National Evangelical Church of Latakia

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National Evangelical Church of Latakia, May 25, 2012. On the right the Syrian Commercial Bank, on the left the University Hospital
National Evangelical Church of Latakia, interior view
National Evangelical Church of Latakia, entrance

The National Evangelical Church of Latakia ( Arabic الكنيسة الإنجيلية المشيخية الوطنية في اللاذقية) is the Church of the National Evangelical Synod in Syria and Lebanon in the Syrian city ​​of Latakia .

Location

The National Evangelical Church is in the easternmost section on the north side of Gabriel-Saada-Straße (شارع جبرائيل سعادة) on the western edge of downtown Latakia. The Straße des 8 März runs parallel to the east in a north-south direction (شارع ٨ آذار); between this main street and the church is the high-rise of the commercial bank of Syria.

history

In 1856, numerous Presbyterian missionaries from western countries came to the Latakia region, preaching and setting up schools. The first villages in the Latakia region where there were missionaries were first Bahamra and then al-Jandiriya, Ghassaniyeh and al-Ghunaimia. The first service was held in Arabic in 1859, and the first boys' school and kindergarten were opened in 1860. A school for girls followed in 1866. The first evangelical church in Latakia was completed in 1876. At first it was a hall at the girls' school. In 1877, when the congregation had 27 members, a ten-bed hospital was also built to treat poor patients free of charge. This is where today's Al-Assad University Hospital (مشفى الأسد الجامعي; al-assad ,الأسد= "The lion"). The boys' school was located at the site of today's Ibn Sina school (مدرسة ابن سينا), while the site of the former girls' school is now a building for the university clinic. Not to be confused with this is the nearby Ghassan Harfoush School (مدرسة غسان حرفوش). After the mission schools of the Protestant missionaries from the USA, Mutanabbi Street (شارع المتنبي) unofficially also as "Amerikastraße" (شارع الأميركان), and the entire residential area around "Amerikastraße", which is mainly inhabited by Christians - roughly the western half of the urban area of ​​Latakia within the city limits of 1936 - was known as the "Amerikaviertel".

On March 20, 1920, the Church's first Arab pastor was called, Khalil Awad from the village of Adeniya. In 1923 the evangelical community had grown so much that there was a need for a new, larger church. On June 26, 1925, today's church, which could accommodate more than 300 people, opened with a communion service. In 1923 another church was built in Ghassaniyeh village, where Ibrahim Basna became pastor. In the church and school of al-Ghunaimia, Pastor Youssef Bessna became responsible. In August 1957 the last missionaries left Latakia, and the Presbyterian Evangelical Church, where all pastors, teachers and doctors were Syrians, was renamed the National Presbyterian Evangelical Church of Latakia. In 1961 the Church joined the National Evangelical Synod in Syria and Lebanon .

General

The National Evangelical Church of Latakia is the largest congregation of the National Evangelical Church in Syria and has the largest Protestant church in Syria, which is also one of the largest churches in Latakia. There is room for 400 people in the church, and in 2003 there were around 1000 Evangelicals in the congregation. In January 2020, the RP Global Missions Facebook page reported a current number of 1200 church members. According to the Church, the National Evangelical Church is also the only one in Syria that is gaining new believers from non-Christian backgrounds. In addition to services on Sundays, there are Sunday Schools, Bible courses and conferences. There is also a choir, a theater group and soccer games.

Every Sunday morning at church service, a weekly leaflet is issued and distributed to the participants. Every two months a magazine (“Meine Kirche”) appears with news about the church, dates and Christian topics. The church also has a library with books and phonograms.

architecture

The National Evangelical Church of Latakia is one of the largest churches in Latakia with 400 seats and 1000 members in 2010. The two-storey building has a rectangular floor plan and flat outer walls made of light sandstone with a gable roof . It faces north-south, with the south side facing Gabriel-Saada-Strasse having two entrance doors with a two-column portico and a pointed arch window to the right and left of it. There are two arched windows above, and the gable above also has a central arched window. The side walls each have five pointed arch windows on the first floor and two arched windows in the second. Cross motifs are integrated into the grid of the mosaic windows.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d National Presbyterian Evangelical Church (الكنيسة الإنجيلية المشيخية الوطنية, in Arabic). Qenshrin.com to http://www.alepposuryoye.com (editor of the encyclopedia of churches and monasteries).
  2. ↑ Fabrice Balanche: Latakia Is Assad's Achilles Heel. The Washington Institute, September 23, 2015.
  3. ^ National Evangelical Presbyterian Church in Latakia , on RP Global Missions Facebook page , accessed June 9, 2020.
  4. ↑ كنائس السينودس الإنجيلي الوطني في سوريا - اللاذقية / Churches of the National Evangelical Synod in Syria - Lattakia ( Memento of September 7, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 35 ° 31 ′ 6.4 "  N , 35 ° 46 ′ 26.8"  E