St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church ( Coptic: //

transliteration Transliteration is a type of conversion of a text from one script to another that involves swapping letters (thus ''trans-'' + '' liter-'') in predictable ways, such as Greek → , Cyrillic → , Greek → the digraph , Armenian → or L ...

: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Markos'') is notably the first

Coptic Orthodox The Coptic Orthodox Church ( cop, Ϯⲉⲕ̀ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⲛ̀ⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⲛ̀ⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ, translit=Ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos, lit=the Egyptian Orthodox Church; ar, الكنيسة القبطي� ...

parish and church building in North America, if not the Western Hemisphere, located in Jersey City, New Jersey. This is in comparison t
St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church
in (

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, Canada) 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.

History

St. Mark's Church was first founded from the late 1960s, although the actual date of incorporation was 1970.Church
(Retrieved 17-07-2008) The large influx of

Copt Copts ( cop, ⲛⲓⲣⲉⲙⲛ̀ⲭⲏⲙⲓ ; ar, الْقِبْط ) are a Christian ethnoreligious group indigenous to North Africa who have primarily inhabited the area of modern Egypt and Sudan since antiquity. Most ethnic Copts are Co ...

s in New Jersey can be attributed to their persecution in

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, in addition to those who emigrate seeking educational and financial opportunities. Currently, there are more than 30,000 Copts in Jersey City alone.

Expansion

Coptic Orthodox Christians, who adhere to an ancient Christian faith rooted in Egypt in the first century, have established a presence throughout New Jersey over the last several decades. Being the first Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States, St. Mark's in Jersey City was founded by early Egyptian immigrants, and the congregations have since grown in allowing 15 other parishes in New Jersey alone. The year 1977 marked the first pastoral visit by

Pope Shenouda III Pope Shenouda III (; cop, Ⲡⲁⲡⲁ Ⲁⲃⲃⲁ Ϣⲉⲛⲟⲩϯ ⲅ̅ '; ar, بابا الإسكندرية شنودة الثالث '; 3 August 1923 – 17 March 2012) was the 117th Pope of Alexandria and Patriarch of the See ...

to the US and Canada, including St. Mark's Church in Jersey City. Ten years later, in January 1987, the church building was newly refitted and consecrated.

Priests

St. Mark Church had several priests over the decades, including one who died in the early 1990s. The first liturgy was celebrated in St. Mark's Church on March 22, 1970, by the late Fr. Rafael Younan who was a resident priest in Montreal since 1968. There are currently three priests that serve St. Mark's Church. Fr. Abraam Sleman was ordained as a priest on June 18, 1989, by Pope Shenouda III to serve at St. Mary Church (Ard Elgolf). Then, on September 3, 1993, Pope Shenouda chose to have him serve St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church in Englewood, Colorado. Rev. Gabriel Abdelsayed, who was the archpriest of St. Mark's, died in 1993. Pope Shenouda decided to replace the deceased priest with Fr. Abraam Sleman on January 5, 1995.

Today

Fr. Abraam served St. Mark Church for several years up to this point. By the time Pope Shenouda III recently elevated Fr. Abraam to the rank of Archpriest (Hegomen) on September 1, 2003,Fr. Abraam Sleman to Hegumen
. ''Coptic Church Network'', September 1, 2003. Accessed August 11, 2008. Fr. Sleman was already serving alongside Fr. Markos Ayoub. On September 1, 2007, Pope Shenouda ordained Maged Abdelmaseih as Fr. Daniel Abdelmaseih, to be the third priest at St. Mark's Church. Thus, Heg. Abraam Sleman, Fr. Markos Ayoub, and Fr. Daniel Abdelmaseih have been pastors at St. Mark's Church up until the present. There are currently about 750

Coptic American Coptic Americans ( ''niremenkāmi enamerika'') are American citizens of Coptic descent or persons of Coptic descent residing in the United States of America. As of 2018, there were some 500,000 Copts living in the United States. Immigration his ...

families served by St. Mark's Church.

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Denver, Colorado) St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic language, Coptic: // transliteration: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Markos'') is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox parishes to be established in North America.St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church (Lancaster, Pennsylvania) St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church ( Coptic: // transliteration: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Maria'') is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches established in Pennsylvania.

** St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church (Los Angeles) ** St. Mary & St. Antonios Coptic Orthodox Church (Ridgewood, Queens) **

St. George Coptic Orthodox Church (Brooklyn) St George Coptic Orthodox Church ( Coptic: // transliteration: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Gewargios'') is one of the oldest Coptic Orthodox churches in North America.

St. Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church (Woodbury, New York) St Abraam Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic language, Coptic: // transliteration: ''ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Abra'am'') is a Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria, Coptic Orthodox parish in Woodbury, Nassau County, New Yo ...

** St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church (Jersey City, New Jersey)

References

External links