St. Anthony Coptic Orthodox Church

Today, His Holiness Pope Tawadros II received His Grace Bishop David, Bishop of New York & New England and the Papal Exarch of the Archdiocese of North America, along with a delegation of priests, at the papal residence at St. Mark’s Cathedral, Abaseya, Egypt. His Grace Bishop David presented to His Holiness the Sexual Misconduct and Physical Abuse and Neglect Policy, recently updated to further protect the Church’s children from all forms of abuse. Compliance with this policy is mandatory for all church clergy, employees, and servants within the Archdiocese.

His Holiness praised the efforts taken by His Grace Bishop David, and all those who contributed to updating the policy, and urged it be implemented with all transparency and objectivity. Moreover, His Holiness considers the Archdiocesan independent reporting center at Integrity Counts to be the sole authorized ecclesiastical channel engaged by the Archdiocese of North America, including all of its churches.

To report any allegations confidentially and anonymously, please visit http://copticarch.org/policy or contact Integrity Counts:

Online: http://www.integritycounts.ca/org/copticarch

Hotline: 866-921-6714

The peace and love of our Lord, God and Savior Jesus Christ be with you all.
Please join us as we close out one year and bring in the new year with the Lord. 

Vespers and prayers on Thursday Night 9/10/2020 from 6:30 PM – 8 PM and the Divine Liturgy on Friday 9/11/2020 from 8 AM – 11 AM.Thursday 9/10/2020 Vespers 6:30 PM – 8 PM
Friday 9/11/2020 Divine Liturgy 8 AM – 11 AM

Registration will open this Friday 9/3/2020 at 5 PM. 

A link will be sent out for you to register based on the above schedule. Please login right away as soon as your receive the email, as spots will fill up very quickly.

We only have 35 congregation members that can attend at any given time. Nothing will change about the safety precautions we take. You are still required to show up on time before the doors close, and your temperature will still be taken at the door. You must have no COVID-19 symptoms or been in contact with anyone who has. 

Please continue to pray for all those who are sick and for their healing and that God may remove this plague from the whole world and give us all peace and calmness during this storm.

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.

Lord we are already in very trying and difficult times. This death (Mr. George Floyd) has really taken a toll, not only on his family, but on many of your children all across the country. Please, dear Lord, give rest to his soul, comfort to his family and loved ones, healing and peace across the world. Teach us how to love one another as You have loved is. Teach us who our neighbor is and how we should take every opportunity to shed Your light on them. Give us peace within us sho that we may have peace around us. Please forgive us and be patient with us.

Amen.