Church of Antioch

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The Church of Antioch (Arabic: كنيسة أنطاكية, romanized: kánīsa ʾanṭākiya; Arabic pronunciation: [ka.niː.sa ʔan.tˤaː.ki.ja]) was the first of the five major churches of the early pentarchy in Christianity, with its primary seat in the ancient Greek city of Antioch (present-day Antakya, Turkey).

The earliest record of the church of Antioch is given in Acts 11, stating that some "men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus [...] and a great number believed, and turned to the Lord."^[1] Later, at the start of their missionary journeys, Paul the Apostle (also called Saul) and Barnabas preached in Antioch for a year, and followers of the church were called "Christians" for the first time.^{[2][full citation needed]}