Turkey is 98% Muslim, but nearby this morning we found a simple English-language Dutch protestant church with rough brick walls and a barrel-vaulted brick ceiling. Though it holds only about a hundred, it was packed with chatty people (all of whom had passed through electronic security). A singing group from a teacher’s college in Holland performed as well. They’re visiting here because there are more and more Turks in the Netherlands and there will likely be Turkish kids among their students. Why has The Union Church of Istanbul been there since 1857? Hard to say. Perhaps some connection with South Africa, where the pastor was from.
With great immediacy, he read Acts and Ist Peter and talked about Paul’s journeys to establish Christianity right here in the neighborhood .. "Pontus, Galatia [as in Galatians], Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia." Paul came from Tarsus and traveled to Antioch (both on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast) and then Ephesus (the west coast). And soon there were Christian congregations in all five regions of Turkey, perhaps even here in Istanbul (Bithynia). Indeed, by the sixth century Turkish Christians had built the huge Hagia Sophia church here, the center of Eastern Christianity for 900 years and largest building in the world for a thousand years. Then the Ottomans conquered in 1453 and it became a mosque. Then the state took it over in 1934 and made it a museum. So now you must buy a ticket for Hagia Sophia ("Aya Sofya" or "divine wisdom") whereas you can visit any mosque unless there's a service under way. At one mosque, you could pick up a free copy of the Quran as a gift. Something to read on the plane home?
Then across the street behind a high razor-wire fence we found a Lutheran church! With services in Turkish! Don’t know why the fence, but there were five buses full of armed police (and a water canon) in the square where we later stopped for lunch. Waiting for today’s demonstrations? We didn’t stick around to see.
Bought groceries and bread on the way home. It's not exactly Wonder Bread, is it?
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