For the past hundred years or so, the word “Coptic” has meant “Egyptian of the Coptic Orthodox faith” to most people. Most of these people have either forgotten (or chosen to ignore) the Coptic Protestants and Catholics in Egypt. But we do exist.
While I don’t know anything about the Coptic Catholic faith, I DO know lots about the Coptic Protestant faith, merely because I happen to belong to it.
And so, for those of you who haven’t been exposed to how we—the Copts of the Protestant faith—worship, here’s a primer.
In regards to religious practices, we have Sunday morning and evening services, Sunday school, Wednesday evening services, a more social team-building thing on Monday or Thursday nights, and then, once or twice a week we meet up for an in-depth Bible study of the precious and beloved scriptures. Sometimes we replace one of these with a prayer meeting, which consists of an hour or two of solid praying.
In regards to the actual church services, this is the general format: first we sing some great hymns for maybe 15-45 minutes (or longer, if we're feeling inspired), then they take up the offering, after which we get to listen to the sermon, which lasts for about an hour or so. Then we have a final song or two, and finish with a blessing. There’s usually a social thing afterwards.
In regards to the prayer group, we go around saying the things weighing on our hearts, and prayer requests, and then take turns praying. This rocks because you can be more expansive than in 'saying grace' or 'closing the Bible study' prayers. As I mentioned, it can take an hour or two, if the Spirit moves you. The format of prayer can be open, but protestants often like to follow the 'ACTS' format, which is made up of Adoration (God, you rock!), Confession (I’m sorry for being a beast!), Thanksgiving (you're so kind for giving me such a great family, God! Thanks!) and Supplication (my knee's not doing too well, God, and neither is my best friend's academic career, so if you can step in...).
Of course, you don't have to pray in this order, and you can pipe in later on if you forgot something (this is called a 'popcorn prayer' for some reason).
Hmm, what else? Oh, yes. The Bible study is focusing on a chapter, a verse, or even a parable or story, and then analyzing it, discussing its implications, sharing applications of it, and really just being immersed in it.
In regards to the social thing, sometimes we can all get together and go to the cinema, to the batting cages, or perhaps bowling, billiards, etc. These can be fun because they can help you to build friendships with other Christians.
In regards to the differences between our churches--the articles of faith that we subscribe to include:
No confession to a human, whereas the Orthodox get to confess to Aboona.
We don't pray to saints, merely because we're taught that all Christians are SAINTS, but that ALL SAINTS need a savior--even mother Theresa had original sin, and needed a savior. The only person we pray to--or ask for intercession--is Jesus, because he's the only one who died for ALL of us. Of course, someone might ask “But don't you ask your friends to pray for you? hmmmm?”
Yes, I do. BUT. My friends are alive, and I don't think that saints can watch us from heaven. and even if they are watching, they're not omnipresent, so chances are that, unless they were stalking us during their lives, they're not going to be eyeballing us all the while that they're praising God. Also, they're probably praying for us right now anyway, so why do I need to ask for prayer in a way that smacks of, well, praying to them?
Next up, we believe that the bread and wine are a symbol, and don't change.
We believe that our salvation is by God's grace, and by our FAITH in it/His sacrifice on the cross alone, but with the stipulation that it's gotta be the FRUIT-BEARING sort. Meaning that you can't just say 'I believe,' and then NOT act upon it. NOT tithe. NOT repent. NOT love your neighbor. I really think that the rift between the churches is miscommunication, because as far as I know, no orthodox believe that you can be baptized, take communion, confess, etc. but then go around sinning and not repenting in your heart.
At any rate... we do have differences, which I’ve just elucidated (inshallah). But we also have similarities--we believe that it's only the blood of Jesus that saves us, we believe that he rose again, that he died for the remission of our sins, we believe that God is love, and in everything written in the Bible. We take the 'great commission' very seriously, and tell the gospel to everyone we meet.
Some beastly protestants (and I used to be one of them:) can be very up-in-arms about converting people--they can be so cross if you don't listen to them! They take it personally that you don't love Jesus or believe in God. I think it's needless to say that some orthodox also feel frustrated when people outside of their church--Christian, atheist, or other--don't agree also. I daresay it's the mark--well, A mark, anyway--that a person cares about their faith (and cares for other people) when he or she is sad to see their religion not embraced whole-heartedly.
Point being, I think we have more in common than we have differences (unlike Christians and Moslems, say, or Satanists and Wiccans). At least, we all believe that Jesus is God, he's the Son of God, and he died for us.
But will these small--ok, medium-sized--differences keep one of us out of heaven? I don't think so; I’m not God so I can't make that judgment, but I CAN say that whether orthodox or protestant is more correct, God would want us to love the parties who are 'misguided.' it's up to him to do the rest!
