Faith in the Nation

As you see from the Bethlehem wall, life is complicated in the 21st century. As we begin a New Year, we wish you God's richest blessing on all you do and wherever you go, however complicated it gets.

As we move into the New Year, we're following in St John's footsteps, sharing the joy of the first followers of Jesus who were delighted to discover that "We've found the Messiah!" Join us if you can this weekend.

Next weekend, Bishop Mouneer's guest is Canon Andrew Tremlett, Canon of Westminster Abbey and Rector of St Margaret's Church, London - the Church that serves the Mother of Parliaments at Westminster.

Canon Andrew will be speaking at our Friday & Sunday services, celebrating The Living Word - the story of the King James Bible. He'll also be speaking at a special public meeting on the evening of Thursday January 5th, from 6.30-9pm.The first part will be about Faith at the heart of the nation - how public Christian faith has transformed nations. After a short break for refreshments in our new Welcome Centre, the second part will be a light-hearted look at Royal Weddings present and past.

You will be most welcome as we start the New Year with the Living Word.

Christmas celebrations at All Saints'

At last, the waiting is over! Our Christmas celebrations have arrived, and you'd be most welcome to share in them. We'll be celebrating with Bishop Mouneer on three occasions this weekend:

- on Friday at 10am
- on Saturday at 10.30pm
- and on Sunday at 10.30am, a family Christmas celebration

On Friday afternoon at 6pm, we have a special service for young children and their families, using Christingles to tell the Christmas story. Come and find out for yourself.

Saturday's service is for all our Cathedral congregations, and is in both English and Arabic as we see Christmas Day in together.

We give thanks in this tumultuous year that Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us.

God's will for the world...

... is our modest title over the last two weeks of Advent. This weekend, with the help and the worldwide perspective of the Rev Dr Chris Wright, we'll be thinking how the Lord wants his people to be. Then next weekend we'll be exploring what God's will is for the nations.

Join us if you can. Especially for Nine Lessons & Carols next Friday, 16th, at 7pm, when we'll hear and celebrate the whole story with the help of the Cairo Choral Society.

What's God waiting for?


Advent is our chance to ask Ultimate Questions. People are asking questions and listening for answers as the elections continue, and they're deeper questions than who will run the new Parliament. This weekend, on Friday at 10am & Sunday at 10.30am, we pause to look at things from God's point of view: What's God waiting for?

And while God waits, what's he looking for? Join us at All Saints to discover.

Join us too on Saturday at 7pm for a short, simple, meditative service of Advent Carols and readings.

Ultimate Questions

While we're holding our breath again to see what develops in Egypt, Advent begins. In our season of preparation for Christmas, we take time each Friday and Sunday to consider some of the Bible's Ultimate Questions. We're thinking about our present, and God's future for us.

This week, Rev Drew leads us as we ask "What are we waiting for?" And while we wait, we continue to pray for the country at this critical time. Join us if you can.

Looking to the future...

Everyone in Egypt is looking to the future, and wondering how the elections and the parliament and the presidency will turn out. Jesus' parables of the Kingdom in Matthew 25 bring another dimension into the picture. Through November, we'll be thinking about what the coming of the Kingdom means.


Knowing the time is where we begin on November 4 & 6, followed by the invitation to be Settling accounts (November 11 & 13) and the call to Take your inheritance (November 16 & 18). Join us in Zamalek, just behind the Marriott, on Fridays at 10am and Sundays at 10.30am.


This Friday - November 18th - is the day of our famous Bazaar. After morning prayer at 10am, the Bazaar runs from 11.30am until 3.30pm. All the proceeds will be going to Egyptian Charities. You will be most welcome.

Celebrating All Saints' with Bishop Mouneer

This weekend, along with all the congregations here, we're celebrating All Saints with Bishop Mouneer, the Dean of the Cathedral.
He's reflecting on the enormous privilege of being God's children, as the Apostle John has it in chapter 3 of his first letter:
 See what great love the Father has lavished on us 
 that we should be called children of God! 
 And that is what we are!
We recognise it also means life is complicated:
 The reason the world does not know us is 
 that it did not know him.
But there is hope -
 Dear friends, now we are children of God, 
 and what we will be has not yet been made known. 
 But we know that when Christ appears, 
 we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
With that promise firmly in front of us, we long to please God:
 All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
Join us as we celebrate with Bishop Mouneer!
What's your experience of God in Egypt? We're the world's most religious country, but the stories are very different. This week's sad events give an extra edge to our experience, and we find ourselves joining with Christians all over the country in appealing to God for his mercy and justice at this time. 


As we follow Moses and his people, learning from their time here in Egypt, we join him in asking the Lord to walk with us. Show us your presence, show us your glory - :Lord, teach us your ways." 


Join us on Friday at 10am, and stay after for an extra time of prayer for the nation; and on Sunday at 10.30am.

Experiencing God in Egypt

What's your experience of God in Egypt? We're the world's most religious country, but the stories are very different. We're following Moses and his people, and learning from their time here in Egypt.

This week our journey continues with a Northern Sudan perspective, as we welcome Bishop Ezekiel of Khartoum to speak on Friday. Rev Chris will speak on Sunday. Exodus 32 brings us into the reality of Our biggest mistake. 


Reflecting on this chapter, Eugene Peterson writes: “Moses was gone a long time. The people, impatient to get on with their new life of freedom, decided they wanted to develop their own worship that ‘they could get something out of…’ We know what happened. Their golden calf worship, self-defined and self-serving – refusing to wait, contemptuous of rest, defiant of contemplation – nearly destroyed them. But Moses graciously interceded and started over. He again went up and then came down the mountain. On his return, he put them to work, preparing them for what was to become the central action of their lives – worship.”


Join us for the journey on Friday at 10am (including Friday Club for Primary-age children), and on Sunday at 10.30am.


Summer in the City

We're meeting on Fridays at 10am and Sundays at 10.30am.

With the help of Revs Chris, Emmanuel, Jeremiah & Dr Bahig, we'll be continuing to hear about the things God longs for us to understand.

This weekend, we complete our look at Romans 6-8: finally, You may be sure... that nothing can separate you from God's love.


Welcoming Lord Carey

This Friday, July 15th, we're delighted to welcome the former Archbishop of Canterbury, the Most Rev Lord George Carey, as guest of Bishop Mouneer and the Diocese this weekend. Lord Carey will be the speaker at tomorrow's morning service at 10am, and you'll be most welcome.

We're celebrating the things you may be sure of at a time of massive change: this weekend, Romans 8:12-25 assures us You may be sure your future is secure.

Lord Carey and his wife Eileen are very good friends of Egypt, and are involved both in encouraging Church life and in inter-faith dialogue. He will also be speaking on Saturday at 6pm as our friends in the Alexandria School of Theology celebrate their graduation at All Saints'.

Pentecost in Cairo's Cathedral

On Friday 10 June at 10 am and Sunday 12 June 10.30 am we celebrate the feast of Pentecost. Mike Parker preaches on "Christ’s purpose experienced"

We'll be celebrating that God has given us himself and his gifts, and that he has called us to use those gifts to share the good news of Jesus!

Friday morning will be an extra interesting service as we will have a wedding in the middle!

Text for this weekend are Acts 2:1-21 and John 7:37-39, 20:19-23 as well as Numbers 11:24-30.

Ascension Day - Christ's Glory Encountered

This weekend, on Friday 4 June at 10 am and Sunday 6 June 10.30 am, we celebrate Ascension Day. Rev Mike Parker preaches on Acts 1:1-11. The title of his sermon: 'Christ's Glory Encountered'. Here part of the reading from Acts:
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.


Ascension Day is probably the Christian feast that is least remembered. This is strange as according to St Augustine, the celebration has Apostolic origins. Come and join us for Word and Sacrament! And for fellowship and drinks afterwards as well.

Up against it

Friday 27 and Sunday 29 May, Rev Jos Strengholt preaches on Acts 4:1-22 in the Anglican cathedral in Zamelek, Cairo.

This story from the books of Acts about the early church shows the uphill battle the church had to fight from the very start. Those who crucified Jesus also wanted to punish his followers. C'est la vie, dear friends. In many parts of the world we face the same issues today. Followers of Christ should not expect to be more popular than their master!

If you happen to visit Cairo, or you live here, do come to one of these worship services. We will celebrate Holy Communion.

New World Priorities

Rev Matt Anderson preaches in the Anglican Cathedral in Zamalek on Friday 13 and Sunday 15 May on 'New World Priorities'.

What this means? Maybe you gather it when you read his text, Acts 2:37-47? Better still, come and participate!

Those who church with us on Friday are also warmly invited to meet in the garden of Adrienne and Jos Strengholt afterwards. They live in Maadi. For the kids (!), a small pool is available.

This weekend, it's all about the cross

You are kindly invited on Friday 6 and Sunday 8 May to celebrate with us in the Cathedral of Cairo.

Rev Chris Chorlton preaches on Acts 2:14a, 22-41 and John 20:30-21:14. Cross-Centered Faith is the theme.

Easter celebrations with bishop Mouneer

As Easter weekend approaches, you will be most welcome to celebrate with us at All Saints' Cathedral behind the Marriott in Zamalek:

Thursday 21 April 6 pm
Maundy Thursday, meditation & sermon around the cross, led by Rev Mike Parker: 'Radical perspectives: Service' (Exodus 12:1-14 & John13:1-17, 31b-35).

Friday 22 April 10 am
It's Good Friday, and we're looking forward to Easter as Mike lead us in meditation and praise.

Sunday 24 April 10.30 am
Easter celebration of the events of Good Friday, with Bishop Mouneer Hanna speaking as we hear Jeremiah 31:1-6, Col 3:1-4, John 20:1-18.

Rev Mike Parker about God's help and suffering

On Friday 15 April at 10 am and Sunday 17 April at 10.30 am our English-language congregations gather as we do each week.

Rev Mike Parker will speak about the suffering of our Lord Jesus Christ. Texts: Isaiah 50:4-9a, Philippians 2:5-11 and Mathew 26:14-27:66.

It is Palm Sunday (yes, even on Friday) so the color of the season is red. Reminder of royalty... as Christ rode into Jerusalem on donkey. Or is it the colour of blood?

Sermon on Leadership by Rev Mike Parker

On Friday 1 April at 10 am and Sunday 3 April at 10.30 am, we will worship in our cathedral as usual. Rev Mike Parker, our senior minister, will speak on 1 Samuel 16:1-13. That is the history of David being anointed king over Israel. What can we learn from this? Come and listen!

This is the fourth sermon in the series on 'Think Different
'

This weekend: The Hope of the Gospel

Welcome in our Friday and Sunday worship services in the cathedral in Zamalek.

This weekend (25 and 27 March), the Rev Chris Chorlton will preach on Exodus 17:1-7 (with Romans 5:1-11 and John 4:5-42). The theme of the sermon will be the Hope of the Gospel. This is part of our series on Think different: radical perspectives for a better life.

The promise to Abraham

Friday and Sunday, Rev Jos Strengholt preaches in the Cathedral in Zamalek about Genesis 12:1-9. This is the story of God calling Abraham to leave his land and to explore unknown terrain. He made quite a journey - see red line of map on the right.

We will look at God's amazing promise to Abraham and also at the price Abraham must pay for this. No cheap grace here! If you are in Cairo, do come and join us! This sermon on Abraham is part of our Lent series titled 'Think different - perspectives for a better life'. Beside the text from Genesis 12, Romans 4:1-5, 13-17 and John 3:1-17 will be read.

This weekend World Day of Prayer

Join us this weekend as we take part in the World Day of Prayer.

Prayers and reflections have been prepared by friends from Chile - a country a bit ahead of us in the revolutionary stakes. Last week, we began to see how God is transforming people; Mike Parker speaks this week about how Jesus is himself transfigured, giving us a glimpse of how things will end in the resurrection.

Friday 10 am, Sunday 10.30 am in the Cathedral in Zamalek.

This weekend with Rev Chris Chorlton

Rev Chris Chorlton, director of the Episcopal Training Center, will preach this Friday 25 and Sunday 27 February on the issue of "Transformation". Wondering what needs to be transformed? And why? And how? Come and join us in the Cathedral in Zamalek.

Verses to be used: Genesis 1:1-2:3; Romans 8:18-25; Matthew 6:25-34

Church in Cairo in the midst of Crisis

You are warmly welcome to our service on Friday and Sunday morning 11 and 13 February. These last weeks we have been praying and hearing many Scriptures about the God who holds the whole world in his hands. Also Egypt, where so much is happening these days!

As we continue to explore 1 Corinthians, we consider What God is building, reading chapter 3:1-23 on Friday Morning 10 am. Rev Mike Parker will preach on Friday.

On Sunday morning at 10.30 pm, Rev Jos Strengholt preaches on Deuteronomy 30:15-20 and Matthew 5:21-37. His question will be how to respond to changes in Egypt.

Chaos in Cairo, and Church in All Saints' Cathedral

Our services continue on Fridays at 10am and Sundays at 10.30am. This weekend we're thinking how we can speak God's wisdom into this crisis here. Those who love close to the Cathedral are meeting with the Bishop to pray each day at 12am as well as at 9am. This is our most significant contribution to the present and the future, as we appeal to the God of the nations. Join us if you can, or pause to pray with us.

Weekend of troubles in Cairo

This Friday and Sunday, 28 and 30 January, Rev Jos Strengholt preaches in our English congregations. He speaks on 1 Corinthians 1:18-31 - about the cross of Christ.

Cross of Christ? Is that not rather irrelevant when Cairo is in uproar over demonstrations? On Friday around 1 PM, just after our church meeting, people will demonstrate all over town, and even close to our Cathderal.

We will see how the cross of Christ this is very relevant in these difficult circumstances.

Church: dysfunctional family

No, not your church of course. I mean, the church in Corinth. Our senior minister, Rev Mike Parker, will preach on 1 Corinthians 1:10-18, on 21 and 23 January (Friday and Sunday). We'll see whether our congregations in the Cathedral fit the description of St Paul!

After church on Friday we hold our Annual General Meeting - members please be there, around 11.30 AM.

How (not) to be Church - 14 and 16 January

In the English congregations in the Cathedral in Zamalek we begin a new series of sermons this weekend, on St Paul's first letter to the Corinthian Church. Rev Mike, our senior minister, will preach on 1 Corinthians 1:1-9, and the focus will be on 'a new community'.

Welcome! Most welcome! And if you are worried about Church being a dangerous place in Egypt, be assured - a police force outside is guarding us. Beside a host of angels.

It's a tough old world

On Friday 7th and Sunday 9th January, Rev Mike Parker will preach on Matthew 2:13-23. That is the Gospel reading on the visit of the Holy Family to Egypt. "It’s a tough old world", is the theme of the sermon.

Tough world. After the killing of many innocent Christians in Alexandria on 1 January, this reality has been underlined again for us here in Egypt. Long ago, Egypt was a safe haven for Jesus Christ; today, for his followers, it is not.