PENDIK EVANGELICAL CHURCH

The Pendik Church was initially built as Catholic chapel by the French Catholic community living in the neighbourhood in 1907. The church operated until World War II. With the return of the priest to France in 1945, Catholic worship ceased. From the late 1940’s until the late 1960’s the building continued to be used by Orthodox community in Pendik. In the 1970’s, the church property, which did not belong to any institution, was transferred to the equity receiver. Because of the lack of use, the building was occupied by street children for sheltering purposes. Following a fire, the roof collapsed, and the door and windows were damaged. In the 1990's, Christians residents of Pendik began an effort to re-acquire the building. They noticed that the church had been zoned as a mosque, so after a lengthy process the building was correctly re-zoned as a church once again. These Christians residents eventually handed over all their documents and legal proceedings to the Istanbul Protestant Church Foundation. In 2010, the ownership of the building passed to the Treasury of the State. In November of 2010, an application for the reconstruction and use the building was sent to the Treasury of the State through the Revenue Office. Our hope is to regain this valuable cultural asset to the community; and in doing so, to provide a legitimate and respectable church building for the small Christian community of Pendik.