St. George Coptic Orthodox Church (Philadelphia)

Infobox religious building
building_name = St. George Coptic Orthodox Church
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image_size = 320px
caption = The entrance of St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Norristown, Pennsylvania, serving Philadelphia
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location = 411 Dekalb St Norristown, PA 19401
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religious_affiliation = Coptic Orthodox Church
rite = Alexandrian
province =
district = Archdiocese of North America, under the Pope of Alexandria
consecration_year = 1994
status = Church
functional_status = Operational
heritage_designation =
leadership = HH Pope Shenouda III
Rev. Father Roufaeel Youssef
website = http://www.stgeorgephilly.org/
architecture =
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architecture_type = Coptic
architecture_style = Greek Revival
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year_completed = 1863
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St George Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: 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 that was established in North America. [http://nacopts.com/graph_dateIncorporated.php?limit=nolimit Dates of Incorporations of Coptic Orthodox Churches in North America] (Retrieved 08-07-2008)] It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox Churches in the US. [" [http://copticchurch.net/news/press_release/20050120_armanious_murder_jersey_city.html Coptic Church Urges Thorough Investigation In Murder of Jersey City Family] ". "Coptic Church Network", January 20, 2005. Accessed August 11, 2008.] [ [http://www.cnewa.org/ecc-bodypg-us.aspx?eccpageID=6&IndexView=toc CNEWA:The Coptic Orthodox Church] (Retrieved 17-07-2008)]

History of the building

St. George Coptic Orthodox Church is the first Coptic Orthodox church that was established in Pennsylvania, and was incorporated by 1973 with 130 families at the time. [http://nacopts.com/viewChurch.php?id=112 Church Data] (Retrieved 08-07-2008)]

After a certain period of time, the congregation bought the current building in Norristown, Pennsylvania. The parish, built in 1863, uses Greek revival architecture and was originally a Trinity Evangelical Lutheran Church. [ [http://www2.montcopa.org/montco/cwp/view,a,1418,q,5433.asp Montgomery County: St. George Coptic Orthodox Church] (Retrieved 08-07-2008)] In order for the building to allow for Coptic Orthodox Liturgies, the interior required a partial conversion for that use. The exterior, however, retained its architectural style. The building was consecrated in October of 1994, by HH Pope Shenouda III.

The parish did in fact have 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, which serves the Pittsburgh metropolitan area. Fr. Boghdadi is currently the priest of St. George Church in Tampa, Florida. [ [http://www.suscopts.org/stgeorgetampa/priests.html Biography of Fr. Angelos H. Boghdadi] (Retrieved 08-07-2008)]

Up until today, though, there has only been one priest at a time. At this point, Fr. Roufaeel S. Youssef serves as the priest. There are currently about 180 Coptic families served by St. George's Church.

References

External links

* [http://www.stgeorgephilly.org/ The official website of St. George Coptic Orthodox Church]
* [http://www.copticcchurch.net/ The Coptic Orthodox Church Network]
* [http://www.nacopts.com/ Directory & Statistics on Coptic Orthodox Churches in North America]

ee also

*Coptic Orthodox Church
*Seat of the Coptic Orthodox Pope of Alexandria
*Coptic architecture
*Coptic Cairo
*Coptic Orthodox Church in North America
**Coptic Orthodox Church in Canada
**Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States
**List of Coptic Orthodox Churches in the United States
***St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Jersey City, New Jersey)
***St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Los Angeles)
***St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Denver, Colorado)
***St. Mary Coptic Orthodox Church (Lancaster, 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 & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church (Jersey City, New Jersey)