GENERAL GUIDELINES
Last updated 04/06/2025 01:29pm EDT
In the Name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. Amen.
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace”
(1 Corinthians 14:33)
“For God is not the author of confusion but of peace”
(1 Corinthians 14:33)
General Information:
- St. Mark Festival is a spiritual competition for all ages from Kindergarten to graduates and families.
- Materials for all ages are available on this website for reference and tests for each grade group are also available for purchase.
- Books may be downloaded onto Android tablets or phones by clicking on the image which will prompt for download. For iPads or iPhones, (1) press and hold down the icon image until you see "open in iBooks" or (2) if the pdf file is already open, click on the upper right of screen and select "open in iBooks." If iBooks is not installed on your iPad or iPhone, you may download it from the AppStore.
- www.smfsus.org is the official and ONLY website for St. Mark festival (Coptic Diocese of the Southern United States) along with the official Facebook page www.facebook.com/smfsus.
- Any information, instructions, or updates will be posted on the website. Everyone is advised to bookmark this website as a favorite and check it regularly for updates.
- The schedule for all the tests and the ceremony is posted under the Events tab. Everyone is advised to check the schedule regularly in case of a change.
- St. Mark Festival consists of three competitions: Spiritual, Coptic, and Hymns.
- Participants must register for and take the Spiritual exam in order to qualify for Coptic exam awards and Hymns competition awards (individual or group).
- Coptic and Hymns competitions are optional (ALL grades).
- When registering, it is imperative that the name of the registrant and email address are exactly the same as the name and email address used when taking the exam. Inconsistencies may result in an award not being given to a participant with a passing grade.
- For any questions regarding St. Mark Festival, please contact support by clicking here.
Test Guidelines:
- This is a spiritual competition. For your spiritual benefit, please comply with all testing instructions and obey all the guidelines of St. Mark Festival.
- Tests will be available online only according to the schedule (refer to the Events page for more information).
- Tests are available in English for Kindergarten, Elementary, Middle School, High School, College and Graduates, Servant, and STARS. And available in Arabic for Youth and Family.
- Tests are for grades completed. (i.e. if you are on summer vacation between 4th and 5th grade, register for the 4th grade test).
- Taking the test more than once will result in eliminating your participation.
- You are allowed to take each test ONLY ONCE except in the event of a technical issue that forces you to retake the test.
- Any technical issues that will force you to retake the test MUST BE REPORTED TO OUR SUPPORT TEAM IMMEDIATELY to obtain their authorization in order to take the test again.
- Failure to contact support immediately and obtain an authorization to retake the test will result in eliminating your participation.
- All verses throughout books (in topic and memorization) may be included in the test.
- All participants must carefully read the online exam guide that will be available on this website the day of exam.
- Tests are NOT open book. You MUST NOT use any help from reference materials or from others.
- For children that are not yet able to read, someone may read the questions and choices to them, but may not assist with the answers that are submitted.
- For any questions regarding the online tests please contact support by clicking here.
Test Dates:
AZ Spiritual and Coptic Test dates
- Saturday, August 9th, 2025.....ALL AGE GROUPS
- Saturday, August 23rd, 2025.....KG, G1-2, College and Graduates, Arabic Youth and Family, and Servant.
- Saturday, September 6th, 2025.....G3-4, G5-6, G7-8, and G9-12
- Saturday, September 13th, 2025.....ALL AGE GROUPS
Registration, Prices, and Price Deadlines:
- When registering, please use the same name and email address as you will use on testing day. Differences in name and email address may result in delay, misspelling, or completely missing the participant's results.
- It is up to the person registering to ensure the registrant's name and email address are spelled correctly. Incorrect spelling of name may result in delay, misspelling, or completely missing the participant's result. Incorrect email address will result in test links not getting to the participant in time for the exam.
- Registering for, and taking, the Spiritual exam is required to participate in the Coptic and Hymns competition.
- Coptic and Hymns competition are optional.
- There are no participation/registration fees for the Hymns competition.
- In order to take the online Spiritual exam only or online Spiritual AND Coptic exams, you must register by purchasing before the deadline (August 17th, 2025).
- NO ONE will be able to take the online exams without making a payment.
- Prices are $8 for Spiritual exam only or $12 for Spiritual AND Coptic exams from June 2nd, 2025 until July 6th, 2025 (11:59pm EDT).
- Starting July 7th, 2025 (12:00am EDT), prices go up until July 27th, 2025 (11:59pm EDT).
- Starting July 28th, 2025 (12:00am EDT), prices go up again until August 17th, 2025 (11:59pm EDT). And registration closes.
- For any questions about pricing or deadlines, you may click here.
- For any questions regarding a problem in the registration process, you may contact us by clicking here.
Spiritual Exam:
- Registration for the Spiritual exam (and a score of 70% or higher on the Spiritual exam) is required to qualify for awards in the Coptic exam and Hymns competitions (regardless of Coptic exam and Hymns scores).
1st place: 90% to 100%
2nd place: 80% to 89%
3rd place: 70% to 79%
Participation medal: 69% or lower
Test Links:
- Test link(s) will be sent in the registration comfirmation email upon completing the registration. Please make sure to double check that the email address is correct before submitting the registration. An incorrect email address will mean the link(s) will not reach you.
- Please make sure the confirmation email will be accessible on the day of the exam(s). This will ensure the registrant has access to the link(s) from any location and from any device (laptop, desktop, or mobile) whether they are at home, church, or away on vacation anywhere in the world with internet access.
- If you have successfully completed the registration, but did not get a confirmation email, notify us immediately by clicking here.
- Test links are NOT to be shared with others as they belong only to the person who is registered.
- If you are having problems purchasing a link please contact technical support immediately by clicking here.
- If a participant tried to take a test without purchasing a link or authorization from our support team, his/her test will be voided.
- Test purchases are not refundable or exchangeable with NO EXCEPTIONS. For purchasing errors, please click here.
- For any questions about payments, please click here.
General (Individual) Hymns:
- Registration for Spiritual exam is required to participate in the general (individual) hymns competition.
- Spiritual exam score of 70% or higher is required to qualify for a trophy/medal in the general hymns competition.
- General (individual) hymns participation is not required to participate in group hymns competition.
- Hymns audio (if available) can be found by clicking here. They can also be found on our official YouTube channel or on our official SoundCloud page.
- General hymns level competition can be in either in Coptic, English, or Arabic.
- Hymns rituals are MANDATORY and will be included in the Spiritual test.
- If there is more than one hymn in the general (individual) hymns level, all hymns are required to be recorded and submitted to pass the competition.
- Hymns recordings MUST be in video; no audio will be accepted.
- Correct tune and pronunciation will be evaluated in the competition.
- Participants are allowed to hold a paper during hymns recital. There are no penalties for holding papers in the video.
- No bonus is added for not using paper or for using instruments during the hymns recital.
- Deadline for submitting hymns videos: Sunday, August 17th, 2025
Group Hymns:
- Registration for Spiritual exam is required to participate in the group hymns competition.
- Spiritual exam score of 70% or higher is required to qualify for a trophy/medal in the group hymns competition.
- General (individual) hymns participation is not required to participate in the group hymns competition.
- If groups within a church are not available/able to gather to record a group hymns video, individuals are permitted to record and submit one.
- Hymns audio (if available) can be found by clicking here. They can also be found on our official YouTube channel or on our official SoundCloud page.
- Only specified hymns in the book can be used.
- Two (2) or more participants per group.
- Hymns recordings MUST be in video; No audio will be accepted.
- Correct tune and pronunciation will be evaluated in the competition.
- Participants are allowed to hold a paper during hymns recital. There are no penalties for holding papers in the video.
- No bonus is added for not using paper or for using instruments during the hymns recital.
- First name and last name of each participant / age group / church must be clearly announced on the video. Unclear names will be disqualified.
- Deadline for submitting hymns videos: Sunday, August 17th, 2025
Hymns (Recording A Video):
- Refer to the sample hymns video for video recording rules and instructions. Recorded videos must comply with the guidelines; failure to do so may result in disqualifying your video.
- If you have any questions about recording your video please contact support by clicking here.
Hymns (Uploading and Sharing A Video):
- For instructions on how to record, upload, and share your hymns video please refer to our instruction videos. For instructions on how to upload and share using Dropbox, click here. For instructions using Google Drive, click here. For instructions using OneDrive (formerly SkyDrive), click here.
- ***Please note, as you watch the videos: the email to share hymns videos is no longer [email protected]. The correct email address to share hymns is: [email protected]. You may use this email address to submit videos as well as for all inquiries regarding hymns.***
- Once all videos are evaluated, you will receive a confirmation email, until then you should not make any changes to your online storage account.
- If your online storage does not have enough space, you may create two accounts and share them with [email protected] accordingly.
Closing Ceremony:
- Participants who registered and participated in St. Mark Festival exams will be invited to the closing ceremony to receive trophies or participation medals (based on the score).
- Participants should receive test results from their church prior to the closing ceremony. Results are usually sent to the the priest of each church approximately two weeks after all St. Mark Festival exams are over.
- We kindly ask that you do not reach out to us regarding results or awards. That information is provided to the priest of each church when all results are compiled. You may ask the priest and he will contact us with your questions or concerns.
Ordering Hard Copy Mahragan Books:
For bulk orders: To order hard copies of the 2025 for your church, please send an email to [email protected].
You must include Church name, Church shipping address, and Church contact person information. Orders will be on a first-come, first-served basis and can only be made by a Church representative.
For individual orders: To order a hard copy of the 2025 St Mark Festival book, please contact your church representative.
You must include Church name, Church shipping address, and Church contact person information. Orders will be on a first-come, first-served basis and can only be made by a Church representative.
For individual orders: To order a hard copy of the 2025 St Mark Festival book, please contact your church representative.