of Christian denominations, including the Arab Orthodox Benevolent Society. A Russian Orthodox school was established in 1866. The Latin Patriarchate Seminary, which supervises religious liturgical education in the Jerusalem Patriarchate, moved to Beit Jala in 1936. The Evangelical Lutheran Church in Jordan and the Holy Land (ELCJHL) has a congregation in Beit Jala. The denomination also runs the Talitha Kumi School in Beit Jala, which was founded by Lutheran deaconesses in the 19th century and relocated in Beit Jala in 1961. The school has developed an environmental education program and operates the only bird-ringing station in the Palestinian sector. The school also runs a guesthouse. The Beit Jala skyline is dominated by several churches, among them the Church of the Virgin Mary, the Church of St. Michael, and the Church of Saint Nicholas. According to tradition, St. Nicholas spent four years in a cave beneath the Church. These three churches belong to the Greek Orthodox Church. The Latin Church of Annunciation is the Catholic church built in 1850. The Syriac Orthodox Church runs the Mar Afram school in Beit Jala. In 2007, Mar Afram started offering classes in Aramaic (more specifically, Syriac Aramaic) to its students, which were taught by elderly residents of the town who still spoke the waning language fluently. Local government In the 2005 municipal election, six seats went to the United Beit Jala list (Fatah and Palestinian People's Party), five seats went to Sons of the Land (PFLP and independents), one seat went to Independent Beit Jala Group and one candidate was elected as an independent. The most popular candidate was Raji George Jadallah Zeidan of United Jala with 2,892 votes, followed by Nadir Antoun Issa Abu Amsha of Sons of the Land with 1764 votes. Sports The Beit Jala Lions is a rugby club active in Beit Jala since 2007. Hailed as the first all-Palestinian rugby team in history, the team is made up almost exclusively of residents of Beit Jala. See also Ghassan Zaqtan Palestinian Christians Palestinian diaspora References Bibliography (pp. 457 -459) (p. 915) (pp. 113- 119) (Pococke, 1745, vol 2, p. 45; cited in Robinson and Smith, 1841, vol 2, p. 322) (p. 322 ) External links Official Site of Beit Jala Welcome To The City of Bayt Jala Survey of Western Palestine, Map 17: IAA, Wikimedia commons Beit Jala City (Fact Sheet), Applied Research Institute–Jerusalem (ARIJ) Beit Jala City Profile, (ARIJ)