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This chapter investigates how diaspora institutional entrepreneurs can reform social institutions and effectively overcome institutional decoupling. Nermien Riad is a US-based Copt and founder and CEO of the international development NGO Coptic Orphans. She aims to deepen and institutionalize the Coptic Church’s stated aim of reforming its social support programs from welfare to development and to persuade the Church to engage more systematically with the Coptic diaspora. I briefly describe the Coptic Orthodox Church, its dramatic reform in the twentieth century, and its evolving diaspora and development agendas. The next section describes Nermien Riad and Coptic Orphans’ origins, programming, and impacts on the Church and society. The next sections present a personality profile of Riad as an entrepreneur, and assess Riad’s and Coptic Orphan’s work as a diaspora institutional entrepreneur experience.

The unprecedented revival of the Coptic Church toward the second half of the twentieth century is one of the great historical events of world Christianity. Following the enthronement of Pope Cyril VI in 1959, some of the former Sunday school teachers and monks and hermits were called to the episcopacy in order to occupy responsible positions in the life and organization of the church. Among these young men was Shenuda, bishop for theological and educational institutions of the Coptic Church (1962–71), and now as Shenuda III, the present pope and patriarch. Both the pontificate of Shenuda III and a dynamic, deeply spiritual, and capable episcopate have succeeded in providing an almost lifeless ecclesiastical institution with new visions and life. Throughout his life as priest, bishop, and patriarch, he has faithfully kept the monastic vows he made in the ancient Church of the Holy Virgin at the Syrian Monastery.

This chapter details the course of Christian–Muslim relations in the Islamic world in the twentieth century. It presents two case studies. The first focuses on Egypt, which in the first part of the twentieth century was the intellectual and publishing hub of the Muslim world, and hence was regarded by Western Christians as the key to its regeneration by the Christian gospel and “modern” ideas of reform. Egypt was also the home of Africa's oldest church, the Coptic Orthodox Church. The second case study examines a younger Christian community within a younger nation, that of the church in Indonesia. The Egyptian case study highlights the dissonance between the post-Enlightenment political philosophy of individual rights and freedom of religion that undergirds Western academic discourse on the subject of interreligious relations and the markedly different concept of religious toleration that prevails in Muslim majority states.

This chapter reports the types of liturgical services that have been found in the area and their eventual influence on the liturgical tradition of the Coptic Church, as observed in the contents of the Library of the Monastery of St. Macarius. It is well known that the monasteries of Wadi al-Natrun played an important role in unifying the Coptic liturgy and endowing it with the ritual which is in use today. In particular, the chapter presents evidence drawn from monastic manuscripts, the ordinary services and the witnesses to non-extant services. The works which the author referred results in the borderline between liturgy and literature. Some literary works, in fact, whether found amongst the manuscripts of Wadi al-Natrun or not, can shed some light on the way the liturgy was celebrated. Finally, the influence of the monasteries is shown.

This chapter discusses Marcus Simaika's relationship with the Coptic patriarchs of his time as a member, then vice president, of the Coptic Community Council (Majlis al-Milli) for thirty-nine consecutive years. In his attempts to start a Coptic museum, which needed patriarchal approval, Simaika fought many battles and used much diplomacy and compromise in his dealings with the Coptic hierarchy. The full title of the patriarch, the leader of the Coptic Orthodox Church, is “Pope and Lord Archbishop of the Great City of Alexandria and Patriarch of all Africa on the Holy Orthodox and Apostolic Throne of Saint Mark the Evangelist, Holy Apostle and Martyr, that is in Egypt, Pentapolis, Libya, Nubia, Sudan, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and all Africa.” These patriarchs include Cyril IV, Cyril V, and Yohannes XIX.

This chapter discusses Marcus Simaika's service to the Coptic Orthodox Church. Simaika's interest in the ancient Coptic churches was first aroused by the study of Dr. Alfred Joshua Butler's work on these churches, The Ancient Coptic Churches of Egypt, published in two volumes in 1884. It was while staying at Butler's house in Oxford in the autumn of 1890 that Simaika met Somers Clarke, the architect responsible for restoring English cathedrals. Simaika also wrote a book in which he provides a brief account of the dawn of Christianity in Egypt. The chapter considers the emergence of Christian monasticism in Egypt and the role played by monks and missionaries in the formation of the Coptic Orthodox Church's character of submission, simplicity, and humility. It also describes the impact of the Arab conquests on the Copts and the rise of lay Coptic notables such as Muʻallim Ghali.

This chapter explores the writings of John of Shmoun on St. Antony and St. Mark. In choosing these two famous saints John demonstrates his tendency to emphasize the superiority of the Coptic Church. He shows how Egypt before Mark lived in the darkness of paganism. He speaks clearly about “our worshipers of the vain idols in that time.” He identifies the beginning of the real history of Egypt with the coming of Mark when he says, “Before Mark came, there was in Egypt no morning at all, but a continuous night. But when Mark, the light, came, the morning began.” After that, John mentions the famous Egyptian monks, such as Pachomius, Pijoul, Shenoute of Atripe, and others. These short citations from the Panegyric on Mark draw attention to two important points: the Coptic view of the pre-Christian history of Egypt and the role of St. Mark in the formation of the Coptic identity.

This chapter discusses Marcus Simaika's role in the reformist movement within the Coptic Orthodox Church. To understand the position of the Copts in Egypt during Simaika's lifetime, it is important to revisit the year 1854, when Said Pasha, son of Muhammad Ali Pasha, became wali (viceroy) of Egypt. In that same year, Cyril IV ascended to the patriarchal throne as the 110th successor to Saint Mark. Two years later, the Hatt-i Humayon, the most important Turkish reform edict of the nineteenth century, was decreed by Sultan Abd al-Mejid I. This edict established community councils for Christian and other non-Muslim communities. Simaika became a member of the community council, or majlis milli, in 1889 and became involved in the campaign for church reform. The chapter examines Cyril V's banishment and triumphant return and the subsequent defeat of the reformist movement within the Coptic Church.

This chapter discusses Marcus Simaika's involvement in the dispute between the Copts and Ethiopians regarding what is known as Deir al-Sultan or the Imperial Monastery in Jerusalem. Ethiopia has long been acquainted with monotheism, and the Ethiopian Church is the largest of all the Oriental Orthodox churches. The Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria has a longstanding relationship with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tawahedo Church and the Eritrean Orthodox Tawahedo Church. Tawahedo means 'unified,' referring to the single unified nature of Christ, as opposed to the belief in the two natures of Christ held by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. The patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, Jerusalem, and many others had refused to accept the two-natures doctrine decreed by the Council of Chalcedon in 451, and these churches are sometimes referred to as monophysite. Simaika maintained that Deir al-Sultan belonged to the Coptic community from time immemorial.

This chapter discusses Marcus Simaika's role in making the Coptic Museum a state institution of Egypt. In 1920, Fuad I, ruler of Egypt and Sudan from the Muhammad Ali dynasty, visited the Coptic Museum. From that moment, the king conceived the idea of making the Coptic Museum a state museum and asked Simaika to cede the museum to the government. Simaika replied that he would submit the request to Cyril V. All objects in the museum belonged to the Coptic Orthodox Church, and Simaika would not have been able to transfer them from the different monasteries and churches without ecclesiastic approval and on the condition that they be exhibited in an annex to the Muʻallaqa Church and under the care of the priest of that church. The chapter describes the annexation of the Coptic Museum by the state and its nationalization, as well as its acquisitions and collections.

This chapter analyzes the extent to which the Egyptian public sphere, especially religious institutions were controlled by the ruling authoritarian regime. Eventually, both the state's dominance over institutions and society, along with the established religious institutions' discourse, became stagnant, which precipitated the development of new social movements that were able to mobilize people beyond the stagnant religious discourse. These developed a new discourse, based on human rights, freedoms and social equality. Through developing their new discourse, new secular social movements did not undermine Egyptian's religious consciousness, but rather developed new ideals, in harmony with the Egyptian political culture, but beyond the constraints of the main religious institutions.

In late Mubarak era witnessed an increasingly explosive feedback between public sectarian polemics and sectarian violence. An analysis shows that polemics were partly facilitated, by unsolved issues implicit in the dominant approaches towards Muslim-Christian relations, for example the disagreements about national identity or the weakness of religious conciliation. Warped perceptions and polemic struggles about the social and political role of the Coptic Church and its leadership also played a significant role. In addition to that, polemics featured an entirely new set of actors, many of whom rose to prominence in the context of media liberalization, like television preachers and Internet missionaries. Muslim and Christian polemicists adopted exclusive religious-sectarian discourses of a type that was previously marginal in Egyptian public culture, thus adding an unprecedented factor of sectarian escalation. Again, it appears that the Egyptian public suffers from a lack of generally accepted rules concerning how matters of religious difference can be treated with mutual tolerance and respect.

Melania the Elder and Melania the Younger both traveled to Egypt and visited monks there before settling in Jerusalem and founding monasteries there. Despite their longstanding reputation as prominent saints in Western churches, the impact of these two ascetic women upon the Egyptian church and its literature has been relatively minimal over the centuries. Neither Melania is included in the official list of saints and saints' days of the Coptic church. And yet, during the past four decades, the Melanias have made notable appearances in Arabic-language homilies and books produced by church leaders as part of a successful effort to revive Coptic monasticism in Egypt. This chapter looks at how these two Roman ascetic women have been reintroduced to the Egyptian faithful as models of monastic piety in the teachings of Pope Shenouda III and in literature produced by Matthew the Poor and other contemporary Coptic monks.

This chapter examines the sources related to Anba Isaac, the bishop of the Fayoum, who holds a unique place in the history of the Coptic Church during the mid-nineteenth century. This standing is due in part to his massive diocese, which included three Egyptian governorates: Giza, the Fayoum, and Beni Suef. It is also recognition for his achievements in both ecclesiastical life and the monastic life in Wadi al-Natrun during his time as bishop of a diocese, which lasted for almost forty-seven years. The following are some of the bishop's known achievements: in 1856 he built the first church, which had the name of the Holy Virgin, in the town of Beni Suef; in 1862 he built a church in the name of the Holy Virgin in the village of Atris, which was affiliated with the province of Awssim, Giza governorate; he played a major role in bringing about the enthronement of the monk Youhanna the Scribe as patriarch of the See of St. Mark under the name Cyril V in 1874.

A well-known and extensive Vita of Pachomius in the Bohairic language has been handed down, giving many details about his life and his monastic community (Lefort 1953). It draws upon the so-called Difnar, which, as a liturgical collection, obeys its own rules, different from those of the biographical literature. The hymns of the Difnar, which have been sung over the centuries in the communities throughout the Coptic Church, are one of the main factors contributing to the survival of the Coptic Church and to the preservation of its traditions. In the Adam section, Pachomius's relationship with God and Christ, and his role for the faithful as a whole is the subject. This enables the praying and singing believers to identify themselves with those who have been presented by Pachomius.