This paper examines the negotiation of space, citizenship status, and identity claims by the Coptic Protestant community during the formation of the modern Egyptian nation-state. I argue that despite originating from American missionary influences, Coptic Protestantism transformed alongside the shifting late-colonial and post-colonial nationalist political environment in Egypt, whereby Coptic Protestant identity manifested as a socio-religious expression of Egyptian nationalism—having a hybrid identity that fused transnational American and Egyptian identity markers. In other words, this paper examines the ‘Egyptianization’ of Protestantism as a reflection of broader Egyptian nationalist workings in 20th century Egypt. Seeking to configure their place as a minority, both within larger Egyptian society and within Coptic circles, Coptic Protestant identity formed in between competing transnational and local power dynamics. Populist expressions of Egyptian nationalism produced a robust anti-imperialist movement that succeeded in overthrowing the colonial powers while resisting many forms of foreign intervention, including missionaries. American Protestant missionaries developed a Coptic Protestant community funded by American government and private sources. Coptic Protestant groups were mainly comprised of Copts who left the Orthodox Church. By 1878, the Khedive formally recognized Protestantism as a distinct religious sect. By the 20th century, however, as Egyptian nationalism materialized, anti-missionary campaigns became more widespread, reaching its zenith from the 1930s until the expulsion of missionaries in 1967. Using Coptic Protestant institutional synod minutes alongside American missionary minutes, foreign board and missionary reports juxtaposed to Egyptian populist news sources detailing anti-missionary movements and its effects on larger Egyptian society, I argue that Coptic Protestantism developed by balancing indigenous and non-indigenous identity markers i.e. negotiating identity politics amidst debates of Egyptian citizenship, nationalism, and Coptic-American relations. Broadly, this paper places Copts within larger social and political Egyptian histories, asking how have American interventions influenced post-colonial Egyptian affairs, national identities and nation-building policies? How do minorities, particularly the Copts, position themselves in post-colonial Egypt given their historic benefits from American missionary presence. Transcending Egyptian borders, Coptic Protestantism echoed many elements of American Protestantism with frequent movement of Egyptians and Americans across borders as a means to bolster the Egyptian Coptic Protestant community. Examining these Egyptian and American experiences beyond and within Egyptian national boundaries, this paper intervenes in discussions surrounding citizenship rights and claims by minorities—using Coptic Protestant identity formation as a prism to investigate the status of minorities during Egypt’s transition from a colonial to post-colonial state.