St Luke's Church Eccleshill - Articles from "The Link"

Linking with the Copts in Egypt

In May our PCC was addressed briefly by Natasha Thomas, who represents Church Mission Society (CMS) in Bradford Diocese, and we agreed we would like to support another Mission Partner.

Chris and Angela Chorlton and Anna

So Natasha introduced us to Chris and Angela Chorlton, who are going to Egypt in 2004 to work at Beni Suef (about 70 miles south of Cairo). Chris and Angela live in Leeds and attend St Matthias Church Burley, where they used to lead youth work for about four years until 2002. Chris teaches RE at Garforth, and Angela was a Social Worker with Leeds Social Services until April, when she left to have their baby: Anna was born on 5th June 2003.

Chris and Angela visited St Luke’s at the coffee morning on 2nd August, and met several members of our church. The vicar insisted on getting out the roving microphone and interviewing them.

They originally met in Yemen, as they both worked for the Red Sea Mission Team, and although Chris is from the deep south he moved to Leeds about 6 years ago when they married. This month they will be moving to Birmingham to train at Crowther Hall, where they will be doing some theological and mission studies, as well as beginning to study Arabic. They hope to fly out to Egypt after Easter 2004, where they will be working in Beni Suef, about 70 miles south of Cairo (250 miles north of the “Valley of the Kings”). They will be assisting the ministry at St Mark’s Church, part of the Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt: Chris will be teaching English in St Mark's School, and Angela hopes to do some Social Work (motherhood permitting!) where the church already has links.

The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church in Egypt traces its roots to the ministry of St Mark, who (according to some historical sources) brought Christianity to Alexandria in Egypt during the reign of the Roman emperor Nero in the first century, only a dozen of years after Jesus's ascension. The Christian faith spread through Egypt within half a century of Saint Mark's arrival, and the church persists despite the fact that 94% of Egyptians now follow Islam.

St Luke’s has supported CMS for many years, most recently with Chris and Sophie Jelley who went to Uganda Christian University during 2001-2, when Chris worked to set up the Business Studies department and to help the establishing of a computer suite, and Sophie worked part-time in local churches. Chris and Sophie have now returned to England, and are based in Churt (Surrey, near Guildford) where Sophie is the minister in charge of St John’s Church.

John Hartley

(The parish magazine didn't carry the photograph.)

For further information:

Church Mission Society.

The Christian Coptic Orthodox Church of Egypt, and the website of the Coptic Centre.

Maps of Egypt showing Beni Suef (Bani Suwayf): Lonely Planet, Energy Info (US Government), and MapQuest.