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The Second Coming: Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Territories
Via Poland and Gemany
Summer 2008  Palestinian Territories: Other Churches in Bethlehem
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This picture was taken at the courtyard inside St Mary's Syrian Church, where you can also play basketball. |
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This is St Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church, where services are held in Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic. It's thought that Aramaic was the main language spoken by Jesus. Historians say he also could speak Hebrew and Greek.
The Syrian Orthodox Church was founded in the 5th Century.
Since 1471 there has been a permanent Syrian diocese in Jerusalem.
The first Syrian Christians arrived in Bethlehem in the 19th Century although most of them arrived after the massacre of Tur Abdin in Turkey, during World War I, at the time of the Armenian and Syriac genocides by the Ottoman Empire (Turkey).
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The St. Mary’s Syrian Othodox Church was started in 1922 and the first services were held in 1928.
Today, the Syrian congregation has about 1000 members and is the third largest in Bethlehem. |
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The Evangelical Lutheran Christmas Church of Bethlehem is the oldest Lutheran Church in Palestine.
Germans first founded a school in 1860 and then in 1886 the construction of the church began and the sanctuary opened in 1893.
About 200 people today are members of the Lutheran Christman Church community. Beside the church, the complex features a school, a guesthouse, a music conservatory and a cultural center.
Click here to visit the Church's website. |
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