St George Coptic Orthodox Church (
Coptic
Coptic may refer to:
Afro-Asia
* Copts, an ethnoreligious group mainly in the area of modern Egypt but also in Sudan and Libya
* Coptic language, a Northern Afro-Asiatic language spoken in Egypt until at least the 17th century
* Coptic alphabet ...
: //
transliteration: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Gewargios'') is one of the oldest
Coptic Orthodox churches established in North America.
[Dates of Incorporations of Coptic Orthodox Churches in North America](_blank)
(Retrieved 08-07-2008) It is one of
over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US. The church belongs to Coptic Diocese of Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware & West Virginia.
History
St. George Coptic Orthodox Church was the first
Coptic Orthodox church established in Pennsylvania, in 1969.
[Congregation Faces Obstacles In Bid For New Church - Philly.com](_blank)
(Retrieved 22-02-1990) It was incorporated in May 1973
with 30 families at the time.
[Church Data](_blank)
(Retrieved 08-07-2008) Several Coptic Orthodox priests served the congregation in churches of other denominations until 1980, when a building in Conshohocken was purchased.
Pope Shenouda III assigned Father Samuel Thabet Samuel to head that church in September 1983, and Father Samuel and his wife and two children left Egypt and moved to Roxborough.
The congregation later bought the current building in
Norristown, Pennsylvania
Norristown is a municipality with home rule status and the county seat of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Montgomery County is a county in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is the third-most populous county in Pennsylvania and the 7 ...
. The
Greek Revival church was originally built in 1863 for a congregation of the
Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. The interior was modified so that the building could be used for Coptic Orthodox Liturgies; the exterior, however, retained its architectural style. The building was consecrated in October 1994, by Pope Shenouda III.
The parish had more than one priest in its history. Fr. Angelos Habib Boghdadi served the parish in its early years, as well as several other Coptic churches throughout the States, including St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. Fr. Boghdadi is currently the priest of St. George Church in Tampa, Florida.
Biography of Fr. Angelos H. Boghdadi
(Retrieved 08-07-2008)
Formative years
During the church's formative years in the 1980s, Fr. Samuel Thabet Samuel was the parish priest. He served until 1990 when summoned by Pope Shenouda III to serve St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church of Chicago, Illinoi
becoming the senior priest. In 1991 Pope Shenouda sent Fr. Roufail Z. Youssef as parish priest. Over 300 Coptic families are served by St. George's Church.
See also
* Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox Church
*Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States
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 ...
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint George Coptic Orthodox Church, Philadelphia
Coptic Orthodox churches in Pennsylvania
Christian organizations established in 1969
1969 establishments in Pennsylvania
Churches completed in 1863
Oriental Orthodox congregations established in the 20th century
Churches in Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
Greek Revival church buildings in Pennsylvania
Norristown, Pennsylvania