Maadi Community Church

The Maadi Community Church rents space in Maadi, an affluent suburb of Egypt's capital city Cairo. The Community Church meets in a temporary structure erected in the grounds of the Church of St. John the Baptist -- the Anglican chapel in Maadi which is part of the diocese of Egypt under Bishop Mouneer Anis.

History

The Maadi Community Church has been serving the English-speaking community of Cairo since 1947 when primarily Americans met for a periodic Sunday morning community service. As a result of the evacuation of British residents during the Suez crisis the church made full use of St. John the Baptist. This group developed into the present Maadi Community Church[1] and called Pastor Dr. Otto F.A. Meinardus its first pastor. Meinardus served the church from 1957 to 1967.[2] In June 2000, the Maadi Community Church was formally recognized by Egyptian authorities as an independent international church under the name Evangelical International Church.[3]

The church experienced rapid growth under the leadership of David Glen Petrescue, pastor of the church from 1992 to his death in Cairo on September 5, 2006.[4]

Pastor Petrescue discovered a visionary strategy in Judges 15:4-5, enabling his congregation to become Egypt’s largest expatriate church. In that passage, Samson set the tails of foxes on fire, making them run like mad, destroying the fields of the Philistines. Following this parable, Petrescue saw as the church's mission to foster evangelism among expatriate Christians in Egypt. Petrescue helped the church grow from around 150 people in 1992 to a congregation of 1,500 in 2006, representing more than 70 denominations and 50 nations. Maadi Community Church is involved in church planting, leadership training, and ministries to Sudanese refugees in Egypt.[5]

Senior Pastor Steve Flora has been serving the church since May 2008.[6]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.maadichurch.net/About/History/tabid/60/Default.aspx
  2. ↑ http://www.maadichurch.net/About/History/tabid/60/Default.aspx
  3. ↑ http://www.maadichurch.net/About/History/tabid/60/Default.aspx
  4. ↑ Christianity Today, September 7, 2006, http://www.arabwestreport.info/AWR/article_details.php?article_id=13342&article_title=Leading%20Expatriate%20Pastor%20David%20Petrescue%20Killed.%20Cairo%E2%80%99s%20Maadi%20Community%20Church%20loses%20top%20leader%20after%20tragic%20fall.&ayear=2006&aweek=27&article_t_date=September%207,%202006&article_p_date=2006-06-28&article_p_week=2006-07-04&t=s&char=0 and Arab-West Report, 2006, week 27, art. 4
  5. ↑ Christianity Today, September 7, 2006, http://www.arabwestreport.info/AWR/article_details.php?article_id=13342&article_title=Leading%20Expatriate%20Pastor%20David%20Petrescue%20Killed.%20Cairo%E2%80%99s%20Maadi%20Community%20Church%20loses%20top%20leader%20after%20tragic%20fall.&ayear=2006&aweek=27&article_t_date=September%207,%202006&article_p_date=2006-06-28&article_p_week=2006-07-04&t=s&char=0 and http://www.maadichurch.net/default.aspx?tabid=93
  6. ↑ http://www.maadichurch.net/People/SeniorLeadershipTeam/tabid/57/Default.aspx

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