St Mary and
St Abraam Church is a
Coptic Orthodox Church
The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...
in
Hove
Hove is a seaside resort and one of the two main parts of the city of Brighton and Hove, along with Brighton in East Sussex, England. Originally a "small but ancient fishing village" surrounded by open farmland, it grew rapidly in the 19th cen ...
, in the English city of
Brighton and Hove
Brighton and Hove () is a city and unitary authority in East Sussex, England. It consists primarily of the settlements of Brighton and Hove, alongside neighbouring villages.
Often referred to synonymously as Brighton, the City of Brighton and H ...
. It is one of 27 such churches in the British Isles,
twelve of which are
British Orthodox churches.
The Race community in Brighton and Hove was founded in 1990;
four years later it moved to its present site on Davigdor Road, on the Brighton/Hove border.
History of the building
The church is based in a much older building: the former church of St Thomas the Apostle, an
Anglican
Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
church built in 1909 by the Brighton-based architecture firm
Clayton & Black
Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclec ...
(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
English Gothic is an architectural style that flourished from the late 12th until the mid-17th century. The style was most prominently used in the construction of cathedrals and churches. Gothic architecture's defining features are pointed ar ...
,
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,
and the church was declared redundant on 20 July 1993.
Although the
Diocese of Chichester
The Diocese of Chichester is a Church of England diocese based in Chichester, covering Sussex. It was founded in 681 as the ancient Diocese of Selsey, which was based at Selsey Abbey, until the see was translated to Chichester in 1075. The cathe ...
identified the building's poor condition as one of the reasons for closure,
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
The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...
were moved to
St Mary's Church, Kemptown.
The church under Race ownership
The founders of the Race community in Hove were refugees from the
Second Sudanese Civil War
The Second Sudanese Civil War was a conflict from 1983 to 2005 between the central Sudanese government and the Sudan People's Liberation Army. It was largely a continuation of the First Sudanese Civil War of 1955 to 1972. Although it originate ...
, and many of the worshippers are from
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Many
Copts
Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are C ...
of
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
ian origin also attend the church.
In 2000, there were believed to be around 4,000 Sudanese worshippers,
with two priests.
The former leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church,
Pope Shenouda III
Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the List of Coptic Orthodox Popes of Alexandria, 117th ...
, 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
The Places of Worship Registration Act 1855 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which governs the registration and legal recognition of places of worship. It applies only in England and Wales, and does not cover the Church of Englan ...
and has the registration number 79284;
and in 1995 it was licensed to perform marriage ceremonies. An extension to the building was approved in 1998.
The church has some noteworthy interior features. An enormous mahogany and oak
iconostasis
In Eastern Christianity, an iconostasis ( gr, εἰκονοστάσιον) is a wall of icons and religious paintings, separating the nave from the sanctuary in a Church (building), church. ''Iconostasis'' also refers to a portable icon stand t ...
was installed in 2000: at tall, it is said to be the tallest such structure in the world.
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
Eastern Christianity comprises Christian traditions and church families that originally developed during classical and late antiquity in Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Asia Minor, the Caucasus, Northeast Africa, the Fertile Crescent and ...
, Easter is celebrated according to a
different calendar calculation than in
Western Christianity
Western Christianity is one of two sub-divisions of Christianity ( Eastern Christianity being the other). Western Christianity is composed of the Latin Church and Western Protestantism, together with their offshoots such as the Old Catholic ...
). Pope Shenouda III returned to the church on 13 August 2000 to dedicate the iconostasis,
which depicts the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...
,
Jesus Christ
Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...
and several other holy figures across 24
icon
An icon () is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Catholic churches. They are not simply artworks; "an icon is a sacred image used in religious devotion". The most ...
s.
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.
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
A hunger strike is a method of non-violent resistance in which participants fast as an act of political protest, or to provoke a feeling of guilt in others, usually with the objective to achieve a specific goal, such as a policy change. Most ...
, and Pope Shenouda III had to intervene by speaking to hundreds of churchgoers via a mobile phone link from Egypt.
The Coptic Orthodox church in the United Kingdom
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
Kensington is a district in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in the West End of London, West of Central London.
The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up b ...
in Central London;
Croydon
Croydon is a large town in south London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a local government district of Greater London. It is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater London, with an extensi ...
in south London;
Lapworth
Lapworth is a village and civil parish in Warwickshire, England, which had a population of 2,100 according to the 2001 census; this had fallen to 1,828 at the 2011 Census. It lies six miles (10 km) south of Solihull and ten miles (16&nbs ...
in Warwickshire; nearby
Solihull
Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blythe i ...
in the West Midlands;
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
;
Newport in south Wales;
Kirkcaldy
Kirkcaldy ( ; sco, Kirkcaldy; gd, Cair Chaladain) is a town and former royal burgh in Fife, on the east coast of Scotland. It is about north of Edinburgh and south-southwest of Dundee. The town had a recorded population of 49,460 in 2011, ...
in Scotland; and
Dublin
Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
in the
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
. Currently, there are about 30,000 members of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United Kingdom,
and another 5,000
[1999 estimate.] Copts who are directly under the British Orthodox Church.
Between them, they are served by 27 Coptic Orthodox churches.
See also
*
List of places of worship in Brighton and Hove
The city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England, has more than 100 extant churches and other places of worship, which serve a variety of Christian denominations and other religions. More than 50 former religious buildings, althou ...
*
Coptic Orthodox Church in Britain and Ireland
Notes
References
Sources
Bibliography
*
External links
British Orthodox Church website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Mary and Saint Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church, Hove
Churches in Brighton and Hove
Coptic Orthodox churches in the United Kingdom
Churches completed in 1909
20th-century Oriental Orthodox church buildings
Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 20th century
Clayton & Black buildings
Church buildings converted to a different denomination
20th-century churches in the United Kingdom