On Tuesday 17 October 2017, TTC had the honour of hosting the Right Reverend Dr Samy Fawzy Shehata, the Area Bishop of North Africa and Dean of St Mark Pro-Cathedral Alexandria, who spoke on the Church of Egypt: her Past, Present and Future. Admitting it was impossible to do justice to the two-millennial-long history of Christianity in Egypt in an hour’s talk, Bishop Samy drew our attention to a few seminal dates in the history of the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Catholic Church and the Protestant Church in Egypt, emphasising the role of religion in the life of Egypt.

While Protestants constitute a small minority in Egypt, like her counterparts in most of the world the Protestant Church in Egypt is far from homogenous. Dr Samy’s constant refrains were koinonia and dialogue – the need for koinonia among Christians of different denominations, as well as among the Copts, the Catholics and Protestants, in order that there may be unity to the dialogue with the larger Islamic community the Church finds herself in. “A divided Church cannot have a united mission”, Bishop Samy emphasised.

The talk provided an informative background to the Church in Egypt, but what was arguably more memorable was the bishop himself, who proved to be every bit as humble, God-loving and “distinguished in his pastoral care” as the Archbishop Mouneer Anis once described him. One expected to hear first hand accounts of those headline-grabbing atrocities against the Egyptian Church; instead the Bishop spoke movingly of how Muslims in the community formed a ring around the Church to protect her. Indeed, more than the messages of koinonia and dialogue, there is much to learn from Bishop Samy himself what it means to be Jesus’ servant, and to love God and one’s neighbour as oneself.

By Khaw Siew Ping (MTS 2)