Christ Church İstanbul, The Crimean Memorial - Kırım Kilisesi 2.77

CHRIST CHURCH: THE CRIMEAN MEMORIAL

THE ANGLICAN CHAPLAINCY ISTANBUL
There has been an Anglican presence in Istanbul since Elizabeth I sent out the first chaplain in 1582. The chaplaincy is part of the Diocese of Gibraltar. The Chaplain resides here in his capacity as chaplain to the British Consul-General and is also the Archbishop of Canterbury’s Apokrisarios to the Œcumenical Patriarch of Constantinople. Attached to the Chaplaincy are two other Victorian churches: All Saints, Moda on the Asian side of the Bosphorus and St Helena’s Chapel in the grounds of the British Consulate-General, which was damaged by the al-Qaeda bomb on 20th September 2003 and was restored and re-hallowed in 2009.

We are a friendly non-proselytising family of Christians embracing all ethnicities. Turkish, English, and many languages are spoken. All are welcome to our gatherings at 10AM at Christ Church (The Crimean Memorial) and to meet people of many different backgrounds over coffee. The worship is marked by dignified traditional style, while our minds are open to intelligent debate and to listening to people - not least the most marginalised in our societies.

We enjoy cooperative friendship with other churches in Istanbul including the Ecumenical Patriarchate, the Armenian Patriarchate, the Roman, German and Finnish Lutheran chaplaincies, and the Turkish Presbyterian community who worship at our church in Moda (http://www.allsaintsmoda.net). Istanbul is also host to a newer Turkish Anglican chaplaincy - The Church of the Resurrection.

THE CHURCH BUILDING
The land on which the church is built was a gift from Sultan Abdülmecid (1839-1861) to the British Crown to build a memorial to those who died in the Crimean War. A competition was held to choose the architect and, when winning design proved unsuitable, a Geometrical Gothic design by George Edmund Street (1824-1881) was chosen. Street also built the Royal Courts of Justice in London. Funds were raised by public subscription; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were among those who contributed. Lord Stratford de Redcliffe (1786-1880), long-serving British Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, laid the foundation-stone on 19 October 1858. Construction started in 1864 using stone from Malta and the finished building was consecrated on 22nd October 1868.

RECENT HISTORY
By the 1970s the Church had fallen into disuse and was deconsecrated until September 1991 when the present Chaplain led work to restore the derelict building, much of which was performed by a group of Sri Lankan refugees who fled to Istanbul at the time of the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. The church was re-consecrated in 1993.