Christianity in the Gulf

By Fred Strickert

Where might one find the largest Christian parish in the Middle East? What Middle Eastern country currently has a Christian as its ambassador to Japan? Where have authorities allowed chapels to be refurbished and even doubled in size? In what country would one expect to find churches crowded each week for worship legally protected under the law?

It may be a surprise to many in the West that the correct answer to all these questions are Arab countries of the Gulf, despite the fact that none have large indigenous Christian communities. Nevertheless, according to some estimates there are over a million Christians residing today in the Gulf Arab states. Some 70,000 Christians make up St. Mary’s parish in Dubai. In Kuwait, a number of Christians have obtained high positions in both the private and public sectors, including the ambassador to Japan. Authorities in Abu Dhabi have allowed the St. Andrew’s Church Center to refurbish and double the size of both the Greek Orthodox and Coptic Orthodox chapels.

“The Evangelical Church in Kuwait now attracts more than 15,000 people from 42 different nationalities each week,” reports Grace Pundyk in the May 24, 1999 issue of Christianity Today magazine (p. 22). She notes that 10 English-language services are held each week, mostly on Friday, and that services in other languages, particularly Tagalog for Filipinos and various Indian languages, are held as well.

The Official Status of Christianity

The status of Christianity in the Gulf region is little understood in the West. To be sure, these are Muslim states and most population tables list as 99 percent Muslim the inhabitants of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. Yemen does not have natural access to the Gulf and is not a member of the GCC, but its religious breakdown is similar. However, laws concerning the practice of religion vary from country to country.

No church is allowed to evangelize among Muslims. This is true among all the countries of the Gulf region and is taken seriously. Likewise, countries are governed by Islamic law.

Both Kuwait and Bahrain have small communities of indigenous Christians. In others, the practice of Christianity is limited to the expatriate community. In Saudi Arabia public expression of Christianity is not permitted, yet private services are tolerated and, ironically, some claim the greatest number of expatriate Christians in the Arabian Peninsula and Gulf reside there.

Tradition says it was the Apostle Bartholomew who brought Christianity to Arabia.

In Kuwait and some of the seven Emirates comprising the UAE, public facilities for Christian worship are permitted. Qatar, while not permitting official church buildings, does allow worship in camps for migrant workers and in schools. Most recently, however, Qatar is in the process of formally recognizing the Christian community.

In fact, Qatari authorities have approved the building of a Catholic church in the capital Doha, the Gulf Times reported in its Jan. 1, 2000 weekend edition. The English-language paper quoted Italian Ambassador Ignazio Di Pace as calling the move “a very important step, consistent with the principles of tolerance and freedom which are among the noble goals of the emir, [Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani].”

The relatively favorable status of Christians in several countries is the result of a long history of benevolent contact, especially the role of churches in providing medical care and schools in the pre-petroleum era. Thus some Gulf rulers have made large personal donations to church building funds. Likewise there is a sincere respect for the Roman Catholic Church and its influence throughout the world.

Nevertheless Christians do walk a fine line. There are not many church buildings in any of the countries and the sharing of the facilities is not easy. With restrictions against evangelization among Muslims, Bibles and Christian literature are usually obtainable only within the church compounds. Even the church buildings are not easily recognizable, since they are constructed within high surrounding walls.

The Indigenous Church

Tradition says it was the Apostle Bartholomew who brought Christianity to Arabia. Many believe that the reference to “Arabs” among those present at the first Pentecost (Acts 2:11) may point to substantial growth in the eastern regions within the early stages of the church. By the mid-third century a Christian bishopric had been established in the Bahrain Islands, and the records from the Council of Nicea (325 A.D.) include mention of Arab bishops who were present. Confirmation of the Christian presence also comes from recent archeological discoveries. Most of the growth of Christianity in the Gulf region can be attributed to the Assyrian Church, established by Nestorian missionaries from Edessa and Hira on the lower Euphrates who followed the trade routes.

At the same time that Eastern branches of Christianity were making an impact on the northern part of the Gulf, the Western church was well-planted in Yemen in the south. This was under the support of the Roman Empire along with the Ethiopian king of Axum. Thus a Christian state developed in Yemen in ancient times. In some ways this helps to explain the equal impact of both Western and Eastern Christianity in the Gulf today.

Christianity did not have an enduring presence in this region, however. With the spread of Islam, indigenous Christians became protected “People of the Book.” Historical evidence suggests that during the beginning of the Islamic era, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim communities may have lived in relative harmony in various parts of the region. In time, however, the church died out in the Arabian Peninsula.

In fact, the record is silent on Christianity for an entire millennium. In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the Portuguese domination of the Gulf, a short-lived Christian presence doubtless existed. In 1795 an American Catholic priest arrived in Kuwait. Another Servite priest arrived in 1841, using Aden as his base. Eventually the vicariate of Arabia was established in 1889. Among Protestants, Samuel Zwemer of the American Arabian Mission of the Reformed Church is known for his founding work beginning in 1885.

The fruits of these early efforts remain meager, however, limited to perhaps fewer than 1,000 indigenous Christians in the whole Arabian Peninsula. A National Evangelical Church in Kuwait ordained a Kuwaiti national recently, considered by many an historical event.

An Expatriate Church

The presence of Christianity in the Gulf today is therefore due primarily to the presence of migrant workers throughout the region. The rapid economic and social development of the 1970s and 1980s was made possible by the importation of both skilled and unskilled laborers numbering in the millions.

Arab workers from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt have brought with them the Greek Orthodox, Greek Catholic, Roman Catholic, and Syrian Orthodox churches, among others. Likewise, migrant workers from India have established congregations of the Church of South India and the Mar Thoma church. Expatriates from other countries, such as those from the Phillipines and other Asian countries, have found a home in Catholic and Evangelical congregations.

Concern for migrant workers has become one of the highest priorities of the Middle East Council of Churches.

MECC sources describe different languages and liturgies, with a line of people waiting for one service to end and then a bustle of activity as they rush in to rearrange the room from a typical Protestant setting to an Orthodox sanctuary with icons and incense.

Most churches also provide ministries of outreach, Christian education and Bible study, and regular visits to Christians in hospitals, prisons and labor camps.

The Middle East Council of Churches in the Gulf

As in other parts of the Middle East, the primary organization aimed at cooperation among churches and at communication with government agencies is the Middle East Council of Churches. While the main headquarters of MECC is located in Beirut, one of the six MECC liaison offices is housed in the Gulf

The seventh MECC Gulf Churches’ Conference was held in Bahrain from Nov. 15 to 19, 1999. This was the first time the ecumenical organization has held this meeting in the Gulf region itself. The theme of the conference was “God's People in the Gulf: Ecumenicism in a Muslim Context.”

Speakers included Fr. Dr. Abraham Oomen of the Indian Orthodox Church in Kuwait along with other members of the ecumencial community in the Gulf. International speakers included Fr. Johan Bonny of the Pontificial Institute for the Unity of Christians and Dr. Jan Henningsson of the Church of Sweden. Their talks addressed subjects dealing with the cooperation of churches in a Muslim context. A public ecumenical service featured Bishop Micallef of the Roman Catholic Church in Kuwait as preacher.

General information concerning the work of the Middle East Council of Churches is available on the Web at <http://www.mec-churches.org>

Dr. Fred Strickert is professor of religion at Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa and co-author with Mitri Raheb of Bethlehem 2000: Past and Present, available through the AET Book Club.