A Center for Hope, Help, and Healing in Baghdad
St George’s provides more than just Sunday services and a vital Christian community
St George’s Church in Baghdad, Iraq was founded in 1864 and is the only Anglican church in Iraq. The present Church building was constructed in 1936 as a memorial to the soldiers of the British Empire who lost their lives in Mesopotamia during the First World War. St. George’s closed under Saddam Hussein’s regime and was relater reopened by the Rev. Canon Andrew White. Today, it is pastored by Iraq’s only ordained Anglican clergyman, Canon Faiz Jerjees.
St George’s provides more than just Sunday services and a vital Christian community; it is a center for hope, help, and healing in Baghdad. St. George’s has a medical clinic which has 17 medical staff members and treats 1,500 patients, free of charge, every month. As well as the medical clinic, St. George’s has an elementary school (K-5) and a Mother’s Union that provides food pantry, home visits and fresh meals.
American FRRME provides financial support for the operations of St. George’s Church and its outreach efforts; is the cornerstone of American FRRME’s work in Iraq.
Canon Faiz Jerjes
Canon Faiz has been recognized by the Iraqi and British governments for his extraordinary reconciliation and humanitarian work. He has excellent relationships with leaders from across the sectarian divide, including Sunni, Shia, Yazidi, Shabak, and of course leaders from other Christian denominations. He has been involved with St George’s since 2006. After ordination, he served as a clergyman at the Church, before being licensed as Priest in Charge in January 2015 by the Bishop of Cyprus and the Gulf, Michael Lewis. In 2015, St. George’s supported the internally displaced Iraqis who fled from the ISIS invasion of the Nineveh plain; St George’s provided household goods and provisions to 60 refugee families.
In 2017, the Iraqi Ministry of Culture honored Canon Faiz as one of the country’s Distinguished Personalities of the Year for his role in supporting human rights work in the country. In July 2020, he was honored with the award of an MBE- Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire- by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. He was awarded with this title for his “services to the Anglican, Christian and local community in Baghdad.”
