Pre-Servants Graduation 2008

Every year our church celebrates the graduation of it’s Pre-Servants Class on the eve of the Feast of the Coptic New Year.  It was a special surprise this year to have some of the oldies of the class graduate.  David Fam, George Bebawy, and Daniel Bishara (who couldn’t make the ceremony) graduated this year after some 4-5 years in the program.  The program is 2 years long.  There are roughly 10 exams and 2 papers in various topics such as Church History, Rites of the Church, Comparative Theology, The Holy Bible, and Spirituality.  In order to graduate, you need to have 70% attendance and 70% on all your exams. In all fairness its quite difficult to finish in the 2 years.  I myself took the 3 year plan.

Also graduating with the oldies were the regular scholars, Merit Eskandar, Caroline Gadalla, Joanne Malek, Marize Ramzy, Marian Girgis, and Magi Ibrahim. So CONGRATULATIONS to all and welcome to our servants family at St. George & St. Shenouda Coptic Orthodox Church.

The oldies talking together in disbelief...
The oldies laughing at me taking pictures of them like crazy!
From Left to Right: Dr. Labib Labib, Merit Eskandar, David Fam, Fr. Makarius Sawirus, H.G. Bishop Serafim, George Bebawy, Fr. David Bebawy, Caroline Gadalla, Joanne Malek, Boutos Wassef, Marize Ramzy, Marian Girgis, and Magi Ibrahim.
The oldies!
The oldies and I!
A bunch of us congratulating the oldies after the ceremony...

The passing of Fr. Rewis Magar

Fr Rewis Magar
The Late Fr. Rewis Magar Priest of St. George's Coptic Church in Astoria, Queens, NY.

Dear Beloved Brethren,

The heavens rejoice in receiving a beloved priest, Fr. Rewis Magar, who served the altar of St. George’s Coptic Church in Astoria, Queens, NY. He reposed in the Lord last night, Monday, September 8, 2008, and has gone to the paradise of joy, the place out of which grief, sorrow, and groaning have fled away.

The family will be taking condolences 5pm-9pm tonight, Tuesday, September 9, 2008, at the church (38-25 31st Street, Astoria, NY 11101).  Tomorrow, September 10, 2008, there will be Vespers and Midnight Praises followed by the Divine Liturgy and Funeral Service on Thursday, September 11, 2008.

We pray that God may repose his soul and grant comfort to his family, children, and to us all.  Amen.

Members Project – Bottom of the Pyramid – Help the Poor of Egypt

Bottom of the Pyramid – Help the Poor of Egypt: Just a reminder to please vote for the Bottom of the Pyramid project. We are currently #13 out of 847 projects! You can nominate the project at by creating a guest account. It literally takes one minute to help out our kin in Egypt. We’re still in stage 1 of this process but, with your help, we can earn 1.5 million for Egyptian aid.

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