About Us
Our Mission
The Mar Thoma church defines itself as ‘Oriental in origin, Eastern in traditions, Episcopal in nature, Democratic in administration, Catholic in mission, Reformed in faith, Evangelical in outreach work and Ecumenical in vision. Each and every adult member of the Church is considered to be an Evangelist.
The Church may participate in collaborative programmes with other Churches with which it has communal relationships and also participate in all acceptable ecumenical relationships as a full member of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Churches Together in England (CTE) and Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI).
Our Objectives
The main objectives of the Church are to,
- advance the Christian religion in the Midlands Region,
- provide its members with regular Christian worship services, in accordance with the traditions of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar,
- provide pastoral care and organize activities to promote the spiritual life of its members,
- make voluntary contributions for evangelistic and charitable work in the United Kingdom and abroad – especially India.
About Us
Hermon Mar Thoma Church, Midlands is a Parish of the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, which has its head office in Thiruvalla, Kerala, India. This parish is a member of UK & Europe Zone administered by Council of Mar Thoma Parishes in Europe (COMPE).
In the Midlands, traditional worship services were conducted from 1996. It was during this time in 2002, that an influx of Diasporans came into the UK. With the growing number of highly skilled Migrant workers pouring in from India as doctors, nurses, teachers and others, there was a need to support and nurture the traditions and cultures that they are accustomed to. As a result, the Indian Church groups encouraged the formation of relevant prayer groups, congregations and parishes and organised outreach services where the members are able to continue to get the necessary spiritual strength and support to live in this country. This helped to identify members leading to the formation of a prayer group in Midlands. The wholehearted support and guidance of St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, Hounslow was immense in our growth and development, which in turn formed Midlands Prayer group in 2004. As memberships grew, the desire for establishing a parish at regional level became necessary for effective ministry.
The prayer group became a congregation in 2006 and later given the status of a Parish Church. Hermon Mar Thoma Church was formed in May 2007. Hermon Mar Thoma Church is based in Birmingham to meet the needs of its members residing in the Midlands and to serve the community. We thank the Almighty for all the blessings that have been showered upon us and pray that our Parish will be a beacon of hope for the desperate and lonely, to seek refuge in the arms of our Lord.
Church History
And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.
St. Thomas was one of the disciples who were with Jesus Christ when the above commission was given to them by the Lord. Thus being sent as an apostle, Thomas set out to India. According to Indian tradition he reached the Malabar Coast at Craganoor (Kodungalloor) in the year 52 A.D.
There is a view held by a section of the St. Thomas Christians in Kerala that the disciple Thomas may have set out to India in search of the ‘lost sheep’ who belonged to the diaspora (cf. Mt. 10:6). Perhaps failing to get acceptance among the Jews in Cochin, St. Thomas may have ‘shaken off the dust of his feet’ (cf. Mt. 10:14) and turned to the gentiles in the interior. According to the St. Thomas tradition the Namboodiri Brahmins were attracted to the new teaching and several of them received baptism. A few families among them were chosen to be responsible for the government of the new Christian community. Mar Thoma then continued his mission and reached the east coast of India and at Madras [now known as Chennai] he was pierced to death by a fanatic Hindu. He, like his master, sacrificed his life yielding to the Father’s will (Mt. 10:24-25).
The Nazarenes
The seven congregations which St. Thomas founded in the Chera Kingdom (Kerala) began to grow very slowly. They made an impact around their surroundings. The neighbours of these Christians called them Nazarenes.
Very little is known about the detailed history of this early period of the Church except the reference by Eusebius on Pantaenus’ visit to India. “Pantaenus was one of these, and is said to have gone to India. It is reported that among persons there who knew of Christ, he found the Gospel according to Matthew, which had anticipated his own arrival”.
The Syrian/Persian Contact
In 345 A.D. a significant group, about 400 families, from East Syria migrated to Kerala under Cana Thoma. The Nazarenes received the newly arrived Christians who later settled in the land, and intermingled with the local Christians. These Christians absorbed the local culture in which history seems to have been of no significance. We have therefore very little resources at our disposal to know their life and witness during the following centuries. However, it is known that following Cana Thoma, several priests and prelates visited Kerala from Persia.
In the 6th century the Persian influence began to make a big thrust through a great missionary movement. This was from the Nestorian Church. The Mar Thoma Christians were drawn to this new movement and soon Nestorianism began to flourish in the church. The Nestorian liturgy in Aramaic and their practices were accepted. That continued to prevail among the St. Thomas Christians till the 15th century.
The Roman Catholics
Vasco de Gama discovered a sea route to India in 1498 and he landed at Calicut (Kozhikodu) on the Malabar coast. Being a devout Roman Catholic, he got the Latinising Roman Catholic missionaries to work among the Mar Thoma Syrians. By 1599 the Mar Thoma Syrians, who were by now Nestorians, were asked to recant Nestorianism and embrace the Latin version of Roman Catholicism. This was done at the Diamper Synod (Udayamperoor, near Ernakulam) in which Arch Deacon Geevarghese of the Syrian Christians was forced to sign a document prepared by Alexes de Menezes, the Roman Catholic Arch Bishop of Goa. A very insignificant minority withdrew from signing the document and followed the Nestorian practice. Later they revived and now continue as the Church of the East (Chaldean Church) with their ancient Nestorian liturgy at Trichur in Kerala.
Declaration of Independence
Offended and agonised under the Portuguese led Catholicism, Arch Deacon Thomas mustered his people against Rome and the Portuguese. In 1653, 25000 Christians and 633 clergy marched to Cochin Fort. Confronted by the Portuguese canons, they withdrew to the Church at Mattancherry and took the following pledge: “We and our children shall never be under Rome”. This is the Coonen Cross oath, a declaration of independence against foreign aggression over the sovereign right of the Christians of India. Arch Deacon Thomas was made a bishop with the title Mar Thoma by his supporters, the first Indian Metran of the church. He sought the support of sister churches in Antioch, Babylon, Jerusalem, Alexandria and Abyssinia.
The Jacobites
As a response to the appeal sent, Mar Gregorios arrived from Jerusalem in 1665. He re-consecrated Mar Thoma ?. Mar Gregorios belonged to that section of the Antiochian church known as Jacobites. In the course of time the independent church of the Mar Thoma Christians, with their Mar Thoma Metrans was brought under the influence of the Antiochian Jacobite church. The church which declared freedom from Rome, was gradually brought under the yoke of Jacobitism.
The Anglicans
During the early 19th century, in 1806, a visitor from the Church of England came to India. He was Claudius Buchanan, a Chaplain attached to the British army in Calcutta. He met the then Metropolitan, Mar Dionysius the Great. He got the Gospels translated into Malayalam in 1811. In 1813 a seminary for the education of the Syrian Christian clergy was founded at Kottayam. In 1816 the Anglican trio, Bailey, Norton, and Fenn, arrived as a mission of help, not to build a new church but to rebuild the old dilapidated church.
The Awakened Mar Thoma Syrian Church Reformation
Abraham Malpan was one of the professors at the Seminary. The study and learning of the open Word of God combined with saintly life persuaded Abraham Malpan to question some of the practices continued in the Church. He realised that the Mavelikara Synod (January 18, 1836) was not heeding to any kind of reform in the church. On the other hand that the Synod openly and irrevocably declared that the Malankara Church belonged to the Jacobite Patriarch of Antioch and was thus obliged to continue its faith and practice. Malpan along with eleven clergymen submitted a memorandum consisting of 24 theses to Col. Fraser, the British Resident. The memorandum clearly stated the ecclesial irregularities committed by the Metropolitan Chepat Mar Dionysius and his associates and also the wrong religious practices carried on in the church. Col. Fraser was not able to enquire in these matters. Abraham Malpan, Kaithayil Geevarghese Malpan and others were not discouraged. They took upon themselves the God-given task of reformation in the Malankara Church.
- Mediation through the Saints was discontinued
- Prayer and adoration to the Virgin Mary was discontinued
- Prayers for the Dead was discontinued
- Auricular confession was discontinued
- Holy elements in the Qurbana were served in both kinds
- Qurbana was not celebrated when there were none to communicate
- Customs and practices introduced from non-Christian backgrounds, especially during Festivals were forbidden
The Faith and Practice of the Mar Thoma Church is based on Biblical teachings. The church does not hold any faith which has no clear Biblical warrant. At the same time it does not have a condemnatory or holier-than-thou attitude to other churches that have different practices. Certain practices which were misused and corrupted were discarded (Prayers for the Dead, Prayers to the Saints).
Our Ecumenical Stand
Until the 4th century A.D. five ancient Metropolises dominated the Christian World: Jerusalem, Antioch, Alexandria, Constantinople and Rome. The first four led the Armenian, Syrian, Alexandrian (Coptic and Abyssinian) and Greek churches respectively, and the last the Roman Church. In the 11th century, these churches were divided into two blocks, the Eastern and the Western. The first four remained in the East, while the last one in the West as the single largest church.
The 16th-century reformation led by Martin Luther shook the Roman Church. Protestantism came into existence. Protestantism led to further divisions in the Western Church and the result is the various Protestant denominations like the Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists, Presbyterians, Pentecostalists, etc.
The Eastern Churches may be further grouped into the Great Eastern Church and the lesser Eastern churches. The former includes the Greek and Russian Orthodox Churches, while the Coptic, Armenian, Syrian and Indian Churches come under the lesser Eastern Churches. The latter were self-governing churches and never imposed one’s domination over the others. They expressed their unity through conciliar fellowship.
In the 17th and the 18th centuries the St. Thomas Christians remained in fellowship with the Syrian Church of Antioch. As a result of the Anglican mission, the Malankara Syrian Church was helped to discover her own identity in the light of the open Word of God. For this, the church is grateful to the ‘Mission of Help’ from the Church of England. However, the church retained the essential characteristics of its oriental heritage in worship, autonomy and independence. It added to it a missionary zeal.
So the Mar Thoma Syrian Church is neither a Protestant church of the western type nor an orthodox church of the eastern type. It is oriental in worship, autonomous in administration and missionary in action. The church follows an orthodox (true worship) liturgy and a catholic (to all, for all) mission and evangelism. Truly it is a bridge-church between the eastern and western ecclesial traditions. Being catholic in mission, the church opens its doors to the east and to the west. The church affirms its faith in one, holy, catholic and apostolic church. It accepts the first three ecumenical councils as authoritative, viz. Nicaea (325 A.D.), Constantinople (381 A.D.) and Ephesus (431 A.D.). In the modern ecumenical movement, the Mar Thoma Syrian Church plays a significant role, as a church with oriental heritage and occidental zeal for mission.
Source: The Faith and Practice of the Mar Thoma Church, by Rev. Dr. K.V. Mathew
Vicar
Rev. John T Thomas was ordained as a priest in 2003. He hails from Valakom, Kottarakkara in Kerala. His home parish is Marthoma Valiyapally, Valakom. Achen completed his Bachelors of Divinity from Leonard Theological College, Jabalpur.
Prior to his posting as Vicar of Hermon MTC, achen served at the following parishes:
Jerusalem Marthoma Church, Mannarkkad
Bethel Marthoma Church, Chooriyodu
Horeb Marthoma Church, Kariyara
Carmel Marthoma Church, Pakkulam
Bethel Marthoma Church, Baroda
Sehion Marthoma Church, Venmony
St. Peter’s Marthoma Church, Changamala
St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Attachakkal
Bethel Marthoma Church, Chengara
Sehion Marthoma Church, Kodumon
St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Theppupara
St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Piravanthoor
St. Thomas Marthoma Church, Chempanaruvi
Ebenezer Marthoma Church, Pidavur
St. Paul’s Marthoma Church, Poonkulanji
Kochamma: Mrs. Minu Philip, hails from Emmanuel Marthoma Church, Avaneeshwaram.
Achen has one daughter, Angela Sara John.
Former Vicars
2004-07
Rev. Giji Thomas
2007-09
Rev. Shibi Abraham
2009-10
Rev. Dr Abraham Mathew
2010-13
Rev. Sabu C Mathew
2013-16
Rev. Vinoj Varghese
Our Diocese Bishop
Rt. Rev. Dr.Isaac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa
Dr. Isaac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa is a thinker and student inculcating all necessary streams of thought to develop spiritual fervour in the people of India through a dialogue based on grace which can inter connect Theology and Hindu Philosophy. He was born on 5th December 1951 as the son of late Sri AM Isac and Mariamma of Attupurath family of Mavelikkara Cherukole Mar Thoma Parish. He completed High School education from BH High School Mavelikkara. He completed BA Degree from Bishop More College, MA from Banares Hindu University and BD from Calcutta Bishops College. He was ordained as Semmas on 29th May 1976 and as Kaseessa on 9th June 1976. He served as vicar of Rajara, Bilaspur, Allehabad, Renuket, Singroli, Boston, Mumbai Santacruz Parishes. He got MTh Degree from Princeston Theological Seminary and Doctorate from Banaras Hindu University. It is significant that the university awarded Doctorate on the basis of research based on the place of grace in Vaishnava Philosophy and Christian Theology. This research was a fundamental search for ideology helpful for meaningful dialogue.
He was consecrated as Ramban on 31st August 1993 at Mavelikkara Thazhakkara Church and as Isac Mar Philoxenos Episcopa on 2nd October. On 1st November 1993 All Saints Day – he took charge of Mumbai – Delhi Diocese. It was his initiative that made the construction of the beautiful Diocesan Head quarters at New Mumbai (Vashi) possible. He procured hundred acres for the Church near Kalyan and Navajeevan Centre was started there. Gramajyothi schools aimed at total rural development were started. He gave laudable leadership to construct houses for the rehabilitation of those rendered homeless as a result of earthquakes in Lathur of Maharashtra, Jabalpur of Madhyapradesh and Bhujj of Gujarat.
He gave leadership to NCCI unit I as its Chairman and as Chairman of CASA, Western Region. He worked as member of the Governing Boards of Leonard Theological College, ISPCK and Ludhiana Medical College. Thirumeni took the initiative to start Dharmajyothi Vidyapeet, Theological College in Faridabad near Delhi in 2000. He gave bold leadership to the Diocese till 30th September 2001.
Thirumeni took over charge of Kottayam-Kochi Diocese from 1st October 2001. He took special care of all the parishes in the Diocese and gave special importance to planned developmental activities in underdeveloped regions. He worked as President of Kerala Council of Churches (KCC), Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sakhyam, as Chairman of Thomas Mar Athanasius Memorial Research and Orientation Centre Mochana and Thomas Mar Athanasius Counselling Centre and as member of Serampore Senate Executive. He gave special attention to the development of High Range region. He gave strong support and guidance to fight against social evils.
He was elected as a member of the World Council of Churches (WCC) Central Committee for a second time and worked in WCC, Policy Reference Committee, WCC Reference Committee on Justice and Peace, Chairman of ECC and unit 1 of NCCI. He was elected a second time as President of Senate of Serampore. He fulfils his responsibilities in his own special style as President of Holistic Child Development, India and now as member of the Executive. He was Chairman of the Governing Board of Kottayam Vaideeka Seminary and Manager of Kozhencherry St. Thomas College.
Thirumeni is committed to work with spirituality and social service combined. He is very keen to alert the members of the Church to effectively uphold meaningful ministry among the utterly poor millions of Indian people.
Administration (2020 – 21)
Hermon Mar Thoma Church is controlled by its constitutions, which is approved and adapted for use in the United Kingdom by the parent Mar Thoma Church through The Diocese of North America and Europe and is registered under the Charity Commission (Reg. No. 1137185).
The following are the members of the Executive Committee members of 2020-21