Just showing up?

[zhilan]

Hello. :wave:

There is a very beautiful Coptic church near me and I was thinking about going for Liturgy this Sunday. Will it be weird if I just show up? I think the service is in Arabic so there's probably not to many non-Arabs there so I'm thinking I'll stand out and I've never been to a Coptic service before (I go to an Antiochian Orthodox church usually). Do you think it's ok for me to just show up for Divine Liturgy?

[copticorthodoxy]

i think the service will be in coptic and arabic and the local language too , where do you live ??

[zhilan]

I don't mind it being in Coptic and/or Arabic. I'm sure it will be very pretty. But is there anything I should know? In Coptic liturgies do you stand the whole time like in EO ones? And do you think it will be ok for me to just show up?

[minasoliman]

I would rather you contact the priest there first, or at least a Coptic congregant to help you out during the liturgy, so that you don't feel lost or awkward. I know a friend of mine who is Egyptian (and a big deacon in the Coptic Church), but looks Irish, so he always gets "the look" when visiting a new church. A Coptic friend who is by your side assisting you in church can help you from all the possible awkwardness you might receive.

Sooner or later though, if you're a frequent visitor, I'm sure you'll be making friends, and they'll get used to you.

God bless.

Mina

[copticorthodoxy]

I don't mind it being in Coptic and/or Arabic. I'm sure it will be very pretty. But is there anything I should know? In Coptic liturgies do you stand the whole time like in EO ones? And do you think it will be ok for me to just show up?

the Coptic Orthodox liturgy is the longest liturgy , we stand the whole time also

[zhilan]

the Coptic Orthodox liturgy is the longest liturgy , we stand the whole time also

:thumbsup: Sounds fun. I'll wear comfy shoes and let you know how it goes.

[zhilan]

I went today. It was very nice. I enjoyed it a lot. A lady identified me as not being Coptic (Gee, I wonder how she could tell I wasn't a regular :scratch: haha) and came over to help me follow along and explain things. But I'm really glad I went. I think I'll go again. =)

3 1/2 hours of standing....my feet hurt! ^_^

[copticorthodoxy]

I went today. It was very nice. I enjoyed it a lot. A lady identified me as not being Coptic (Gee, I wonder how she could tell I wasn't a regular :scratch: haha) and came over to help me follow along and explain things. But I'm really glad I went. I think I'll go again. =)

3 1/2 hours of standing....my feet hurt! ^_^

thats great , i am glad for that

tell me how was the liturgy , what you liked in it ??
i like to know the opinion of the non copts about our liturgy

[zhilan]

thats great , i am glad for that

tell me how was the liturgy , what you liked in it ??
i like to know the opinion of the non copts about our liturgy

Hi! Sorry, this is so long ago, but I forgot to respond. I thought the liturgy was very beautiful. It wasn't as easy as other liturgies I've been to becuase it was very long and I didn't understand a lot of it and coudln't really follow along, but there was something beautiful in being there and realizing, "this is how people worships 2000 years ago." I think it's so wonderful how the Coptic church has maintain its rituals over so many years and through so much persecution. When I asked a friend of mine why they did something he told me, "because the Coptic church doesn't like to change anything ever and that's how they did it in the first centuries." hehe. But it's true and that's amazing. I also found the people to be really nice and welcoming. For me, a Catholic who has been attending an Antiochian orthodox parish it wasn't as much of an adjustment as it would be for someone coming from a protestant background, but I still felt like it was very rich and just a cool overall expereince. :cool:

[Globalnomad]

thats great , i am glad for that

tell me how was the liturgy , what you liked in it ??
i like to know the opinion of the non copts about our liturgy

Just to give you an additional answer - our Coptic church, in the place where I lived some years ago, had booklets with the parallel-language text of the liturgy - in Arabic, Copt and English. It was tremendously helpful. With its help, I sat through a number of liturgies and felt absolutely a part of it all. (Yes, sat! - that church did have pews.) I would strongly recommend all Coptic churches, in emigration countries at least, to have such booklets on hand. It would probably help a lot of Copts too - I don't think that all of them know the liturgies well. When I asked my friends what was going on, they did not seem very sure! (Or perhaps it's just my friends who are not well cathecized...)

That reminds me - I should perhaps say (sorry!) tha I did not find the people as reverent and attentive as for example in a Catholic church. Perhpas it's the length of the service, perhaps it's just that, as a woman and a stranger, I have to stay with the women at the back of the church, who are more concerned with minding their kids and with talking to their neigbours - but I found the constant chatting, and coming and going in and out of the church, quite frustrating.

[copticorthodoxy]

(Yes, sat! - that church did have pews.)

- all the Coptic Orthodox churches have pews


That reminds me - I should perhaps say (sorry!) tha I did not find the people as reverent and attentive as for example in a Catholic church. Perhpas it's the length of the service, perhaps it's just that, as a woman and a stranger, I have to stay with the women at the back of the church, who are more concerned with minding their kids and with talking to their neigbours - but I found the constant chatting, and coming and going in and out of the church, quite frustrating.

Is this a comparison between the Alexandrian Coptic Church and the Catholic Church ?!
That don't happen in all the coptic churches !! May be because the church is in the emmigration land so it is not well oragnized yet , i see that zhilan experience was diffrent than yours

[Globalnomad]

-Is this a comparison between the Alexandrian Coptic Church and the Catholic Church ?!
That don't happen in all the coptic churches !! May be because the church is in the emmigration land so it is not well oragnized yet , i see that zhilan experience was diffrent than yours

Well, I have attended Coptic Orthodox Sunday and Pascha liturgies in four different churches in three countries, and I noticed the problem in three out of four (two in Egypt - the Shoubra church near Ramses square, and the Maadi church on the shore of the Nile; the third was the church in Jersey City.)

Don't feel defensive, Copticorthodoxy - I do think it has something to do with the length of the liturgies - really too much for small kids, so the mothers HAVE to move in and out with them - and the fact that the Pascha liturgies are attended - like in any Church, including the Catholic church! - by many people who really just go out of tradition, but are not strong believers and don't know the liturgy too well. You regular churchgoers, especially the men, who sit nearer the front and pay attention, probably don't even notice what goes on in the back. I would need to sit near the front of the women's section, myself (but that's difficult, since I always go with a Coptic family, who has kids and doesn't want to sit through the whole liturgy.)

[copticorthodoxy]

Well, I have attended Coptic Orthodox Sunday and Pascha liturgies in four different churches in three countries, and I noticed the problem in three out of four (two in Egypt - the Shoubra church near Ramses square, and the Maadi church on the shore of the Nile; the third was the church in Jersey City.)

Don't feel defensive, Copticorthodoxy - I do think it has something to do with the length of the liturgies - really too much for small kids, so the mothers HAVE to move in and out with them - and the fact that the Pascha liturgies are attended - like in any Church, including the Catholic church! - by many people who really just go out of tradition, but are not strong believers and don't know the liturgy too well. You regular churchgoers, especially the men, who sit nearer the front and pay attention, probably don't even notice what goes on in the back. I would need to sit near the front of the women's section, myself (but that's difficult, since I always go with a Coptic family, who has kids and doesn't want to sit through the whole liturgy.)

well , in the other side i have attended alot of Catholic liturgies and it was very short , and the church is empty of believers , just some old people sitting in the front of the church

[Globalnomad]

Copticorthdoxy, brother, stop being so defensive! Saying some unpleasant truths about the Catholic Church does not make what I said any less right (or wrong, as the case may be). You asked for some observations about the Coptic Church, well, I gave a negative one as well, one about which perhaps you can do something.

I have a close relationship with the Coptic Orthodox Church and enormous love and respect for it (I have even gone to Coptic priests for spiritual guidance), but if there is a problem, there is a problem, and it's no use sticking y/our heads in the sand just to be polite. Why don't you see what you can do about it in your own parish? It's a much easier problem to deal with than our sad empty Catholic Churches!

[copticorthodoxy]

Copticorthdoxy, brother, stop being so defensive! Saying some unpleasant truths about the Catholic Church does not make what I said any less right (or wrong, as the case may be). You asked for some observations about the Coptic Church, well, I gave a negative one as well, one about which perhaps you can do something.

I have a close relationship with the Coptic Orthodox Church and enormous love and respect for it (I have even gone to Coptic priests for spiritual guidance), but if there is a problem, there is a problem, and it's no use sticking y/our heads in the sand just to be polite. Why don't you see what you can do about it in your own parish? It's a much easier problem to deal with than our sad empty Catholic Churches!

I am really so sorry i didn't mean to be offensive , but you are the one who start to compare between the two churches when you said ""That reminds me - I should perhaps say (sorry!) tha I did not find the people as reverent and attentive as for example in a Catholic church"" and ofcourse that don't happen in all the Alexandrian Churches
i apologize again , also i respect the Catholic Church

[Globalnomad]

Yes, you are right, I could have left out that comparison. I didn't think it would offend, simply because I think the explanation is easy - the length of the liturgy - but it may have come across badly. Sorry!

[copticorthodoxy]

Yes, you are right, I could have left out that comparison. I didn't think it would offend, simply because I think the explanation is easy - the length of the liturgy - but it may have come across badly. Sorry!

I prerfer the long liturgy , it is very spirtual and the Alexandrian liturgies used to be long