Smyrna Anglican Chaplaincy , Turkey

The Bishop of London was held to exercise responsibility for Anglican churches overseas where no other bishop had been appointed. He retained responsibility for churches in northern and central Europe until 1980, but his jurisdiction in southern Europe ceased in 1842 on the creation of the diocese of Gibraltar. In 1980, the Bishop of London divested himself of all overseas jurisdiction and a new diocese of 'Gibraltar in Europe' was established.

The English community in Smyrna (now Izmir in Turkey) has been attended by an Anglican priest since 1638, for many years provided by the Levant Company who had an important factory (trading post) there. Services were held in rooms at the consul's house and in 1797 a fire in that house destroyed the existing registers.

The church at Smyrna was consecrated by the Bishop of Gibraltar in 1843 as St John the Evangelist, rebuilt in 1898-9 and reconsecrated in 1902.

There are two other chapels in nearby areas associated with the Smyrna chaplaincy. The church at Boudjah (Buca) opened in 1838 and was consecrated in 1843 as the Chapel of All Saints. The church at Bournabat (Bornova) was built in 1857 and consecrated as St Mary Magdalene in 1864.

In 1922 the Smyrna and Boudjah churches survived a period of political instability with only minor damage, but the church at Bournabat was looted and some of its registers may have disappeared.