St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Los Angeles)

St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church
34°03′01″N 118°23′03″W / 34.05034°N 118.38405°W / 34.05034; -118.38405Coordinates: 34°03′01″N 118°23′03″W / 34.05034°N 118.38405°W / 34.05034; -118.38405
Country United States of America
Denomination Coptic Orthodox Church
Website www.stmarkla.org
Architecture
Style Coptic
Administration
Diocese Diocese of Los Angeles
Division The Coptic Orthodox Patriarchate
Clergy
Bishop(s) Pope Theodoros II
HG Bishop Serapion
Priest(s) Fr. Bishoy Ghobrial
Fr. Raphael Hanna
Fr. Michael Gabriel
Fr. Isaac Boules

St Mark Coptic Orthodox Church (Coptic: Ϯⲉⲕ'ⲕⲗⲏⲥⲓⲁ ⳿ⲛⲣⲉⲙ⳿ⲛⲭⲏⲙⲓ ⳿ⲛⲟⲣⲑⲟⲇⲟⲝⲟⲥ ⳿ⲛⲧⲉ ⲫⲏⲉⲑⲟⲩⲁⲃ Ⲙⲁⲣⲕⲟⲥ // transliteration: ti.eklyseya en.remenkimi en.orthodoxos ente fi.ethowab Markos) is the oldest Coptic Orthodox church that was established in Los Angeles and is one of the oldest Coptic parishes in the United States. It is one of over 200 Coptic Orthodox churches in the US.[1][2]

History of the Church

St. Mark's Coptic Orthodox Church of Los Angeles was founded as the second Coptic parish in the United States, and was incorporated by 1970 with about 200 families at the time.[3] The Coptic families in Los Angeles started settling from around the late 1960s when the late Father Bishoy Kamel was commissioned to serve the church in 1969,[4] during Pope Cyril VI's papacy. Fr. Bishoy was a promiment Copt, being considered a modern-day saint within the Church, and helped to found not only St. Mark's but several other parishes and buildings throughout Egypt, the United States, Europe and Australia.[5]

The congregation initially used a Syriac Orthodox building to accommodate its liturgies. Then, the congregation eventually purchased the current building which was previously used by the Russian Orthodox.[6] Several years later, in 1995, the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, Southern California and Hawaii was founded. HH Pope Shenouda III, the Pope of Alexandria (at the time), enthroned HG Serapion as Bishop for the diocese, which includes St. Mark's Church as well as several other diocese churches. There are currently about 650 Coptic families served by St. Mark's Church[3] with several others belonging to different church congregations throughout California.[3]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Coptic Church Urges Thorough Investigation In Murder of Jersey City Family". Coptic Church Network, January 20, 2005. Accessed August 11, 2008.
  2. ↑ CNEWA:The Coptic Orthodox Church (Retrieved 17-07-2008)
  3. 1 2 3 Church Data
  4. ↑ The History of Copts in North America (Retrieved 08-06-2008)
  5. ↑ The life of Fr. Bishoy Kamel (Retrieved 06-08-2008)
  6. ↑ Fr. Bishoy Kamel (Retrieved 06-08-2008)
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