Everything began with a newspaper clip.
Although I am not a Catholic, I was raised in a Catholic background. I dare say, it is the Catholic church that led me to become a believer in God. My reason for becoming a Protestant instead is complicated. If you really need a reason from me, then I would say it is all part of God’s plan.
Despite the fact that most Protestant Christians have a generally negative view of the Catholic church, I do admire their liturgy and tradition, especially the veneration of saints and their relics. You can read my previous post on Catholic relics housed in the churches I have visited.
Newspaper clip from Kung Kao Po
In the beginning of June 2024, I received a copy of Kung Kao Po, a Chinese newspaper owned and operated by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong. A notice inside drew my attention. It was an invitation to a series of lectures on the Coptic rite, an ancient liturgical tradition of Alexandria.
The Coptic Rite – Ancient Liturgical Tradition of Alexandria
The topics of the lectures are “History of Christianity in Egypt”, “Particularity of the Coptic Rite”, and “Mystagogy on Coptic Church Consecration, Mass and Ordination”. The lectures were held on three consecutive evenings. The first was held inside Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, a Catholic church in Wan Chai, Hong Kong. The other two were held in St. Mark & St. Thomas Coptic Orthodox Church, which has just moved to a new venue. Each lecture was followed by the ceremony of the Consecration of the Altar and the Church.
Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church --
Venue of the first lecture
Also known as the Oriental Orthodox Church, this church is one of the three major Christian denominations before the 16th century. (The other 2 are Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic.) I have known about the Coptic church for a long time. I always wanted to learn more about them and also to visit their venue. The lectures provided me with a great opportunity for both. I signed up for the lectures in no time, and on one June evening, I was there.
The lectures were recorded and uploaded on YouTube. The lectures are mainly in English, except for the first few minutes of the introductory sections. If you are interested, I have put the links below. However, I am more interested in their church building.
- Lecture 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MC-xoejyBWA
- Lecture 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNEgE3b1UW4
- Lecture 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YiWeFMi2XzY
History of Coptic Church in Hong Kong
The Coptic church first came to Hong Kong back in 2004. Before that, there were already some Coptic Christians living in the city. They were worshipping inside their homes at that time. Since the establishment of the church, they started holding Coptic masses inside a commercial building in Sheung Wan, until recently.
The new church is situated in an unexpected place, Kwun Tong, a traditional industrial district of Hong Kong. The church is hidden inside an old industrial building. The name of the building is Hung To Industrial Building (鴻圖工業大廈), located at 80 Hung To Road.
St. Mark & St. Thomas Coptic Orthodox Church
Most factories in Hong Kong moved to mainland China decades ago. Many of the industrial buildings in the city were either refurbished or completely rebuilt into commercial buildings. However, that is not the case here. The Hung To Industrial Building is a typical old-fashioned factory building. It’s hard to believe there’s an Orthodox church inside.
Hung To Industrial Building
St. Mark & St. Thomas Coptic Orthodox Church is located on the 4th floor. But you won’t find its name in the lobby. The directory only lists the SMCOA Organization. The reason? It’s not exactly legal to have a church inside an industrial building. So, the principle here is, you’ll know if you need to know.
The lobby directory only shows SMCOA Organization
Just out of the elevator, you’ll find their church entrance on your left. But it doesn’t look like a church at all. It looks more like an office. It seems they’re aware of the rule of concealment.
The entrance to SMCOA Organization,
a.k.a. St. Mark & St. Thomas Coptic Orthodox Church
But once inside, one will immediately know they’ve come to the right place. On the right side is an array of Orthodox icons, with Archangel Michael guarding the door. And there are more icons on the other walls.
However, even though the location is an industrial building, the church is not particularly large. It only occupies one-fourth of the floor. There’s a design studio next door and the other two blocks on the same floor seem to be empty. According to information from the real estate agent, the unit is approximately 1,885 square feet in size and the transaction price was HKD 8.7M. The transaction was completed in December 2022.
But the church area is actually larger than that because there’s also a balcony. They built a rain shelter on top and converted the balcony into an open kitchen for activity usage. The church has uploaded a tour video on their Facebook page. The area behind the nave is the balcony. And the sanctuary is on the other side of the nave, right behind the curtain.
Coptic Icons and more
When talking about Orthodox churches, many people immediately think about icons. Yes, as you can see from the video, there are icons everywhere inside the church. Below are the icons hung on one side of the walls. Some of them are Coptic saints, and their icons cannot be found in churches of other denominations. I apologize that when I was there, the church was fully packed, and I was unable to take photos of all icons there.
Icon of Isaiah
Icon of St. Anthony & St. Paul
Icon of St. Abanoub
St. Rebecca & Her 5 Children
St. Demiana & The 40 Virgins --
Another icon unique to Oriental Orthodoxy
Icon of St. Athanasius
Icon of the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya
Icon of St. Mina
Icon of St. George
All icons in the church are blessed. There are leaflets hanging underneath each icon. They explain the lives of the saints. The leaflets are in English and Chinese. They are possibly the only Chinese publications of the Coptic church.
Chinese leaflets explaining the icons
The most distinguishing icon in the church is probably the icon of The Twenty-One Coptic Martyrs of Libya. These men were killed by the terrorist group ISIS in 2015. After being captured, they refused to denounce their religion and were beheaded by the terrorists. Their executions were recorded and shown on the internet. Their sacrifice reminds us that martyrdom does not only belong to the Middle Ages. All Christians should be prepared to sacrifice for our God at any time.
The votive candle rack is on top,
and other religious items are inside the cupboard
It is also the only icon to have a votive candle rack placed in front. The rack is placed on top of a cupboard. Inside the cupboard are some bottles of chrism and stoles for the priest. Next to the cupboard is a stand with some icons on it. It is a small church, and those seem to be the only religious items for sale.
A stand selling icons
Coptic souvenir to bring back home
I have never visited Egypt. This is my first time being in a Coptic church, and I am not sure when I will visit again. I decided to bring some souvenirs back home.
The day also marked the Consecration of the Altar and the Church. The church was visited by Father Dawoud Lami from Egypt. I spoke to him, and he was so kind that he gave me a free icon of the patron saint of the church. It is an icon of Saint Mark, with the church logo and address printed on it.
Souvenir from the church, the icon of St. Mark
I also bought an icon of The Twenty-One Coptic Martyrs of Libya. The icon reminds me of the daily sacrifice to Christ. It is also a special icon that is unique to the Coptic church. I am happy to bring this special souvenir back home.
Icon of the 21 Coptic Martyrs of Libya
Visiting the Coptic church was truly a unique experience. And visiting an Orthodox church inside a factory building doubled the uniqueness.
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