Author: Sana

In the Name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the One God, Amen
The peace and love of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all.
It is heartbreaking to hear of these recent acts against minors and/or females in the church and in general. The church condemns all acts, whether physical, sexual or emotional, against any individual especially by individuals that are in authority or power.
Please click to read the statement that has been released by the Arch Diocese and the Diocese of NY/NE.
We are praying for all those who have been victimized and for the healing of all those have had to face any of these horrible and traumatizing situations. 
We must all serve the Lord in way that is appropriate, acceptable, pure and holy. All of the servants of St. Anthony including myself vow to serve with all of these characteristics clear before us. 
God have mercy upon us all.
Your Servant,Fr. John

The sign-up sheet is on a first come first serve basis. 

We are happy to announce that we will begin the registration process for the Divine Liturgy. During these difficult times, the Church must act with an abundance of caution in order to keep everyone safe. For this reason, this form has been created, which allows you to learn about how to be compliance with the CDC guidelines as well as register to attend the Divine Liturgy. 

The safety of the congregants must be at the forefront of what we do, and we ask for your patience and cooperation during these unprecedented times.

PLEASE READ THE INFORMATION BELOW VERY CAREFULY

• The church is starting the registration process for congregants to begin attending the Divine Liturgy. Please read the instructions below in order to understand the rules required for everyone’s safety.
• Only congregants of St. Anthony will be accepted. Please use the form below to provide information for the members that would like to attend. We need to know exactly how many individuals are in each family as we have a limit on the number of attendees.
• If you are 65 years of age or over or are immunocompromised, it is highly recommended that you stay home (other arrangements can be made for partaking of the Holy Eucharist).
• If you are not feeling well, have any COVID symptoms or have been in contact with anyone who has the virus (directly or indirectly), please DO NOT come to church.

ONLY ONE REGISTRATION PER FAMILY

Before coming to church:

• In order to prepare for receiving the Holy Eucharist make sure that you spend time examine yourself and offer repentance. 
• Another good way to prepare for the Holy Eucharist is to contact your father of confession for a confession appointment, even if by phone. 
  
  
• Each congregant is required to arrive at 8:00 AM (30 minutes before service begins). In order to stay in compliance with the law, once the service begins, the doors will be locked and no one will be allowed to enter. If you need to leave during the service for any reason, you will NOT be allowed to re-enter. 

•  Absolutely no Cell Phones will be allowed during Liturgy. Please leave all cell phones in the car or turn them off before you enter the Church
• Each person is required to bring their own Agpeya, head covering (Esharb) for the females, Corporal (Lefafa) for communion, their own bottle of water for after communion and hand sanitizer.
• In order to comply with all the requirements of the CDC, all attendees must bring their own fact masks and must keep the mask on during the entire service.

• You will receive a medical screening waiver 48 hours prior to the liturgy you’re attending. Please complete as soon as you recieve.  You will need to confirm your attendance the night before the liturgy.  
• One of the servants will check your temperature before you come into the church. If your temperature is higher than 99.0, you (and all family members) will not be permitted in church. 

• We kindly ask attendees to remove shoes upon entering the church building outside the door of the designated church.
• We ask that all prayer requests/commemorations be electronically sent to the priest prior to liturgy.

During the Liturgy: 

• There will be a servant who will perform a medical screening before entry into the church. If any family member has a fever (99.0 or higher) or any COVID related symptoms, they (the entire family) will be sent home and not permitted to enter the church. (They may be rescheduled once the appropriate time has passed).
• You will only be permitted to sit in the designated areas. There is to be no movement of any kind during the service. Once seated, you are to remain in your seat for the entire service. Families with young children must keep their children with them at all times and maintain social distancing at all times.
• There are to be NO greetings between congregation members or with the priest at anytime.
• Once the Liturgy is over, everyone must exit the church immediately.There will be no gatherings or greetings of any kind. No food or drinks will be allowed or served (except your individual bottles of water which you must bring with you).
• Families will be required to disinfect each area that they were attending, in an effort to assist each other with keeping the sanitation laws as set by the CDC.

• A church servant will contact you and confirm your ability to attend an upcoming liturgy. 
• After you are scheduled for the liturgy, if you are unable to attend, please notify the servant as soon as possible to accommodate for another family. Please DO NOT switch your turn with anyone else. This will cause more problems in the future.  
•  If you are not feeling well or experience any COVID symptoms for up to 48 hrs after service, please let Fr. John Bishara.
  

Anyone who is not registered for the specific Liturgy and agreed to the terms and conditions will NOT be permitted to attend the service. 

You will receive an email from the registration website TONIGHT with the registration link. Please view the following YouTube video (blue link below) which has instructions on “How to Register for the Divine Liturgy”. If you have any trouble registering please contact Fr. John Bishara.

Our hearts go out to the family of Mr. George Floyd who died in a way that no one should ever experience; begging for his life. In the world that we live in today and with all that is going around us with the COVID-19, this is not something that anyone should have to bear.
We are praying that God give rest to his soul, comfort to the family, healing and peace to the world. There are many ways for us to serve one another and we should use every opportunity to do it, BUT if I have not love, it profits me nothing. We must love one another as the Lord has loved us. He said by this they will know that you are My disciples.
May the Lord grant us all heavenly comfort and restore mankind to the pure state and the life that we were created for – living in Him, through Him and for Him.
Mr. George Floyd, we are praying for your rest in the Lord and for the comfort of your family. RIP Mr. George Floyd.

Your Servant,

Fr. John

Please use the Registration link on the top right corner to send us you’re registration and update us with all of your information. 

IF YOU DON’T ADD YOUR NAME TO THIS LIST YOU WILL NOT RECEIVE THE LINK TO THE REGISTRATION FORM FOR THE DIVINE LITURGY.

If you have already filled out the form, you DO NOT need to do it again.

Many of you have been waiting for further details regarding the gradual restarting of liturgical services. Please read the following in its entirety, which shall be in effect UNTIL July 30, 2020, unless otherwise extended by the H.G. Bishop David, in unison with the church priests of the Archdiocese in New Jersey and the Diocese of New York and New England.

1. Based on state law and local regulations and guidelines:
   1. There will be a TOTAL of 10 persons inside the church building including children as well as one priest and two deacons. Consequently, there will be a MAXIMUM of 7 spots for the congregation;
   1. Each spot is for an individual person, so, for example, a family of 5 would take up 5 spots;
   1. All household members should remain home (and/or seek medical help) if any member is showing any “COVID related symptoms,” such as (cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, fever of 99 degrees Fahrenheit or higher, chills, muscle pain, fatigue, loss of smell/taste, diarrhea/Gastrointestinal symptoms, and/or has been in direct contact with another sick person exhibiting any of the above-mentioned symptoms within the last 2 weeks, whether confirmed COVID-19 or not);
   1. Elderly (above 65 and above) and immunocompromised persons are advised to stay home and to make alternate arrangements to receive holy communion with the priest;
   1. All persons in attendance must maintain a distance of at least 6 feet apart from one another;
   1. All persons in attendance must wear a face mask each covering the mouth and nose at all times (unless otherwise instructed) and must sanitize their hands upon entry to the church;
   1. In any setting where social distancing measures are difficult to maintain, more protective face coverings than cloth face coverings must be used;
   1. A deacon will be at the door to screen the following, prior to congregants being admitted to the Church;
   1. Confirming if the member is on the pre-assigned list to attend the respective Liturgy;
   1. The temperature of each person will be checked prior to admittance along with answering a set of questions on the provided checklist; 
   1. If a congregant or any member of their household exhibits any COVID related symptoms, the entire household will not be admitted to Church;
   1. To help prevent any potential cross-contamination, cell phones and other personal belongings, such as purses, bags, etc should be left in the vehicles; and
   1. Each church will designate a place outside the nave of the church for the congregants to leave their shoes.

• Based on these limitations, we will begin to pray liturgies multiple times per week. Attendance will be based on the following system:
• Families will be randomly selected to attend liturgy from the list of families who registered. No family will attend twice before all the registered families in that church get a turn to attend;
• Registration to attend liturgies for the members of the church of St Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church in Medford, NJ will be provided soon.
• Prior to the day of each liturgy, there will be a confirmation of the ability of the assigned families to attend as well as a health screening through a brief questionnaire;
• If you have been assigned to a particular date, you MUST be in church promptly by 8:30 AM. The doors of the church will be locked promptly at 8:30 AM;
• If you have been assigned to a particular date, you MUST attend on that date, or else you have taken away from someone else the opportunity to pray liturgy and receive communion. Should you miss your turn, you will have to wait until the entire congregation has had a chance to attend, and then you will have a chance to re-enter for Liturgy;
• After the liturgy has concluded, everyone must promptly leave the premises. There will be no social gatherings or agape meals; and
• All other building facilities will be off-limits.

The circumstances under which we must celebrate for the foreseeable future are not ideal and are difficult to work around. We ask each person’s cooperation to allow this process to be safe, fair, and as smooth as possible.