ECUMENICAL WITNESS OF THE MAR THOMA CHURCH
Dear friends in Christ,
Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
I bring you greetings from Valiya Metropolitan Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom and Metropolitan the Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma. The Bishops of the Mar Thoma Church join me in greeting you on this occasion. Bishop Dr. Zachariahs Mar Theophilos Suffragan Metropolitan and Bp. Dr. Euyakim Mar Coorilos Episcopa join me as my predecessor–bishops in this Diocese and Bishop Zachariahs Mar Theophilus and Bishop Dr. Abraham Mar Paulos as former students of Boston University.
This is an honor and privilege for me and the Mar Thoma Church to be invited to the Massachusetts Council of Churches and I thank all of you who are present here, for this warm fellowship. Today I represent the Mar Thoma Church and the Mar Thoma Diocese of North America and Europe. We have membership in the World Council of Churches and enjoy the Communion relationship with the world- wide Anglican Church. The Church through the various dioceses has membership in the National Council of Churches in various geographical areas. The Diocese of North America and Europe enjoys the membership in the National Council Churches of Christ in USA, Canadian Council of Churches, Churches Together in England and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. As a church, we encourage the local parishes to enter into the regional ecumenical bodies to have meaningful participation in ecumenical action.
It is worth remembering now that the Most Rev. Dr. Youhannon Mar Thoma was one of the Presidents of the WCC and played a vital role in organizing its meeting in New Delhi in 1961. Later Dr. M.M. Thomas of the Mar Thoma Church was one of the Presidents in the 80's. Dr. Zechariahs Mar Theophilos was in the central committee of the WCC for two terms in the 90's and now Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos is serving as a member of the Central Committee. There are other members the Church who are on the staff of the central office. These are indicative of the active interest of the Mar Thoma Church has in the world wide Ecumenical Body.
A Brief History of the Mar Thoma Church.
The St. Thomas (Mar Thoma) Christian community has a large concentration of its members in Kerala, the south west region of the Indian sub continent. It maintained its relation with churches of Persia, Syria, and other Oriental Churches prior to the arrival of European Missionaries in the 15th Century. It was through the writings of the western scholars that St. Thomas Christians became known widely to the world outside.
The Mar Thoma church traces its origin to the coming of the St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ to India around AD 52 and forming worshipping congregations at seven places in the Chera Kingdom. This community of St. Thomas had contact with the Persian church from 345 AD when a group of around 400 families came and settled in the land. The influence of the Roman Catholic church came with the coming of Vasco de Gama in 1948 to Kozhikode in Kerala. A historic declaration of Independence of St. Thomas Christians took place at Cochin in 1653. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the St. Thomas Christians remained in fellowship with the Syrian Church of Antioch. The Anglican Missions (CMS) sent missionaries as “Mission of Help” to the St. Thomas Community. They got the Gospel translated into Malayalam in 1811. A Seminary was founded at Kottayam in 1813. Abraham Malpan and Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan took upon themselves the God given task of reformation within the Church. Now the Mar Thoma Church is the reformed group which has declared its independence and autonomy. It maintains the oriental form of worship with the language of the people and carries out the mission of the Church. The faith and practices of the Mar Thoma Church is based on the teachings of the Holy Bible. The Holy Communion is celebrated only when there are participants other than the celebrant and the elements are served in both kinds. The auricular confession is not practiced. The Church affirms its faith in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. The first three ecumenical councils viz Nicea AD 325, Constantinople AD 381, and Ephesus AD 431 are accepted as authoritative.
Nature of the Church
In his work on ‘Early Christianity in Asia' (East of the Euphrates 1998) Dr. T. V. Philip says: the whole life of the Christian Community in the East was permeated with a missionary Spirit. Whether clergy or Laity, traders or refugees, wherever they went, they tried to be the Ambassadors of Christ.
Worship plays an important part in Eastern spirituality. Eastern liturgy opens the doors into a rich world of worship, where beauty, form and wonder offer liberation, joy and freedom to the modern person. Christian worship in the East is community oriented as well as personal, spiritual as well as physical, mediatorial and vicarious. The Mar Thoma Community derives its identity and cohesiveness from the very liturgy it uses. The whole theology of the church is embedded in the liturgy of the Church.
The Church is the Priest of the world. The Church intercedes for the world by being conscious of the various needs. The Church is therefore the sacramental presence of Christ in the world. The witness of the Church is revealed from the very living and the dynamic relationship the religious community has with God, with each other and with the created order.
Ecumenical Witness
The Church is in the world. The meaning and relevance of the ministry and mission of the Church can be derived only in relation to the larger world than to the members of the worshipping community. The Mar Thoma Church, down through the centuries, celebrated diversity while maintaining the spirit of unity. The history of the Mar Thoma immigrant community in USA is only a century old. where as the life of the Church in Kerala is for the last twenty centauries. Mar Thoma Christians has had relationship with various church denominations within the country and outside. That does not mean that it always stood for unity; it also differed on certain fronts. The formation of the Church of South India in 1947 was a time when the Mar Thoma church had serious discussions on Church Unity, in the sense of giving up its identity and becoming one. But the decision was otherwise to keep the identity and enter into an ecumenical communion relationship. This position was maintained when the Church of North India (CNI) was formed in 1971. I am happy to inform that this paved way later to the formation of conciliar relationship with CSI & CNI forming a council called Council of Churches in India.
This is apart from her membership in the National Council Churches in India (NCCI) and Christian Council of Churches in Asia (CCA). The Mar Thoma Church continues to have discussions with all the main line Episcopal churches including the Lutherans. Ecumenism is to be seen as the pooling together of resources and sharing the riches of all heritages of the people. Despite all limitations, God is using the Ecumenical movement for the greater unity of all God's creation. That means the understanding s of ecumenism has changed from the unity of the churches to the unity of all inhabited earth. Here the mission and development activities of the Church have more relevance.
The spirit of Ecumenism is helping the Mar Thoma diocese of North America and Europe to seek for avenues to engage herself in mission in the name of Neighborhood Mission as far as local parishes are concerned, Mission to Natives as far as national level bodies are concerned and to Outreach Mission as far as the Diocese as whole is concerned, apart from its involvement in the known ecumenical bodies in the country. It helps all of us in our common pilgrimage to the consummation of the Kingdom of God and our greater recognition of God as God.
Geevarghese Mar Theodosius
(Episcopa, Mar Thoma Diocese of North America and Europe)
Sinai Mar Thoma Center
2320 Merrick Ave. Merrick, NY 11566
(516) 377 3311
email – mtcmartheo@yahoo.com.ph
websitewww.marthomanae.org