Archbishop Mouneer Anis will give a presentation on the situation in his diocese to members of the Egypt Diocesan Association at Lambeth Palace on 12 June 2015
Archbishop Dr Mouneer Anis will give a presentation on the situation in his vast diocese to members and invited guests of the Egypt Diocesan Association at Lambeth Palace on Friday 12th June by kind invitation of the Archbishop of Canterbury. The Archbishop of York, Patron of the Association, will be present at the meeting.
The occasion celebrates the 60th anniversary of the Egypt Diocesan Association which has supported the mission and ministries of that diocese over six decades.
The region covered by the Episcopal Church in Egypt, North Africa and the Horn of Africa includes no fewer than eight countries , and the Christian communities in many parts of the diocese face huge challenges. Dr Mouneer is also in his second term as President Bishop of the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East and so in close touch with the situation of many throughout the Middle East and Arabic world.
Formerly the Egypt and Sudan Churches Association founded by the legendary Bishop Llewellyn Gwynne of Sudan and later Egypt, in the past sixty years the EDA has witnessed a remarkable development in the diocese, now led by its third Egyptian Bishop. The diocese is no longer so much the “Church of England in Egypt” as an indigenous church, growing numerically and finding itself offering hospitality, aid and fellowship to thousands of Christians of various traditions from other parts of Africa, and also to great numbers of displaced and dispossessed people from other parts of the Middle East, especially Syria, and the African continent.
In Egypt, North Africa and Ethiopia the Episcopal Church functions effectively as a bridge between the ancient historic churches of the Oriental Orthodox tradition and the other protestant churches. In Egypt in particular there has also been crucially important bridge-building with the Muslim community and the historic Islamic University of Al-Azhar.
In all parts of the diocese there is currently an emphasis on training local leaders for both ordained and lay ministries and in each area of the diocese there are indications of future growth.
The Egypt Diocesan Association has supported this work as the diocese has passed through various stages ecclesiastical and political. Whereas in the mid 1950’s with the Suez Crisis it was chiefly concerned with the fate of a largely expatriate church and ministry forced to leave the country, it now enjoys supporting by prayer, gifts and informed interest a diocese rooted in its own cultures. Formerly made up of returnees from long years service in Egypt it now invites new members, interested in the various ministries and development projects in the diocese to become part of its fellowship and help support Christians and all in need in a region never long out of the news headlines.