Holy Virgin Mary & St. Philopateer
Lexington, KY
Priest
Father Bishoy Mikhail
Cell. (412) 654-9655
Email. bishoymikhail@hotmail.com
- As the first church in Kentucky, Holy Virgin Mary and St. Philopateer Coptic Orthodox Church has been a great blessing to the congregation of the area. The church is located in the heavily populated and accessible city of Lexington, the center of Kentucky. After many years of commuting to Ohio, all families collectively decided that it was time to have regular services in Lexington. With God’s blessings, we were able to establish bi-weekly services which were initiated by Father Rewis Awadallah, and are now continued by the wholehearted efforts of Father Bishoy Mikhail. In August 2005, His Holiness Pope Shenouda III approved our request for a church in Kentucky, and, in September 2005, Holy Virgin Mary and St. Philopateer was officially registered. Our church feels so fortunate to bear the name of the Mother of God and of a courageous martyr who rode a black stallion, an ironic symbol of this state. It was only with God’s immense mercy and amazing grace that the small numbers of families in Kentucky were able to have an official church in a relatively short period of time.
- Father Bishoy Mikhail was born in Cairo, Egypt to God-loving parents, who educated and raised him according to the church disciplines. He loved to serve the Lord from a very young age. After graduating from medical school in 1972, he received a dual degree in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. In June of 1981, he was ordained as a priest for St. Mary Church of Rod-El-Farag by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III. He was then appointed to serve his now beloved church of St. Mary in Pittsburgh, PA in 1987. God has granted him many gifts and has blessed his service to extend to several additional states, where he has helped establish new churches in Ohio, West Virginia, and Kentucky. In 2000, he was elevated to the priestly rank of hegumen. His dedication to serve God with love and great energy is undeniable. His kindness and humility has touched so many lives, and we have been blessed to have Fr. Bishoy as our spiritual leader in Kentucky since 2004. We pray that God continues to bless him and his extraordinary service for many more years to come.