Official Churches by Country
Officially recognized churches are defined as those churches which both own and manage buildings, and have the authority to issue visas and to sponsor congregations. By including only the officially recognized churches in the Gulf Churches Fellowship, every Christian church in the Gulf is represented through their visa-issuing overseeing church. Not all churches in the list that follows are members of the Gulf Churches Fellowship.
The officially recognized churches are categorized into five bodies grouped according to the Gulf context: Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Episcopal Churches in Communion, Oriental Orthodox and Protestant. These officially recognized churches are listed below by country.
Bahrain
- The Bahrain Malayalee Church of South India
- Greek Orthodox Church
- The National Evangelical Church
- Philadelphia Church
- Saar Fellowship
- Sacred Heart Catholic Church
- St. Christopher’s (Anglican) Cathedral
- St. Mary’s Orthodox Church – Indian Orthodox
- St. Paul’s Mar Thoma Church
- St. Peter’s Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Kuwait
- Armenian Orthodox Church
- Catholic Church
- Church of Pakistan
- Church of South India (CSI)
- Coptic Orthodox Church
- Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Maronite Church
- Mar Thoma Church
- The National Evangelical Church (with various Protestant, Evangelical Pentecostal and unaffiliated congregations)
- St. Paul’s Church – Anglican Church
- Syrian Orthodox Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- Ukranian Greek Catholic Church
Oman
- Catholic Church
- Church of South India
- Coptic Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Mar Gregorios
- Maronite Church
- Mar Thoma Church
- Protestant Church in Oman (PCO)
- St. Mary’s Syrian Jacobite
- St. Stephen’s Orthodox Church
- Salalah Christian Centre (manages Christian campus in Salalah)
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
Qatar
- Anglican Centre (various Protestant congregations)
- Catholic Church
- Coptic Orthodox Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Inter-Denominational Christian Centre
- Maronite Church
- Syrian Orthodox Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- A Group of Filipino Evangelicals have applied for legal status
United Arab Emirates
- Anglican Chaplaincy of Dubai and Sharjah with the Northern Emirates
- Anglican Church – St Andrew’s Church, Abu Dhabi
- Armenian Church
- Catholic Church
- Church of South India (CSI)
- Coptic Church
- Egyptian Coptic Orthodox Church
- Ethiopian Orthodox Church
- The Evangelical Church
- Greek-Melkite Catholic Church
- Greek Orthodox Church
- Indian Orthodox Church (Malankara)
- Indian Syrian Orthodox Church
- Maronite Church
- Mar Thoma Church
- Russian Orthodox Church
- Syrian Orthodox Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church
- Syro-Malankara Catholic Church
- Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church
- There are also several churches who have officially applied for land and have therefore raised their presence officially with the government, some of them sizeable (500+ members) who rent hotels and conference centers.
Yemen
- Anglican Church
- Catholic Church
- Ethiopian Mekue Yesu
- Ethiopian Orthodox
- National Evangelical Church
- Syro-Malabar Catholic Church