St. Andrew's Church

Abu Dhabi

P.O. Box 262

Abu Dhabi

United Arab Emirates

e-Mail: standrew@emirates.net.ae

Compound User:

Coptic Orthodox Church

Service Times:

THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH HISTORY
The Copts are the native Christians of Egypt and the direct descendants of the Ancient Egyptians. Eusebius (died circa A.D 359) records the tradition that the church in Egypt was founded by St. Mark, A.D 50, and that Alexandria ranked with Antioch and Rome as one of the chief sees of the Early Church.
The greatest contribution of this church to the world has been the beginning of the monastic orders. The fertile ground of the outreach of early Christianity in Egypt also produced great theologians. There the Holy Scriptures – clad in Hebrew through divine revelation – merged with human intellectual wisdom imbued with Greek philosophy and categories of thought. Egypt became the first and foremost centre of monastic life. Even though the influence of the celebrated School of Alexandria – which set the basis for the first canons of systematic theology – progressively faded during the first six centuries, monastic life nevertheless blossomed, and up to this very day continues to play an important role in Coptic life. All bishops are former monks. The laity is influenced by monasticism, too. Many young lay people choose celibacy and the monastic life as a vocation.
The Coptic Church is the largest Christian community in the Middle East. It counts about 6,000,000 believers. It has some 45 Dioceses in Egypt, Africa, the Middle East, Europe and the USA. Jerusalem is an Archdiocese (established in the 9th century) with two congregations, one in Jaffa and the other in Nazareth. The churches in other countries are related directly to the Patriarchate. The Diocese of the USA and Canada was founded in the 1960s. Twenty-four congregations in the USA and three in Canada are formed mainly from Egyptian immigrants. Five parishes exist in London, Paris, Vienna, Geneva and Frankfurt respectively.
The Coptic laity actively participate in the life of the church, Parish Church Councils and benevolent societies, under diocesan authorities, meet the pastoral and social needs of the community. Family life, in particular, is emphatically Christian, and impregnated with intense spirituality.