Ripon church to celebrate culture with annual Egyptian Festival

With a heritage dating back 2,000 years to the time shortly after the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, members of Ripon’s St. Mark Coptic Orthodox Church celebrate their Christianity and their Egyptian culture.

That celebration will be taken to the greater community next weekend as the church offers its annual Egyptian Festival.

The festival, set for Friday, Oct. 14, through Sunday, Oct. 16, at the Ripon church, features an array of activities. But perhaps the most tantalizing offering will be the abundance of traditional food members will cook up and offer.

“The food is most likely what gets so many people to come to our festival,” said church treasurer George Benjamin. “People just like it; it tastes so good.”

Indeed, the aromatic spices and other traditional ingredients are a huge draw to the Egyptian fest, featuring such delectables as falafel, beef shawarma, stuffed grape leaves, kebabs and more – 10 to 15 different items, Benjamin said.

Also available will be a room filled with replicas of ancient art, rugs, clothing, sand art and more on display and for sale. In addition to that marketplace, there will be live music and other activities, including a pharaoh photo studio, games for children, henna tattoos, face painting, souvenirs and church tours.

The weekend event serves as a fundraiser for the church, as well as an opportunity to teach people about Egyptian culture and the Coptic Orthodox religion. The church is named for Mark the Evangelist, one of the 70 disciples spoken of in Luke 10, also credited with writing the Gospel of Mark. He went south to evangelize Egypt and found people there who already believed in an afterlife and held other philosophies compatible with the Christian faith.

Those early believers were called Copts, and the Coptic Orthodox Church became one with the Catholic and other Orthodox faiths until a split in the fifth century. The Copts have lived and thrived in Egypt for centuries despite being a religious minority there.

The annual celebration in Ripon has become something church members – and others, as well – look forward to each year, Benjamin said.

“People come from San Francisco, from everywhere to our festival.”

This story was originally published October 7, 2016 at 11:59 AM with the headline "Ripon church to celebrate culture with annual Egyptian Festival."