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The Cathedral Church of the Dormition of the Mother of God and St. Andrew, (in Greek: ''Καθεδρικός Ναός της Κοιμήσεως της Θεοτόκου και Αποστόλου Ανδρέα'') is a Greek Orthodox cathedral on Summer Hill Terrace in Birmingham, England, dedicated to the Dormition of the Theotokos and St Andreas. In 1958 the first Greek Orthodox Church in Birmingham was inaugurated. Regular liturgies began in Birmingham conducted by the first permanent priest, Father Nicodemos Anagnostou. The building was formerly a Catholic Apostolic church. It was designed in 1873 by J.A. Chatwin, who worked on many of Birmingham's churches, including St Philip's Cathedral, Birmingham. It is a brick Gothic revival church in the Early English style. It has a wide rectangular nave, an apse at each end and passage aisles through the buttresses. The interior consists of heavy brick arches on stout columns and clerestory windows between clustered wall shafts supporting a high arched roof. The west end has a tall archway set in a diapered brick wall leading into a baptistery. Some of the decoration was by Gibbs and Canning Limited of Tamworth.〔http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/arodgers/buildings_a_-_b.htm〕 Renovations have taken place since ''circa'' 2000. The priest is Protopresbyter Kosmas Pavlidis.〔http://www.orthandrew.co.uk/contact.php〕 The church has a Greek school for children and adults who wish to learn the Greek language and culture.〔http://orthandrewgreeksch.co.uk〕 == History == By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were Greek Orthodox communities and churches in Manchester, Liverpool and Cardiff, as well as in London. In Birmingham, the foundations for a Greek Orthodox church started immediately after the end of the Second World War. From the beginning of the century, large numbers of Greek Cypriots began to emigrate to Britain in search of a better quality of life. They came mainly to the large cities where it was easier to find work. By 1947, there were enough Greek Orthodox people in Birmingham, and the then Archbishop of Thyateira began sending a priest once a month to conduct the liturgy in a church hall next to a Protestant Church in Pershore Road. On the remaining Sundays of the month, the Greek Orthodox residents of the Birmingham area would go to churches in London and Manchester to follow the liturgy. The congregations grew steadily over the next few years, and in 1951 more regular weekly Sunday liturgies began at the Anglican Church of Saint James in Edgbaston. The Orthodox liturgy would begin after the end of the Protestant service, It was during this period that the first Greek school was opened. Lessons would be conducted in a room over the cafe of Mr Andreas Constantinou. The Archbishop of Thyateira, Virvos, advised the small community to start organising itself so that more funds could be raised. Mr Andreas Constantinou was one of the first Cypriot inhabitants of Birmingham, and his cafe was a popular meeting place with many of the Greeks of the city. A friend of his father in law had recently arrived from Cyprus. His name was John Efstathiades. Mr Efstathiades had been a warden of his village church in Cyprus for many years, and he was in a position to help. Even though he was in his 70’s, Mr Efstathiades together with Andreas Constantinou, George Sergiou, Christos Christophorides, George Apeches, Michael Angelides, Michael Epifaniou and others began working hard to secure a permanent building for a Greek Orthodox church in Birmingham. They approached all the Greek inhabitants of the area for help so that the most essential church artefacts, such as icons, an Iconostasis and a Holy Bible, could be bought. They also went to the Protestant Bishop of Birmingham, the Very Rev. Brian Green for help. The Bishop informed them of four empty churches in and around the city, and the most suitable was the church at Arthur Place near the centre of the city. So in 1958 the first Greek Orthodox Church in Birmingham was inaugurated. The church was devoted to the Dormition of the Virgin Mary and Saint Andrew. Regular liturgies began in Birmingham conducted by the first permanent priest, Father Nicodemos Anagnostou. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Birmingham Orthodox Cathedral」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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