Gaza Baptist Church | |
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Location | Gaza City, Gaza Strip, State of Palestine |
Country | Palestine |
Denomination | Baptist, Evangelical |
The Gaza Baptist Church is a Baptist church in Gaza City, Gaza, in the State of Palestine.[1][2][3] The church sustained multiple hardships since 2007, including the fatal stabbing, beating, and shooting of staff, the takeover of its building by Hamas and Fatah, and damage during Israeli bombings in 2008. The church's pastor, and many of the congregation, subsequently fled the Gaza Strip.[1][2][3][4]
The Gaza Baptist Church is one of only three Christian churches in the Gaza Strip, and the only one that is Protestant and evangelical – the two remaining Christian churches in the Gaza Strip are the Catholic Church of the Holy Family and the Eastern Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius.
The Gaza Baptist Church had a congregation of about 200 worshippers, as of 2008. Having been adversely affected by ongoing violence related to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, and as a result of this situation and of ongoing Israeli travel restrictions, the Church's leadership, including its pastor, still lives in exile. The church, however, continues to meet, sometimes online when the regional conflict requires.[5]