St. George's Cathedral, Jerusalem 4.08

St. George's Cathedral is an Anglican (Episcopal) cathedral in Jerusalem, established in 1899. It is the seat of the Bishop of Jerusalem of the Episcopal Church in Jerusalem and the Middle East. It is located two hundred yards away from the Garden Tomb, a popular site of Anglican, as well as other Protestant, pilgrimage and devotion.The church was built by the fourth bishop of the diocese, George Blyth. Most missionaries present in Palestine at the time were Evangelical Anglicans, but Blyth was from the Anglo-Catholic party of the Church of England. Finding that his use of St Paul's and Christ Church (both in Jerusalem) were limited, he resolved to found his own mission and build his own church. "He bought land in east Jerusalem where he built his cathedral and a missionary college, both called St. George's, making them the headquarters of a mission program independent of the two evangelical societies."In order to fund the construction of the church, Blyth founded the Jerusalem and the East Mission.Under Bishop Samuel Gobat, relations with the Orthodox Church had become strained. Blyth was eager to restore relations with the Patriarch and as an Anglo-Catholic he had a great respect for the Patriarch's office. Because of this he always called St George's a collegiate church rather than a cathedral, saying that the Church of the Holy Sepulchre was the one and only cathedral church of the city of Jerusalem. For this reason, St. George's contains a pool — a rarity in Anglican churches — which allows baptisms to be done through immersion, per Orthodox custom.