Our
Background
St. Cyril The Sixth Coptic Orthodox Church in Jacksonville is part of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of the Southern USA under the auspices of His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef.
Our story begins like any other. We were a small group of parishioners living in Jacksonville and with the blessings of His Grace Bishop Youssef (now His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef), we were established as a community church in the early 1990s with the name of the pure martyr Saint Demiana. We purchased a church at that time located off of Bernard Road in North Jacksonville and renovated the purchased church to include Coptic artwork and icons.
In the early 2000s, we were even more blessed to have
received some of the pure and holy relics of our patron saint,
Saint Demiana, directly from Egypt! We were so blessed to have her relics among us that we built a small shrine for her in the church.
His Grace Bishop Youssef (now His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef) continued to bless us with prosperity when he ordained the first beloved priest for St. Demiana’s Church – Fr. Philopateer Younan. His Reverence Fr. Philopateer was ordained on June 17, 2012 and continued to bless and prosper our beloved growing community.
In the year 2019, the Holy Spirit working through His Grace Bishop Youssef (now His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef), began to study the expansion of many congregants living in South Jacksonville and thus he blessed the birth of a new community in South Jacksonville thus having two churches in the city of Jacksonville (one in North Jacksonville and one in South Jacksonville).
We are confident with St. Paul’s comforting words “ALL things work good for those who love God” (Romans 8:28) because on September 20, 2021 we awoke to some devastating news: our beloved Church in North Jacksonville of over 25 years was set ablaze and was destroyed completely. Nothing was left but ashes….our beautiful iconostasis, our devout altar, and our precious relics of St. Demiana, were all gone….
We are assured God’s ways and foreknowledge are for our benefit. With God’s ultimate economy, after the fire, the South Jacksonville community, previously established in 2019, became the main church for Copts living in Jacksonville. God blessed their prosperity and allowed them to purchase a church in 2022 to accommodate the South Jacksonville Church. The North Jacksonville community continued as a small community.
Although the fire devastated our hearts and attempted to rob us of our zeal, we saw it was very good. In the midst of our hurt from losing our beloved Church on Bernard Road, we saw God’s perfect plan at work. We are positively convinced, as we began small in the 1990s and grew, we will continue to grow again and rebuild our once burnt church with God’s grace.
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We are blessed we still have the land which at one time housed St. Demiana’s Church and her holy relics. We hope one day, in the fullness of time, we will re-build on this land a new home for the North Jacksonville community. We also are grateful on the same land, there still lies St. Athanasius’ House, a house we currently use for Friday morning Divine Liturgies, Holy Bible Study, fellowship and other communal activities.
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The Lord continues to bless and prosper us. On March 9, 2023 (the commemoration departure feast of St. Cyril VI), His Eminence Metropolitan Youssef changed the North Jacksonville community church’s name from St. Demiana to St. Cyril The Sixth and thus St. Cyril VI became the beloved patron saint for the community in North Jacksonville.
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In the meantime, as we are growing and serving the community, we continue to pray twice a month on Saturdays at a local Catholic Church and our beloved Fr. Philopateer Younan continues to serve both churches in the North and South Jacksonville areas. Please click on scheduled services for dates and times of services for St. Cyril The Sixth Coptic Orthodox Church.
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We thank God for His abundant graces and look forward to God’s everlasting blessings to continue bestowing upon us.