Greets Again ILoved, give Thanks...I woman will put it to yuh dis way, jus fi yuh to ponder...if, an mi seh again IF...deh is no need fi change according to Abuna, den why is deh any need to belong to a organized Church? Why does Rastafari want to join a Church? Allso, I am willing to entertain di following article is wha di I is referring to as far as Abuna an his leinancy to certain Rasta an dem beleifs, but still it is NOT di church's stance an yuh can view dat in di doctrinal statemants...I will post dem...as far as Selassie being Deity, Yuh know him seh dat him was 'mortal' an ones should not assume or pretend dat a human being is 'emanated from a deity', no apologies! Selassie I him self denied being God, an Selassie I talked in many speeches about Jesus Christ, how INI should follow JESUS CHRIST..any way..Iyah, tell I how does di I feel bout di Twelve Tribes an Vernon Carrington an wha him seh bout Selassie I? jus fi ponder an reasonmant? allright, dis mi find too, is dis wha di I mean bout Abuna?

Coptics: We are not Rastafarians

By Meredith Ebbin

TWO leaders of Bermuda's small Egyptian Coptic Church this week sought to clarify the differences between their church and the Rastafarian movement.

The Rev. Antonious Connor and Robert Smith, a deacon, spoke out following a Bermuda Sun article last week with musician Ras Giorgis.

Rev. Connor said confusion about the differences between the Rastafarian sect and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, "the daughter church" of the Egyptian Coptic church, had existed for years and was "very unfortunate".

Mr. Giorgis embraces many aspects of the Rastafarian movement, but described himself as a member of the Egyptian Coptic Church, although he hadn't been to church for some time.

Ras Giorgis was also once a member of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and was interviewed about a staff which he carved from Bermuda cedar and intends to present to Ethiopian Orthodox priest Albert Place.

Rev. Connor, who is based in St. Thomas, the U.S. Virgin Islands, is in Bermuda once every three months as the visiting priest for the Egyptian Coptic Church.

In his absence, Mr. Smith leads weekly Bible study groups and Sunday services, which take place at 10 a.m. at Woodlands School. The Egyptian Coptic Church has about 15 members.

Rev. Connor told the Sun that people have a right to their own beliefs.

But Ras Giorgis is not considered "a communicant" of the Egyptian Coptic Church.

He said professing another faith is grounds for excommunication and Mr. Giorgis is a Rastafarian. He also, by his own admission, hasn't attended a Coptic service for some time.

In the Coptic church, those who don't attend services for three Sundays in a row cannot have Holy Communion without first explaining their absence to the priest.

Rev. Connor told the Sun: "People are confused between Rastafarians and the Orthodox church. The lines have become blurred because of what had happened in the past."

He said the Egyptian Coptic Church is a Christian church founded in 58 A.D. by Mark the Apostle, who is its patron saint.

The current patriarch is Pope Shenouda III of Egypt, who is 117th in the line of succession.
Member of the Coptic church are in a minority in Egypt - most Egyptians are Muslim - but it has 22 million members world-wide.

Rev. Connor said the Ethiopian Orthodox Church used to be a "daughter church" of the Egyptian Coptic Church, but since 1959 has been independent, with its own patriarch.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church has been in Bermuda since the 1980s. Co-founders were Albert Place and Gladwyn Outerbridge.

The two became priests, but fell out of favour with the church leadership following a dispute.
Mr. Place has returned to the fold, while Mr. Outerbridge, who has since died, went to Egypt, studied under the patriarch to become a Coptic priest and set up the church here in 1990.

Asked to explain the difference between Rastafarians and the Orthodox churches, Rev. Connor said that unlike Rastafarians, who believe the late Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie is a god, "we do not believe his Imperial Majesty is god. We believe in the Lord Jesus Christ."

In the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, men are not allowed to have dreadlocks or long hair period.
The Egyptian Orthodox does not condone marijuana - as Rastafarians do. Neither does it condone liquor or tobacco. Said Mr. Smith: "The body is a temple."

"Fornication" is also a sin. Sex is for people who are married to one another.

Rev. Connor said both in Bermuda and the Caribbean, people don't know the difference between Rastafarians and the Orthodox churches.

He said a former Ethiopian archbishop for the West, Abuna Yeshaq, "who condoned bad practices and wrong beliefs" including some aspects of Rastafarianism, was partly to blame.
The Archbishop has since been excommunicated, he said.

Give thanks fi yuh experiences Iyah, an knowledge, as INI will all benefit from different experiences, as INI trod di paths. I woman am allready familiar wid di Orthodox Church hear in New York, whan I woman get a chance I go to it, but it is about 60 miles from where mi living right now so it is a lang travel fi I an mi have 3 pickney to mek travel wid I, seen, so it is not often I go to Harlem. Each time I go, however, I have been treated wid Raspeck an love.
Allright, Bredrin, Give thanks
in His Light an Love
kaya I