St. George Coptic Orthodox Church | |
---|---|
Location | 1105 67th Street Brooklyn NY 11219 |
Country | United States |
Denomination | Coptic Orthodox Church |
Website | http://www.stgeorgebklyn.org/ |
History | |
Founded | 1973 |
Architecture | |
Architectural type | church |
Style | Coptic |
Administration | |
Division | The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate |
Diocese | Archdiocese of North America, under the Pope of Alexandria |
Clergy | |
Bishop(s) | Pope Theodoros II |
Priest(s) | Fr. Mina K. Yanni Fr. Armia Toufiles Fr. Luke Awad Fr. Gabriel Assad Fr. Michael Dosse Fr. Samwel Hanna |
St George Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕ'ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⳿ⲛⲣⲉⲙ⳿ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⳿ⲛⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ ⳿ⲛⲧⲉ ⲫⲏⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ Ⲅⲉ⳿ⲱⲣⲅⲓⲟⲥ // transliteration: ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Gewargios) is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches in North America. [1] It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox churches in the United States. [2] [3]
St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Brooklyn, New York, was founded as the second Coptic parish in New York City, and was incorporated by 1973 [4] with only 60 families at the time. [5] The first one was actually St. Mary & St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church in Ridgewood, Queens, and, like St. George Church, there were many others to follow. Somewhat farther east, in Long Island, St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church was founded by the late 70's to serve the congregation in that region. However, one of the more prominent parishes that was recently founded is St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, the first Coptic church that was established in densely populated borough of Manhattan.
Although St. George Church was officially established as of 1973, the first liturgy was actually celebrated on December 31, 1972, after the current building was bought from the American Baptist Church. [6]
Fr. Mina K. Yanni served as priest for St. George Church from its early foundations until the present. [5] Pope Shenouda III elevated Fr. Mina to the rank of Archpriest on August 16, 1978. Two other priests were eventually ordained and serve St. George Church alongside Fr. Mina. Fr. Armia Taofiles, who has served since Nov. 2000, as well as Fr. Luke Awad, who became priest as of 2005, and Father Gabriel Assad that was ordained in 2015 and is the 4th priest in this church. In January 2018, Fr. Armia was elevated to the rank of Archpriest. In February 2018, both Fr. Michael Dosse and Fr. Samwel Hanna were then ordained to be the fifth and sixth priests of this church. [7] There have been pastors at St. George Church up until the present.
Even as St. George Church mainly served those who settled in Brooklyn, other areas were outreached over the years. Surrounding areas in New York's other boroughs as well as some parts of New Jersey were outreached until churches were built there. [6]
The building at the eastern corner of 11th Avenue and 67th Street in Dyker Heights, being one of the few structures in North America that was bought by the Copts from the beginning of the congregation's establishment, was expanded and redeveloped multiple times: [5] [6]
St. George Church published many of the first Coptic Orthodox publications in North America. These publications include the Coptic calendar , launched in 1977, as well as the first Agpeya that was translated into English (using the original Coptic texts). Several of Pope Shenouda's books, lectures, and sermons were republished by the church and sent to various places.
On March 20, 1994, the Virgin Mary was said to have blessed St. George Church by seeping holy oil from one of her icons. A special place was constructed for this icon in the church building, which is visited by many Copts and non-Copts as well. [5]
Pope Shenouda III visited the congregation three times before its consecration on April 14, 1977, second on April 20, 1989, and on March 12, 1992. Pope Shenouda eventually consecrated the church on Sunday, September 6, 1998.
There are currently over 600 Coptic families served by St. George's Church alone [4] with several others belonging to other Coptic Orthodox congregations throughout New York. [4]
The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has several churches in Great Britain and Ireland under the jurisdiction of four diocesan bishops.
Copts, many of whom are adherents of the Coptic Orthodox Church, began migrating to the United States of America in the late 1940s. After 1952, the rate of Coptic immigration from Egypt to the United States increased. The first Coptic church in the United States, St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church, was established in the late 1960s in Jersey City.
The Coptic Orthodox Church in South America has bishops in Bolivia and Brazil.
St Mary and St Abraam Church is a Coptic Orthodox Church in Hove, in the English city of Brighton and Hove. It is one of 27 such churches in the British Isles, twelve of which are British Orthodox churches. The Race community in Brighton and Hove was founded in 1990; four years later it moved to its present site on Davigdor Road, on the Brighton/Hove border.
St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church is a Coptic Orthodox parish in Woodbury, New York. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States.
The Copts began to immigrate to the United States as early as the late 1940s. Immigration to Canada was soon to follow, and in general, this was to be the case throughout North America in the coming decades. With hundreds of Coptic Orthodox churches in the United States alone, it is estimated that there are over one million Coptic Orthodox Christians in North America.
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church is notably the first Coptic Orthodox parish and church building in North America, if not the Western Hemisphere, located in Jersey City, New Jersey. This is in comparison to St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church in which is considered the first parish in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States. The Church belongs to Archdiocese of North America.
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church is a Coptic Orthodox church in Los Angeles and is one of the oldest Coptic parishes established in the United States. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox churches in the US.
St George Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches established in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US. The church belongs to Coptic Diocese of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware & West Virginia.
St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox parishes to be established in North America. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.
St George & St Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church is the second Coptic Orthodox church that was established in Jersey City, New Jersey. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States.
St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches established in Pennsylvania. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.
Holy Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Church is the second oldest Coptic Orthodox church that was established in Los Angeles and one of the largest Coptic parishes in California. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US.
St Mary and St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church is located in Ridgewood, Queens and was the oldest Coptic Orthodox parish in Queens. It is one of the 287 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States.
Coptic Americans are American citizens of Coptic descent or persons of Coptic descent residing in the United States. As of 2018, there were some 500,000 Copts living in the United States.
Coptic Australians are Australians of Coptic descent or persons of Coptic descent residing in Australia. According to the 2011 census, there were 24,693 Copts in Australia, mostly members of the Coptic Orthodox Church. The Coptic population within Australia is estimated to be between 70,000 and 100,000 people.
The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of New York and New England, also referred to as the Coptic Diocese of New York, is a diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria. It was founded in 2013 and encompasses the states of Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont in the United States of America. Bishop David was appointed diocesan bishop when the diocese was created.
The Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii, is a diocese of the Coptic Orthodox Church, which was founded in 1995. It is currently headed by Metropolitan Serapion the bishop of Los Angeles, and Metropolitan of Southern California and Hawaii.