Plan by the St Mary of Zion Ethiopia Orthodox Church to convert a cinema from a nightclub into a place of worship has created some firestorm in London England.

It all started when an Ethiopian Orthodox Church try to turn a rare example of an Edwardian cinema in suburb of London, England into imitated replica of the Ethiopian church in Axum, which claims to house the Ark of the Covenant, are being fought by a conservation group.

The Friends of Clapton Cinematograph Theatre (FCCT) have been campaigning for five years to restore one of Britain’s oldest purpose built cinemas in Lower Clapton Road to its former glory as a cultural centre for the whole community.

But now the cinema’s owners St Mary of Zion have submitted a planning application to the Council to alter the heritage building which lies in the Clapton Pond conservation area.

Nearly 800 people have signed a petition calling for the building to be preserved…Expert argue that such survivals from the earliest days of cinema are rare and should be preserved as an important part of British social history.

But the Ethiopian Orthodox group which bought the building last May wants to alter the building’s façade so it resembles the Church of Our Lady Mary of Zion in Ethiopia’s Axum, where it is claimed the Ten Commandments are inscribed on the Tablets of Law.

Royal Bank of Scotland confiscated the building and sold it to St Mary of Zion last May.

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