THE COPTIC ORTHODOX CHURCH OF ALEXANDRIA

The Coptic Orthodox Christian Church is an Apostolic Church founded in the first century by St. Mark the Apostle and Evangelist. One of the oldest Christian churches in the world, the Coptic Orthodox Church has made a contribution of great significance to Christendom. For example:

  • Being an intensely biblical church, the School of Alexandria, one of the first schools in the world to systematically study the Old and New Testaments in the first centuries of Christianity, allowed many of those who attended to make great theological strides and to evangelize many parts of the world after receiving instruction

  • Christian Monasticism developed in the fourth century within the Coptic Orthodox Church and later spread throughout the world

  • The example of the countless martyrs in the Coptic Church remind us of the price paid for the Christian faith to reach us in an un-altered form since the time of the apostles

  • The Church had great leadership in the three universal or ecumenical councils (at Nicea, Constantinople and Ephesus) by such fathers as St. Athanasius and St. Cyril of Alexandria

The Coptic Orthodox Church follows the Orthodox Creed articulated from the very first centuries of Christianity and officially formulated at the Councils of Nicea and Constantinople. In summary, the Coptic Church is a Trinitarian Church which believes in the Holy Trinity — Father, Son and Holy Spirit — as one God. The Church proclaims that our Lord, God, and Savior Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, was incarnate and born of the Holy Virgin Saint Mary (Theotokos, or Mother of God), and thus was united as fully human (except for sin) and fully Divine. He died for us on the Cross in order to free us from slavery of sin and death and thereby granting us Salvation. On the third day, our Savior Jesus Christ rose from the dead that He might grant us everlasting life with Him. He ascended to the heavens after forty days, and sent the Holy Spirit to His disciples, as He promised them, on the day of Pentecost. 

The Coptic Orthodox Church grounds herself in the following sources of tradition: Holy Scripture (the Holy Bible); Liturgical Life; the Creed and Canons produced by the three Ecumenical councils; the Writings of the Church Fathers and Lives of Saints; and Church Art (e.g. iconography, architecture, music).

The Coptic Church is a sacramental church, recognizing that the life of the Orthodox Christian is a mystical one grounded in the Holy Mysteries (Sacraments) of the Church. Her foremost Mysteries (Sacraments) are: Baptism, Chrismation, Confession, the Holy Eucharist (Communion), Marriage, Priesthood, and Holy Unction or the Anointing of the Sick.

Despite centuries of turmoil and periods of intense persecution, the Coptic Orthodox Church has preserved the Holy Faith in terms of its dogmatic and theological teachings as it has been handed down from Christ to His holy Disciples and Apostles and throughout the ages to the present time.  However, the Coptic Church is living and dynamic as well, changing with regard to language, culture, and certain other practices as geography and time over the centuries demand. Nevertheless, the timeless nature of the Gospel’s message and faith, that our Lord Jesus Christ taught, the Apostles preached, and the fathers kept during the two-thousand year history of the Church, remains ever-victoriously present for the believer to enjoy!