Egyptian composer, conductor, musical director and pianist. Educated in Egypt, London and Paris, he has led orchestras internationally and frequently conducts the Cairo Symphony Orchestra, among the youngest orches ...

* Actor

Lotfy Labib Lotfy Labib (Arabic: لطفي لبيب, born 18 August 1938) is an Egyptian stage, television and film actor. He also worked as an announcer at one point. Despite having graduated from the Institute of Theatrical Arts in 1970, Labib's career was d ...

External links

Evangelical Church of Egypt (Synod of the Nile) (in Arabic)The Evangelical Fellowship of Egypt (in Arabic)

References

Coptic Christianity Members of the World Communion of Reformed Churches Presbyterian denominations in Africa Protestantism in Egypt Christian organizations established in 1957 1957 establishments in Egypt {{Christian-denomination-stub

Famous Egyptian Evangelicals

See also

External links

References