In the middle of the first century, God sent St. Mark the Evangelist to proclaim the Good News and teach the Egyptians about the true God. He became the first pope and patriarch of the See of St. Mark and the founder of the Coptic Orthodox Church. For centuries, the Coptic Church remained mostly within the boundaries of Egypt. In the middle of the twentieth century, the Coptic diaspora slowly began.

Within the last five decades, St. Mark continued to carry the Good News through his disciples to the United States and around the world. The History of the Coptic Orthodox Church in the United States tells the story of the earliest immigrants who left their beloved homeland to start a new life and establish the roots of the Coptic Orthodox Church in America.

Through the efforts of early pioneers and settlers of tenacious priests and dedicated servants, the first Coptic church in the United States St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church, in Jersey City, NJ, and St. George Coptic Orthodox Church in Philadelphia, were established, followed by others in New York, New Jersey, and beyond. The History of the Coptic Orthodox Church recounts the celebrations, struggles, and growth of these congregations as they maintain the traditions and spirit of the Coptic Orthodox Church into the twenty-first century.

--Esmat M. Gabriel

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