Friends of the Diocese gathered in London today for a service of Holy Eucharist at All Hallows-by-the-Tower marking the 50th Anniversary of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf—in joyful celebration of a Year of Jubilee that continues tomorrow with a Choral Mattins at St Clement Danes, and in the Diocese itself when Synod meets in Bahrain, on 2-6 February.
Addressing the congregation, Bishop Sean paid particular thanks to the Reverend Nicol Kinrade, the Council and people of All Hallows, as well as to Canon Chris Butt and the Association of Friends of the Diocese. The service included a Golden Jubilee Hymn, written by Canon Chris.
Bishop Sean began his sermon with reference to the Scripture readings—which are also those selected for the Opening Service of the forthcoming Jubilee Synod in Bahrain.
“In the first reading, the priestly scribe of Leviticus calls on his people to sound the trumpet to hallow the fiftieth year, and to proclaim a year of Jubilee,” said Bishop Sean. “This service is the first sounding of the trumpet to hallow the fiftieth year of this Diocese.
“While we acknowledge that there has been an Anglican presence in the Middle East for at least 150 years, and that there have been Arab Christians since the Day of Pentecost, our Province and Dioceses were reconstituted in their current form fifty years ago.
“From its inception, the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf had an improbable quality to it: it is the largest diocese in the Province of Jerusalem and the Middle East—12 times larger than the Diocese of Jerusalem and twice the size of the Diocese of Iran; it is the second-largest Anglican diocese in the world after the Diocese of Europe; and, in terms of landmass, it covers half of the Middle East and is 15 times the size of the UK.
“The Diocese is constituted of Anglican Churches in ten countries or jurisdictions, nine of which are Muslim-majority, and eight of which operate under Sharia law. In every country in which we are present we have no right to practise our faith—we are the guests of gracious, far-sighted and tolerant rulers, churches, or religious authorities. To be an Anglican Diocese in this complex, vast and politically volatile context seems improbable indeed.”
“The influx of international Christians is matched by a disturbing exodus of indigenous Christians from the region. Nonetheless, present estimates suggest that there are between 3 and 4 million Christians in the Gulf. Again, we bear witness to a reality so often hidden in the world—a flourishing international Christian presence in the countries of the Middle East.”
(Piece continues below photo gallery)
Photo credit: Canon Georgia Katsantonis
Bishop Sean spoke too of “what the people of the Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf do naturally and daily: we work at gathering and connecting people. Our well-governed, doctrinally moderate, via-media Anglicanism fits surprisingly well into the landscape of the Middle East. We are dedicated and respected interlocutors between Eastern and Western Christian Traditions, and between Islam and Christianity. Our parishes are gloriously international. We offer something incredibly rare and precious to the Anglican Communion and the wider world that counters disinformation about the Middle East and divisive rhetoric: it is possible to have positive interfaith and ecumenical relationships; it is possible for parishes to have 58 different nationalities worshipping in them all at one time; it is possible for streams of living water to flow in desert places.”
The Diocese of Cyprus and the Gulf was created on 5 January 1976, when the Right Reverend Leonard Ashton was invested as the first bishop of the Diocese during Evensong in the Collegiate Church of St George the Martyr in Jerusalem (now St George’s Cathedral). The Right Reverend Sean Semple, sixth and current Bishop in Cyprus and the Gulf, was consecrated and installed at St Christopher’s Cathedral in Manama, Bahrain in 2024.
“In 1976 the Archbishop of Canterbury ceded Metropolitan authority over our Province to its Central Synod,” said Bishop Sean. “At that point in time, Cyprus and the Gulf ceased being the Church of England in the Middle East and became a Middle Eastern Anglican Diocese. The demographic shifts of the last five decades have further shaped our distinct identity: today, less than 5% of the people of our Diocese are from Europe or the West; 70% are from the Indian Subcontinent, 13% are from Southeast Asia and 8% are from Africa.”
A second Service of Thanksgiving commemorating 50 years of faithful witness and ministry in the Diocese will be held in London tomorrow: Choral Mattins at St Clement Danes, an important place in the history of the Diocese. The Central Church of the RAF, it is where RAF Chaplain-in-Chief Archdeacon Leonard Ashton was consecrated as Bishop by then-Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Reverend Michael Ramsey. The Diocese and the RAF have an interwoven, mutually supportive history in the Middle East stretching back more than 80 years.
All Hallows-by-the-Tower graciously serves as a spiritual home for the Diocese in London, including, since 1978, hosting meetings of the UK Friends of the Diocese.
Photo credit: Canon Angela Murray
Captions:
