The Holy Eucharist in the Orthodox Christian faith is not a mere symbol or memorial reenactment of the Mystical Supper. Rather, it is truly the Body and the Blood of our Lord Jesus Christ. For this reason, in order for one to partake of Holy Communion one must be a member of one of the Oriental Orthodox Churches, be in good standing before God, and be properly prepared to receive the Holy Body and the Precious Blood of our Savior. As a general rule, proper preparation includes keeping the fasts of the Church, being in a continual state of repentance, having confessed recently (within the last month or so), is at peace with others (Matthew 5:24), and arriving to Divine Services on time.

Orthodox priests may only serve the Holy Eucharist to baptized members in good standing of the canonical Orthodox Church, who have a confession Father and are prepared (spiritually and physically) for receiving the Holy Mysteries. This is the ancient tradition of the Holy Church for the 2,000 years of its history. 

Rather than trying to accommodate to often varying “interpretations” or revisions of the doctrine of our ancient faith, we simply ask that you respect the ancient, apostolic tradition and join us in receiving the Eulogia (blessed bread), at the end of the Divine Liturgy after the announcements. 

On Sat­ur­day evenings, the Evening Rais­ing of Incense ser­vice (Ves­pers) is gen­er­ally 30–45 min­utes in length, includ­ing a short homily in Ara­bic or Eng­lish. On Sun­day morn­ings, a sim­i­lar ser­vice is cel­e­brated before the Divine Liturgy. After­wards, the Divine Liturgy is approx­i­mately 3 hours in length with an Eng­lish homily at approx­i­mately 9:30 a.m. and the Dis­tri­b­u­tion of the Mys­tery of the Eucharist from 10:30–11:00 a.m. We under­stand this may seem like a long service, but we know that when you have par­tic­i­pated in an Ortho­dox ser­vice you will feel like you have truly wor­shipped and participated in Heaven’s praises to the liv­ing God.

The tra­di­tional pos­ture for prayer and wor­ship in the Ortho­dox Church is to stand, for we stand before the King of the uni­verse! In many churches in Egypt, there are typ­i­cally no pews in the churches. Chairs or benches on the side walls are usu­ally reserved for the elderly and infirmed. In Amer­ica, we build our churches with pews or chairs, so you may sit. How­ever, it is minimally expected to stand dur­ing the Gospel read­ing, the Anaphora through the Insti­tu­tion Nar­ra­tive, the dis­tri­b­u­tion of the Holy Mys­tery, when the priest gives the final bless­ing, and at the Dismissal.

Each par­ent is respon­si­ble to take care of their child. We encour­age chil­dren to be present in Church for the ser­vices. This par­tic­i­pa­tion is a vital part of a child’s spir­i­tual for­ma­tion. Also the more they are in the Church, the more they get used to worshipping properly. How­ever, if your baby or child is extremely loud, overly talk­a­tive, or is having a difficult time, please take him or her out of the Church until he or she is ready to return. We have a cry room in the back of the Church for this purpose. This is to facilitate a peaceful, reverent environment for all to pray, as well as educate the child what is proper worship for the House of God. 

However, after the service, parents may leave their children in their respective Sunday school class.

Following the Divine Liturgy, Sun­day school is provided in small groups for 3 year olds through high school. 

Sun­day school begins after the dismal and lasts about 45 minutes. During this time, adults are welcome to attend the adult Bible Study upstairs. 

Fol­low­ing this, all are invited to join our Agape brunch of love and brotherhood, which is a good time to get to know our parish mem­bers and meet our priests.

New vis­i­tors will find there are many new things to expe­ri­ence in a Cop­tic Ortho­dox Church ser­vice. Feel free to go at your own pace, ask any ques­tions, and know you are most wel­come to come, learn, and pray with us.