WHO WE ARE
ABOUT OUR CHURCH
WHO WE ARE
LET’S FIND OUT OUR CHURCH FAMILY
We are very proud to be a part of the Mar Thoma Church, founded by Saint.Thomas (Mar Thoma), one of the twelve disciples of Jesus Christ, and known by the name of the Apostle, in the year AD 52. We are part of the Diocese of North America and Europe and very grateful to all the early immigrants who in spite of their pain and struggle found time, money and convenience to group together, first as prayer fellowships and eventually as congregations and parishes. We continue the mission revealed to us by the members of the church in reaching out to the people and communities. In 2015, Mar Thoma Church of Silicon Valley became the seventy-second Parish in the Diocese. We are grateful to our Almighty God who has sustained and nurtured us in the first year. This would not have been possible without the guidance of our Bishop, the leadership of our Vicar, hard work of our parish members and above all the blessing of our Lord.
Vision And Mission
STATEMENT OF FAITH
Mar Thoma Church is founded by Saint.Thomas (Mar Thoma), one of the 12 disciples of Jesus Christ, and is known by the name of the Apostle in AD 52 having its head quarters in Tiruvalla, Kerala, INDIA. We accept as our goal and function:
- To be the repository of the divine doctrines revealed by Jesus Christ and proclaimed by His Apostles.
- To maintain these doctinres in purity
- To promote the spiritual life of its members through the administration of seven sacraments and by the ministry of the WORD
- To make disciples of all nations by the proclamation of the Gospel to all the world through the admistration of Baptism in the name of the Triune God
MOTTO
“LIGHTED TO LIGHTEN”
The role of the church is to spread the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every believer and member of the Church is here in their position, wherever they are are given the light so that they can lighten others.
“You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden.”
– Mathew 5: 14
Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.
Mar Thoma Church was commissioned with the vision of mission.
MTCSV - Congregation to Parish
The Episcopal Synod, which met on February 17, 2015, raised the status from Congregation to Parish with effective from March 1, 2015. The Synod also named the Parish, Mar Thoma Church of Silicon Valley and appointed Rev. Biju.P.Simon as the first Vicar of the Parish. The Metropolitan, His Grace The Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan issued a Kalpana on this decision on February 22, 2015. Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius inaugurated the parish on March 13, 2015 by celebrating Holy Communion service followed by a public function.
The membership grew to 54 families at the end of year 2015.
The Metropolitan, His Grace The Most Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma Metropolitan issued a kalpana on November 1, 2016 appointing Rev.Larry.P.Varghese as the first resident Vicar of the Parish from May 1 2017.
The membership grew to 66 families at the end of year 2016.
MTCSV HISTORY
Mar Thoma Church of Silicon Valley has its humble beginning when 39 families of Mar Thoma Church of San Francisco requested the then Vicar Rev. Biju.P.Simon on October 8 2014 to allow them to form a congregation in South Bay. The Vicar forwarded the request to the Diocesan Bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius. As per the direction from the Diocesan Bishop, the Vicar called a General Body of Mar Thoma Church of San Francisco on October 26 to discuss the proposal to form a new congregation in South Bay. The General Body agreed to accept the proposal.
As per the guidance from the Diocesan Bishop, the Vicar called a General Body of the 39 families on November 16, 2014 and elected a ten-member adhoc committee to make arrangements for the starting of new Congregation.
The Diocesan Bishop, through a Kalpana on December 1, 2014 approved the Congregation from January 1, 2015 and named it as Mar Thoma Congregation of Silicon Valley. The first Service of the congregation was held on January 4, 2015 at 3275 Williams Road, San Jose. Rev. Biju.P.Simon celebrated the Holy Communion service and more than 250 people attended the service. Vicar gave the sermon where he encouraged the congregation to embrace people with diverse generation, language and culture. He also preached that as a diaspora community, each one should cater to the need of people in multi-generation, multi-linguistic and multi-culture. The Sunday school and Choir started at the new congregation from day one. Edavaka Mission, Sevika Sanghom, Yuvajana Sakhyam and Youth fellowship were formed as organization in the first month.
The General Body of Mar Thoma Congreggation of Silcon Valley elected the first executive committee of the congregation on January 18, 2015 replacing the Ad-hoc committee.