Q&A Home > F > Fellowship

Is it wrong for a Coptic Orthodox believer who attends and serves in church regularly, to attend other churches group meetings? The main aim here is to extend one’s fellowship to include people from different churches who have the same Christian viewpoints. Sorry to say it but the majority of the Coptic Orthodox community are ritually but  not spiritually oriented and that whenever one wants to talk about spiritual matters one has no one to correspond with but the priest.

I would like to answer your question by asking you some questions:

First which other Church "truly have the same Christian viewpoints"? Is it an Oriental Orthodox Church in communion with our Coptic Church, like the Ethiopian or the Syrian..? If not, then it does not truly have the same faith nor viewpoints.

Are there no Holy Bible Study group meetings in your church? And if not, why not? If truly there is no such activity in your church maybe it is time for you to initiate the formation of such a group with your priest and this way you will serve your church and its congregation.

Through your church you can start a 'Fellowship group', sort of a get together with others either at church or outside. The aim of that group will be to spend quality time around the Word of God either by studying a certain text of the Holy Bible or a topic related to our lives in a Christian concept.

It is hard to accept the notion that the majority of people in the Orthodox Church are there just for rituals. I am sure there are a lot of Copts in your own church, who are as zealous as you are, to hear the Word of God and to share it with others and would be waiting for this opportunity. Pray about this matter and ask God for His help and He will lead you to the right approach. Even if you start with only a very few people, do not be discouraged for it is God Who multiplies.