Why has Christianity declined so much in the Middle East?

My visit to the 7 churches in Asia Minor and my visit to Istanbul continues to make me think and to grapple with the decline of Christianity in the Middle East. The question I keep asking is why?

Reflecting on my trip to the 7 churches in Asia

Well, I’m sitting in a pavement cafe in Istanbul reflecting on my visits to the seven churches mentioned in the Book of Revelation.

Clambering over the ruins of Miletus & Didymas

This gallery contains 10 photos.

Our final day in the area of the 7 churches were visits to two ancient cities that were not connected with the 7 churches – Miletus and Didymas. Miletus was the city to which Paul asked the Ephesian elders to meet him on his way to Jerusalem where he knew that things were reaching a […]

Amazing day in Ephesus

This gallery contains 27 photos.

There was only one item on our agenda today and that was Ephesus. Ephesus contained one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, the Temple of Artemis. It played a significant part in the life of the early church with both Paul and John ministering there.

Hierapolis, Laodicea and Smyrna

This gallery contains 51 photos.

Well yesterday we have had another busy busy day! We were staying in a hotel just down the road from the pools of Pamukkale (more of that anon). In our previous hotel we had been woken up at 5am each morning by the call to prayer.

Thyatira, Sardis and Philadelphia

This gallery contains 27 photos.

Well its been an exhausting day today as we have tried to cover a huge amount of ground. Given that we didn’t get to Smyrna ( modern Izmir) on our first day we ended up just doing Pergamum (which was amazing! Indeed our guide said we can do it in 2 days but often he […]

Pergamum

This gallery contains 18 photos.

Well I had started a blog post,ready in waiting so to speak, about Smyrna. But after our long flight (with an hour’s delay due to flight and lost luggage – 2 of our party sadly) we got out of the airport to be told we had a 2 hour coach journey as our guide decide Izmir (smyrna) wasn’t […]

Revelation and the 7 Churches

So, I’m getting everything together for my visit to the 7 churches of Revelation in current day Turkey (Oh, and also 3 days in Istanbul!). My wife was a little worried seeing that it was the top news on the BBC at lunchtime – but looking at the FCO website its really only the Syrian border that they tell you to keep away – and any demonstrations.

Off on Sabbatical

Well I start my sabbatical on Sunday afternoon. I must say that I am very much looking forward to it.

Church Website updated

Just a short post to say that we have just updated the church website.