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Table of Contents Message from Diocesan Episcopa ................................ 3

Editorial ........................................................................ 6

Baptism: Dying and Rising up with Christ .................... 8

A Spiritual Dialogue: Upon the Wings of God’s Image

on Earth ...................................................................... 10

Finding our identity in Christ amidst competing

cultures ...................................................................... 11

Not Understanding the Other .................................... 12

Conversation Corner .................................................. 15

News & Reports ......................................................... 16

Death, Renewal & Revival ...................................... 16

34th Mar Thoma Family conference-Europe .......... 22

1st Mar Thoma Youth Conference .......................... 23

Altar Boys & Covenant Girls: Preparing the Future

Leaders of the Church ............................................ 24

Connecting Church-Based Social Action and

Church Growth ....................................................... 26

Photo Gallery ............................................................. 27

October Edition 2015 Volume 2(3)

Cover Design: Revd. Jose Punamadam

For private circulation only

Disclaimer: The views published in this journal are

those of its authors. Editors or the COMPE do not

endorse the contents or views expressed and they are

not liable for the contents or views in any form.

Send your articles- compe.echo@gmail.com

The COMPE Executive Committee

President: The Rt.Revd. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius

Vice President : Revd.Dr. Thomas Philips

Secretary: Mr.P.M.Mathew

Treasurer : Mr.Jaffey Chacko

Editorial Board of the Mar Thoma Echo

Editorial Director : Dr. Zac Varghese

Chief Editor : Revd. Jose Punamadam

Mr. Sherry Mathews

Mr. Oommen Abraham

Mrs. Geena Ajay

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Message from Diocesan

Episcopa

Whose Image do we reflect?

This question was raised as the theme of the

Regional Family Conference that was held for the

Families of the Mar Thoma Parishes in the UK and

Europe in August 2015. St. John's Mar Thoma

Parish, the host of the conference, was studying

this Theme for about an year, and now this is

passed on for wider reflection through the 250

delegates who attended the conference. I am glad

that ECHO, the quarterly publication of the region,

is bringing this topic through digital and print

media.

Whose Image?

Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible is revealing the

truth that God created human beings, both male

and female, in His image and in His likeness,

creating us out of dust and breathing in the life

giving breath. Therefore, we belong to God and we

are created by the Creator God to reflect His image.

We believe that He is the Creator of all things,

visible and invisible.

No one has seen God. God can never be the object

of our study. He is the Almighty and invisible One,

and is not exhausted by our understanding. We

believe that He is the One True God. Then how do

we comprehend Him? We understand God

through His revelations. We identify the One God

through the doctrine of Trinity- One God

manifested in three persons as the Father, the Son

and the Holy Spirit. Human language has

limitations and therefore, we try to describe an

infinite, incomprehensible, God within the

limitations of our finite nature and intellect.

Seeking to articulate that which is beyond words

involves stretching of language almost to breaking

point. Martin Luther believed that man cannot

comprehend the meaning of image of God and he

wrote: ‘when we speak of that image, we are

speaking of something unknown.’ But the

unknown becomes known in Jesus the Christ. It is

beautifully stated in the prologue to St. John’s

Gospel: “No one has ever seen God, but God the

One and only, who is at the Father’s side, has made

him known” (John 1:18). This is indeed seeing the

face of God in Christ, and we have the grace to see

the face of God in others and other events. The

knowledge of God emerges from our intimate

relationship with Him and we are created for this

relationship and no other. Karl Barths takes it to

another level by saying: “Knowledge of God is

obedience to God.”

The Nature of God.

Human beings have understood the presence of

God in several ways. The Holy Bible is emphatic in

saying that God is with mankind, starting with the

Garden of Eden where God comes down to share

the fellowship with the whole creation and

consummating with the new Heaven and New

Earth, and where God has His tent with humans

(Book of Revelation). The wrath of God is seen in

the Great Flood at the time of Noah, His mercy and

compassion is seen in the Exodus of the chosen

people under slavery in Egypt; His wisdom is

revealed through the Wisdom literature; His

judgements are revealed through the Kings and

Judges, and this Awesome God is understood

through His perseverance and understanding. The

list goes on and on as the Holy Scripture continues

to reveal the living and dynamic nature of God.

People of the Book felt the presence of God in their

lives, like Abraham and Moses. The Prophets

listened to the voice of God and became God's

mouth piece among the people. Noah and Enoch

walked with God. Isaiah saw the vision of God.

Elijah heard God passing by in a ‘still small voice.’

People understood the promises of God and

4

believed in Him as trust worthy. God wanted

humans to be a worshipping community,

worshipping only Him and not any idols. God

wanted His people to be ‘model people’ with

humanity intact and with ethical standards by

obeying and understanding the given Law with

infinite responsibility.

The Image reflected in Jesus Christ.

Jesus is God incarnate. We believe that He is fully

God and fully human (The Nicene Creed). Pilot, the

Roman Governor, said in judging Jesus of

Nazareth, 'Behold the Man; I see in him no guile.’

The Centurion at the foot of the cross saw Him die

on the Cross and shouted, 'truly he is the Son of

God.’ Peter, among the disciples, said at Caesarea

Philippi that, 'you are the son of the living God.’

Jesus lived in history, walked through the streets

of Galilee, cleansed the Jerusalem Temple, and

died on the outside the city wall as the

manifestation of God's love. He said in history: 'I

am the Way, the Truth and the Life.'... …..‘Those

who have seen me, have seen the Father....No one

comes to the Father, but by me.’

Whose Image do we reflect?

Humans are created to reflect the image of the

invisible God. Our sinful nature distorts the image

of God. Turning to God in repentance is the way to

reinstate the image of God. The Merciful God

forgives and cleanses us from all stains. A good

example is the life of Jacob who ran away from his

brother Esau, lived in exile, decided to go back,

wrestled with God, became a new being as Israel

and reconciled with his brother. Esau gave him a

warm welcome. We read in Genesis 33:10, “Truly

your face is like seeing the face of God ". Humans

are created to see in each other the hidden image

of God. I am reminded of the words of

Michelangelo who said, 'I saw the angel in the

marble and carved until I set him free.' Let us

remove the masks we have so that the world will

see the reflections of the image of God on this

beautiful world.

Incarnation of Jesus was to seek and save the lost

and to heal a fractured world. He preached and

taught the kingdom of God and exhorted everyone

to repent and believe in the Gospel. In Jesus, we

have redemption. We are redeemed to reflect the

image of God. He invited everyone to live in Him:

'Abide in me and I will abide in you.’ We can live a

life worthy of the glory of God only by living in

Christ. St Paul, who experienced this, went on

speaking endlessly on ' life in Christ.’ He says, 'for

me to live be Christ.’ Orthodox Theologian, John

Zizioulas, maintains that “the being of God could

be known only through personal relationships and

personal love. Being means life, and life means

communion.” The doctrine of Trinity offers a

radical rethinking of the concept of being; here we

see a reciprocity in which the personal identity of

the Godhead coexisting relationally within the

differentiated unity of a hospitable self. Therefore,

without the concept of this divine communion and

coexistence it would not be possible to think of

God.

Church is called to reflect the Image of God.

Psalmist says that ‘the Heavens declare the glory of

God and the firmaments, His handiwork.’ Church

is a called out and sent out community . Church is

the body of Christ and an instrument in His hands

for the transformation of the whole creation.

Church life is for community living on her journey

to the establishment of the kingdom of God and to

reflect here and now the image of God. This is

challenging the church today; the church should

show gender equality, love all for people in the

world without discrimination of race, caste or

class. Community living is possible only by

accepting the other, caring the needy and sharing

the God-given resources. The parable of the Good

Samaritan is revealing. One can be merciful only

by identifying the need of the other, taking risks

and shouldering the responsibility to give life to the

dying and working hard from now on to create a

better living space for the other. Early Christianity

was a social movement known for its care for the

sick, widows, orphans, and poor, and its attention

to the needs of the stranger; the welcoming of the

stranger is what it means to be human and what it

means to be a Christian. This is the face of the

living God, which Jesus Christ has demonstrated

in His salvific acts.

For a child of God, Sunday worship is not enough!

He or she is called to be the salt of the earth and

light of the world in everyday living. Going to

church regularly and being the Church in the

market place are not the one and the same. They

can be complimentary. Do you shrink when

someone asks you: are you a black, Latino,

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Bangladeshi and the like? Whose image do we

reflect? What is the meaning of the cry today,

'Black lives matter’? What will the church do when

people of different orientations approach you for

sacraments? Can we join with Job? And say, 'for I

know that my redeemer lives’ (Job 19:25).

Risen Jesus, who is the Head of the Church, said to

His followers to "follow Him." I was fascinated

when I saw the 'Laughing Face of Christ' kept at the

Chapel of the Ecumenical Christian centre,

Whitfield, Bangalore, India. Since then I can see

the laughing face of Jesus in His public ministry

when He walked through the crowd when they

tried to kill Him (Luke 4), when He answered the

questions raised by the Pharisees and Scribes,

when He faced the storm in the sea with the cry of

the disciples, when He listened to the questions of

the Samaritan women, when everyone left the

stones and the woman before Jesus, when He saw

the helpless disciples at the valley of

transfiguration and other similar instances. St.

Paul found this joy in Christ and therefore he said,

while in prison in Rome and knowing that his end

is near, " Rejoice, again I say rejoice " ( Phil 4) .

We live in a cruel, wretched, bleeding and broken

world. In Genesis 6:11 we read: 'now the earth was

corrupt in God's sight, and the earth was filled with

violence.’ The world today is not different. But can

we say "good bye” to the cruel world? We see

slavery in the world in different forms. Slavery

should never become the human or social order.

The plight of the refugees to the countries in

Europe from Syria, Lebanon, Africa and the like

are not revealing the image of God! Denying a

person's hope for a decent, peaceful life with

dignity is a form of slavery. Liberation is the 'face

of God ', said the Asian theologian, Dr. M. M.

Thomas. The decision of the countries in European

Union to accept the refugees is revealing the face of

God. We follow a different drum!

The key to follow Jesus and to reflect the image of

God is to 'love as He loved us.’ Hence, the pertinent

question that comes to us is the same question

Jesus asked Peter after his resurrection, do you

love me more than these? (John 21: 15- 19). Our

love for Him reflects the grace of God. In every

desert, God has an oasis of grace. In an age of

vanishing grace, the faith community is called to be

the 'grace community,’ always giving Hope in

helpless and hopeless situations of life. It involves

vicarious suffering; but in Christ, we can always

say 'yes ' and join with St. Paul in affirming that we

are more than conquerors. Jesus Christ is the man

for all seasons of life.

Mar Theodosius+

Kabbala, a five-thousand year old

tradition, teaches that

transformation means becoming a

being of giving and sharing. This

refers to more than act of sharing. It

means connecting with the light,

becoming one with the creator, and

making your essence and the essence

of the creator one and the same.

6

Editorial Other gods become a barrier in our

relationship with God

The theme of a most enjoyable 33rd Mar Thoma

family conference of Europe in August 2015 was

‘Whose image do we reflect?’ and it also had a

related-theme ‘Christ versus gods of our life’. Let

us thank God for the members of the St. Johns Mar

Thoma Church, Hounslow, for carrying the burden

of hosting the conference and congratulate them

for organising a very good conference. We are

grateful to God for Rt. Revd Geevarghese Mar

Thedosius, Rt. Revd Dr. Thomas Mar Theethos

and Mr. Jose Philip for their leadership. We

particularly thank and congratulate Rev Jose

Punamadom, Mr. Isaac George and his team.

‘The camera never lies’ is a phrase we know to be

false. A photographer can place a filter over the

lens or adjust the angle of the lens with the result

that some features or the scene are highlighted

while others fade into insignificance. There is filter

over our minds when we read the Bible or venture

into a post- baptismal life from early childhood;

filter is formed by our faith formation from our

parents, church, our culture, and tradition. These

filters may have a possibility to direct us to

influences and spells of gods instead of Christ or

even restricting our freedom in Christ. These gods

of our life have the power to bring curse and

death, instead of blessings and eternal life.

God has blessed mankind by endowing him/her

with certain qualities that are intrinsic to His

nature. Many have contemplated, as we have

done at the conference, the meaning of the

phrase in Genesis, “in the image and likeness of

God.” The words, ‘image’ and ‘likeness’ have

created much theological debates for centuries

among the Orthodox, Catholic and protestant

theologians. The use of icons and the idea of God

impressing His image on man/woman are

central to Orthodox theology. Theethos Thirumeni

suggested that image indicates God-given

potential or capabilities inherent in all human

beings and that likeness means the realisation of

that God-given potential as a fulfilment of a

dynamic process between man and God.

Michelangelo famously said, “I saw the angel in

the marble and carved until I set him free.” This is

indeed being in the likeness of God of having the

creativity, freedom and responsibility. Searching

for a deeper distinction between these two words is

not very helpful for us here. We need to carve out

from the attachments of gods of our own creation

to get released and liberated into the freedom in

Christ and freedom from us. Seeking liberation

from ourselves is a very deep and interesting

thought; our spiritual growth is very much

influenced by this liberation through the grace of

God.

Gods of our creation such as self-centredness,

power mongering, wealth creation, consumerism,

self-projection, placing ourselves as the centre of

existence and pushing God out, creating a God-

shaped hole in life and such are a barriers to be

in the image and likeness of God to realise God-

given purpose for our existence in this world. We

have pushed God out of our lives and placed Him

in a pseudo-religious setup and frame work and

discovered too late we have imprisoned God to

make gods in our image and make them dance to

our own tunes. This search for an institutionalised-

God has led to spiritual paralysis. Putting down

institutional foundation is creating a barrier to

obedience to God and His purposes. This is why

Bonhoeffer dreamt of a ‘religions-less

Christianity’. Obedience means being ready to

move at a moment’s notice as Abraham moved and

Jesus confessed, ‘but I have no fixed address.’

Peter and Andrew, James and John left their

fishing nets and Mathew left his account books, but

some others found their possessions, gods, as a

barrier to obedience

to Jesus’ call to

discipleship.

There is hardly a

society anywhere in

the world where

properties and

possessions, both

material and

intellectual, are not a

barrier to

relationship with

neighbours and to God. Our possessions define our

identity, where we live, which school our children

7

attend, and strongly influence how we spend our

leisure and the membership of our social and

religious network. The fairy tale does not tell us if

Cinderella kept her old friends after she married

the Prince and moved to the palace. We should

never forget we were immigrants and strangers

once in this land; we should be mindful of the

needs of others around us to provide hospitality

and fellowship. Hospitality is part of our Diaspora

spirituality. We should be able to see the face of

God in the face of the other, as Jacob said to Esau

at Peniel: “For to see your face is like seeing the

face of God” (Genesis 33: 10). This is indeed

developing an ‘I-Thou’ relationship with the

stranger. Today the unknown other is regarded as

the root of all violence, or a competitor to be

overcome for the limited resources (food, water,

shelter, clean air) of an overpopulated world. But

Jesus asked us to welcome strangers, to care for the

widow and the orphans and build relationship with

those distant from us. Hospitality and not hostility

is the prescription for the times. An Irish proverb

says: “It is in the shelter of each other that people

live.” Are we sensitive to the Syrian refugee crisis

at our door step?

These gods of our life are barrier to the kingdom of

God. In Luke chapter 14 we read of the kingdom of

the God is like a great feast. You are invited by the

king himself. But some of those invited refuse to

come and the reason is that they have a prior

invitation from their gods and they got their

twisted priorities wrong. They want to see and

enjoy what they have bought. Their possessions,

gods, are barriers to the royal banquet. Jesus

taught us that we cannot serve other gods, God and

Mammon. Where your treasure is there will be

your heart also. It is indeed the poor in spirit who

see God.

When Christians are tempted to adopt society’s

scale of values to build cathedrals, follow popular

liberal and fashionable demands of the social

media, cherish investments and endowments as a

sign of its security, we should remember that in the

New Jerusalem there is no temple. We are temples

of God with God’s kingdom and values within us

with an indwelling Spirit because we are created in

the image and likeness of God; there is no room for

other gods. “For in him we live and move and have

our being.' As some of your own poets have said,

'we are his offspring’” (Romans 17:28). We are the

children of God and we carry his image and

likeness and hence through the grace of God we are

duty and honour bound to produce the fruit of the

Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is by the fruit of the Spirit

that others would know that we are created in the

image and likeness of God to give Glory to Him

who created us.

It is important to remember that Christians have

not chosen the One and only God; He has chosen

us in Christ. Man has the freedom to choose gods

of this world, but not the Trinitarian God. The

Bible is a written history of God’s search for man

and recovers his humanity in its fullness. We are a

chosen people of God; it is God who is seeking us

to have a communion with us. This does not

suggest preference as a special group, people with

privileges at the exclusion of ‘the other’; it is all

about a relationship between people and God. In

absolute humility, we should open ourselves to

become agents for the flow of God’s grace through

us for becoming a blessing for others.

We congratulate our children who passed GCSE

and A Level examination and also those obtained

star grades of excellence. Those going to

universities, should try to achieve the very best, it

is for this alone that God has placed you there; for

you are also His ambassadors and witnesses. We

wish our children all the blessings for a very

effective and meaningful school year and

University life.

The Editorial Board

“Man, made in the image of Trinity,

can only realise the divine likeness if

he lives a common life such as the

blessed Trinity lives: as the three

persons of Godhead ‘dwell’ in one

another, so a man must ‘dwell’ in his

fellow men, living not for himself

alone, but in for others.”

– Timothy Ware

8

Baptism: Dying and Rising

up with Christ

(St.John.12:20-26Rev.)

Revd. Jameson. K, Switzerland MTC.

[The following is Jameson achen’s contribution to

the daily meditation, ‘Word for the Day’, under the

Christian Education Forum on Saturday, 29th

August, 2015. At the end of this meditation, we

have included a discussion with achen on the

importance of the post-baptismal faith formation.

Achen is doing his PhD studies on liturgy in

Belfast. These daily meditations are excellent

resources for the spiritual growth of the Diocese.

It is an initiative of Theodosius Thirumeni and let

us thank God for many young people of the

Diocese who are contributing to this. It is good to

start each day with this meditation and prayer.

The resource is there for us to use.]

Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls

to the ground and dies, it remains only a single

seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. (24)

As one of the dominical sacraments of the

Church, the holy baptism stands as a pillar of

Christian life, its identity and mission. The

baptismal liturgy of the Mar Thoma Church

affirms that, through the holy baptism a person

identifies with the death and resurrection of Jesus

Christ. Further, its emphasis as a sign of new life in

Jesus Christ and participation in the life giving

mission of Christ. The meaning of baptism

includes ‘the invitation of God to share in His

divine life, union with Christ, the beginning of a

new life in Christ, the reception of the Spirit, and

admittance to the community of the faithful’.

The selected passage draws our attention to

the importance of self-sacrifice and the willingness

of painstaking in Christian life. Through baptism,

one agrees to bear the cross of Christ. To carry the

cross of Christ is a unique way of life towards

eternity. The uniqueness of the cross rest in the life

saving plan of God. In this passage, Jesus uses a

metaphor ‘kernel of wheat’ to teach the

significance of this new life. A kernel of wheat is

safe in the basket of the master. But it is not created

to remain in the safe zone. Rather, its purpose is to

be a plentiful harvest of new lives by its death. In

the same way, the holy baptism is an invitation to

come out from the safe side of life. This proposition

demands a willingness to participate in the pain of

Christ. As a baptised member of the Church, our

calling is dual in nature. That is willingness to die

and thereby to give life for others. A ‘kernel of

wheat’ has no choice to have its own space to grow.

It is the choice of the master. It might fall in a

fertile land or a barren field. But its choice is to

grow and to be fruitful by giving up its own very

self. This passage reminds us that only through

death, life is possible and the ultimate call of the

Christian life is to be productive for Christ.

The holy baptism is an invitation to die the

carnal natures within us. There is a continuing

struggle between the carnal and spiritual elements

within each one of us. Baptism calls us to die in our

own selfishness and worldliness and to resurrect

towards holiness and goodness every day.

Through baptism the old habits and sinful ways of

life is dead and buried. That is why Paul, say

‘Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal

body.’(Rom.6: 12) Baptism represents the burial of

our sins and the resurrection of our new being. The

baptismal water is a symbol of death and life.

When the Israel crossed the red-sea, the water of

that sea became a source of death for the Egyptians

and the source of life for Israel. In the same way,

through baptism one enters into the source of

eternal life.

History is full of great people such as

Gandhiji, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King

Jr, Nelson Mandela, Mother Theresa, Albert

Schweitzer, Francis Xavier, Fr. Damian, who all

lived for others like a kernel of wheat still

continues to motivate and inspire us. They all came

out of their safer zone to give life to many. As a

Christian our baptismal calling is to die and to be

productive. Let us bury our carnal nature every day

and resurrect towards the holiness of God for His

mission. May God bless us for the same.

9

Thought for the day: ‘Baptism is a

funeral service as well as a resurrection

service’.

Prayer: Lord, help us to experience the

death and resurrection of Jesus everyday by letting

us to die our carnal nature and resurrect in your

holiness. Strengthen us to sacrifice our lives for the

blessing of others - Amen

An appreciation, questions, and response:

Appreciation and questions:

Good morning Achen! I very much enjoyed your

meditation on baptism this morning. This is a

beautiful exposition of the theology of baptism,

but how do infants undergoing baptism

understand this? What do we do about post-

baptismal faith formation? Whose responsibility

is it? Is there any wonder why Pentecostalist

thrive and do their poaching?

Response from Jameson Achen:

Thank you very much for your mail. I very much

value your comments and appreciate your words of

encouragement. You are very welcome to include

it in the ECHO.

The questions which you have raised is very

pertinent and need to ponder further for a

meaningful existence of our Church. As you

know, as far as the baptismal liturgy of the Church

concerned, baptism is not a personal affair of an

individual but a corporate act of the community.

It is the responsibility of the baptized community

to nurture a child in the faith and practices of the

Church. (The role of ‘god-parents’ in the baptism

service emphasis this aspect). Faith is an ongoing

process and a baptized child imbibes it from the

Christian living of the parents and the witnessing

life of the Church. Very often we miserably fail to

do it!!!

I join with you to assert that post-baptismal faith

formation is an integral part of Christian

nurturing, but unfortunately, it seems to be a

neglected aspect in the life of the Church. I think

we need to have a serious, concrete, and systematic

action plan for the post baptismal faith formation

and assertion especially for teenagers and youth.

Whenever the Church seems silent, the counter

forces take the credit of it. The so- called

Pentecostals have their own systematic agenda of

faith propagation. We have to appreciate them for

their passion of faith and willingness to learn the

scripture. I strongly believe that proper teaching

and exhortation on the faith, practices and the

liturgy of the Church is the need of the time to

overcome the challenges of other ‘privatized

communities’. I believe, a clarity of what we

believe and the passion and willingness to live

with that will drive away the challenges of

external forces.

““I like your Christ, I do not like your

Christians. Your Christians are so

unlike your Christ"

Gandhiji.

10

A Spiritual Dialogue: Upon

the Wings of God’s Image

on Earth Rev. Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam.

The pastor said on Sunday that I was created in

the image of God!

I was under the impression that I am the replica

of my father and mother.

I was taught that I carry their genetic codes.

My face is exactly like my mother where as my

nose is like my father’s.

How Can I be in the image of God?

Tell me, ‘Adam,’ whether I was made in God’s or

human likeness.

I stood in front of a big mirror,

I could see my own image.

I did compare myself with my friend in the class

room;

My complexion is dark, where as his is white;

My grey matter is more powerful than my friend’s

My IQ is only 120, whereas the IQ of Stephen

Hawking is 160.

Should I think that the divine image in Hawking

and Einstein is superior to many?

Tell me, ‘Adam,’ whether Hawking and Einstein

have different magnitudes of God’s image?

I searched the Bible for verses where the Image of

God is mentioned.

In Gen.1:26, I saw the self-will of God, the

Creator: “Let us make humankind in our image”.

Is there plurality in the god-head?

In Col.1:15, St. Paul writes that Christ is the image

of the invisible God.

Yes, he is truly the second Adam!

In 1Cor.11:7, St. Paul, the architect and builder of

the Church says:

“…man is the image and reflection of God; but

woman is the reflection of man”.

Tell me, ‘Adam,’ whether there is equality in

creation?

The image of God is shared by all of God’s

creation.

True, man is the crown and glory of all creation.

Lord, you have created the web of life for human

survival.

But the strength of the web comes from you, O

Lord.

The Psalmist recognises the solidarity of creation:

“All the earth worship you,

They sing praise to you,

Sing praises to your name” (Psalm 66:4).

In the new humanity of Christ, there is the

reflection of God’s nature everywhere.

The sandal wood smuggler in Karnataka,

Veerappan, too shared God’s image,

But frequency of its vibrations is low because of

our unrighteous deeds!

The image of God is present in all living creatures.

How can all that breathe praise God, if there is no

image in them?

The image of Christ in creation gets blurred or

defaced when sin creeps into our being;

No doubt pollution is sin and is the wilful

defacement of Christ’s image in creation.

If “everything was created in and through Him,

how can we deny Christ’s presence in creation?

The whole creation is groaning to share the liberty

(image) of the children of God.

In the sacramentality of Creation, the image of

God in nature is the key to human wellness;

It is to be renewed daily through kenosis, love,

sharing, and above all the renewal of the mind.

In an ‘I-Thou relationship,’ the image of God

makes a visible appearance.

In the very talk about satyam (truth), sivam

(order) and sundaram(beauty), the image comes

alive.

O Image of God, you are a revealed mystery in the

whole creation.

Conversations emerging from the above spiritual dialogue:

Response-1: Editor: ZV Thanks for the 'Spiritual Dialogue' Thanks for immortalising 'X' through your poetical imagery. I shall change this into friend for avoiding problems.

"The image of God is shared by all of God’s creation......... The image of God is present in all living creatures." These lines may cause problem. Pope Francis, recently, got into a problem for suggesting 'all of God’s creatures can make it to heaven or paradise'. You and I may get into serious trouble with theologians for publishing this. It is good that

11

we are both retired. It may be taking eco-spirituality to another level! Response from the Author: 1

Thanks. If you say that everything was created "through the logos Christ", how can you deny the fact that "creation belongs to the very being of God". The sacramentality of creation should not negate the very idea. In Ps.66:4, we read “All the earth worships thee; they sing praise to thee, sing praises to thy name. How can the earth praise the creator, if there is no sparks of divine image in it? You may raise it for a debate! You are free to change X to" Adam" under inverted comas. I am glad that you like my spontaneous writing!

Response-2, Editor: ZV

Yes, indeed: one cannot deny facts. But the question is what is fact, what is truth? It is an age old question. Religions have put words into God's mouth and then wrote: 'God spoke to......' This has been the problem from the beginning. God has been saying, 'Not in My Name.' Do we hear this? This word is not that ‘Word’ that was there in the beginning.......' And which is there now and for ever and ever in the depth of our being.

Finding our identity in

Christ amidst competing

cultures Mrs. Minu Sherry,

Midlands

'You are what you eat' is a

phrase popularised by the

television presenter and

writer, Gillian McKeith.

In many ways the same

principle applies to our thought process too, we are

who we think we are. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, apostle

Paul writes "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is

a new creation: the old has gone, the new has

come!"

Finding our worth in the midst of conflicting

cultures as a Diaspora community is a big deal for

most of us. It's no surprise that our identities or the

ideologies that define who we are evolve/change

during the course of one's life. This can be so

overwhelming for many, yet very crucial and

powerful process that brings transformation in us.

An interesting character in the Bible, Moses, is a

powerful example of an ordinary Jewish baby born

into the world of suffering, yet privileged to be

bought up in the luxury of Egyptian palace, facing

identity crisis and torn between his people and his

adopted people. Moses knew that the treasures of

Egypt awaited him, but the burden that 'I AM'

placed on his heart for his people was so great that

he chose to forsake them all to yield to the calling

of Jehovah. It’s profound to step into Moses' shoes

for a moment to identify the intense struggle that

he underwent trying to 'fit in' with the Egyptian

culture and every mind set the big Empire had to

offer. Having been raised as a baby in the bosom of

his birth mother and cared by Miriam and Aaron,

Moses knew that his family belonged to the place

where his adopted parents despised. Despite all the

overwhelming experience, he pursued to obey his

calling. Trying to find his worth among his

brethren, he took matters to his own hands, ended

up killing an Egyptian, ran to the wilderness,

confused, afraid and angry that he messed up

everything in his life.

When Moses thought God had given up on him,

God steps in. God had to retrain Moses for 40 years

in the desert to undo the harm the Egyptian

12

philosophies had taught him. Moses had to accept

and confess that he is of slow speech and tongue.

He had to know who the God of Abraham, the God

of Isaac and the God of Jacob is. When Moses

owned up his past failures and acknowledged the

God of his fathers, he found his true worth, true

identity hidden in 'I AM'. Moses was 80 years when

he got the courage to face up to his 'giant' and

realise how mighty his God is. The transformation

was profound in his life that ' The LORD would

speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a

friend'. There isn't a blessing beyond that, to be

called as the Lord's friend.

As children of God, who called us to be partakers

of His glory through Jesus Christ His son, we have

every right to live in the fullness of joy of our

salvation. Yet many time we succumb to the

pressures around us, weighed down by the

expectations our family, friends, community and

colleagues, trying to 'fit in' so we may be accepted

and happy. Our self-worth is based on the people

around us instead of the 'One' who called us. If only

we could realise the price God paid on the cross for

each one of our lives, we could look into the

situations around us and say 'I am worthy to

receive His love, not because of who I am, but

because of who He is'. Our life is hidden in Christ,

to bring glory to His name and we are precious and

valuable because the Blood of Christ is so worthy.

Finally, the Bible says “In all thy ways

acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy

paths.” Proverbs 3:6

Amen

Not Understanding the

Other Dr. Zac Varghese, London

I recently heard a theological professor saying that

‘it is a fundamental human right not to be

understood’. This statement caused me concern, as

he was talking in the context of interfaith dialogue.

In a bestselling book, ‘The Seven Habits of Highly

Effective People’, Peter Covey states the fifth habit

as ‘seek first to understand then to be understood.’

Therefore, understanding ‘the other’ or others is

fundamental to our communitarian living, and

following the kingdom values and concepts.

Communication is the most important skill in life;

we spend years learning how to read, write and

speak. But what about listening? What training do

we seek to listen carefully and respectfully with an

‘I-Thou’ attitude? Listening enables us to

understand the other person and build a

relationship. This listening is the first step in our

relationship with God and our spiritual journey

with Him. Listening is what we are expected to do

while walking with God. Psalmist’s advice is

significant in this context: ‘be still, and know that I

am God.’

If we are like most people, we probably seek first to

be heard and understood; we want to get our point

across first. And in doing so, we may ignore the

other person completely; we may pretend that we

are listening, but selectively hear only certain parts

of the conversation or attentively focus only on the

comfortable words that we are familiar with, but

miss the whole meaning entirely. We listen to what

we want to hear and blot out the rest. Why does

this happen? We listen to ourselves, an internal

conversation, as we prepare in our mind what we

are going to say, the questions we are going to ask,

etc. We check what we hear against our knowledge,

prejudice, background, and see how it measures

13

up. And consequently, we decide prematurely what

the other person thinks before s/he finishes

communicating. There is even a tendency to stop

the other person finishing a sentence by saying, ‘I

know where you are coming from.’ This is a blunt

and arrogant conversation stopper.

Krishnamurti1 was a great communicator, when he

spoke people silently listened, he had an immense

presence; he suggested the need for ‘creative

emptiness’ in listening to others. He wrote, “When

the mind is creatively empty–not when it is

positively directing– there is reality. All great

discoveries are born in this creative emptiness and

there can only be creative emptiness when self-

contradiction ceases.” This ‘creative emptiness’ is

the silence of the mind, and we need this silence to

listen to the ‘still small voice of God.’ We need to

understand God first through God’s grace and

make others understand God through us, our

lifestyles with the kingdom values. We also have

opportunities to understand God through others

around us, nature and many other means. Not to

understand others is pride, arrogance and

believing in the self-sufficiency in one self; but

‘man is not an island.’ Humility and self-emptying

is part of understanding ‘the other.’ How can one

understand the whole reality when one is only

concerned about oneself? Being confounded

within the negativity of self-centredness, how can

one reach out to that which is infinite? It is from

the known that the unknown is realised. In our

Christian understanding, it is by knowing Jesus the

Christ that we have glimpses of the infinite love

and glory of the creator God who is beyond all

human wisdom and understanding. He is indeed

the ‘more,’ more than anything one can imagine.

This raises an interesting question, what is our

right relationship with the world, the world outside

ourselves? This relationship is entirely based on

loving our neighbours as ourselves. Then how do

we love our neighbour and strangers without living

within the lives of them? The otherness of the other

will be removed by our understanding of the other.

The minute, insignificant, part and personality of

the individual is not the whole reality, but to

understand the whole, the part or parts should

interact with the other parts; it is in understanding

others, the whole reality is comprehended.

Kirshnamurti1 said, ‘We should not use the word

individual at all, or the word mine and yours they

have no meaning, fundamentally. I am the result of

my father and my mother and the environmental

influence of the country and society.’ This

interdependence is important in our everyday

living and understanding the other is part of our

identity. We should learn to move from self-

centredness to other-centeredness. It is in this

process, we will be understood in our

understanding of the other. What the Indian

mystic, Sri Aurobindo2, said is also relevant in this

context: ‘A solitary salvation leaving the world to

its fate is almost distasteful.’

To illustrate this further let me quote a story from

Jonathan Sacks’ recent book, ‘Not in God’s Name.’3

Two friends were walking in the jungle when they

hear the roar of a lion. The first start thinking of

places they can hide. The second puts on his

running shoes. The first says, ‘what are you

thinking of? You cannot run faster than the lion.’

The second replies, ‘I don’t need to run faster than

the lion, I just need to run faster than you.’ In this

story, the first man thinks of saving both him and

his friend. The second one is thinking of saving

himself at the expense of his friend. It is a question

of survival at the cost of the life of one’s friend. The

reality is that ‘nothing can be saved unless

everything is saved.’ Therefore, Sri Aurobindo is

right in thinking that ‘A solitary salvation leaving

the world to its fate was almost distasteful.’ Hence,

is it a fundamental human right not to understand

the other?

Jonathan Sacks3, a great Jewish scholar of modern

times, says the central question of Genesis is: ‘are

human beings friends or strangers, brothers or

others?’ It is the attitude of otherness which causes

most of the sibling rivalries in the Genesis

narratives. These narratives also demonstrate the

importance of listening and understanding the

other people. He concludes his analysis of Genesis

14

this way: “It tells us that if only we were to listen

closely to the voice of the other, we would find

beneath the skin we are brothers and sisters,

members of the human family under the

parenthood of God. When, others become brothers

and conflict is transformed into conciliation, we

have begun the journey to the society-as-a-family,

and the redemptive drama can begin.” We see this

recognition of the stranger as the brother in the

story of the Good Samaritan. Therefore, it is

fundamentally important to understand the other

and accept him/her as brother or sister for our

survival. In the context of an expanding human

population and shrinking resources, consideration

of the other and understanding ‘the other’ is an

existential reality. We need to move from ‘being-

for-it-self to ‘being-for-others.’ It is not survival of

the fittest anymore and at any cost; it is the survival

of everyone as the children of one God through the

way of the Cross. ‘Being-with-others’ is not enough

anymore for building a community. Human

solidarity, recovering humanity and hospitality is

at the centre of the attitude of ‘being-for-others’. It

is not just existential philosophy anymore; it

should become our everyday theology of ‘liturgy

after the liturgy’.

It is good to have a deeper understanding of the

theology of ‘the other’ in the book of Genesis when

we prepare ourselves for expressing our gratitude

to God on the Diaspora Sunday in November. This

theme was greatly emphasised in the talks given by

both Theodosius Thirumeni and Theethos

Thirumeni during the 33rd Mar Thoma Family

conference in Europe at Yarnfiled. This theology is

so simple: faith is a God-given and God-guided

friendship, and friendship is living within the life

of the other as in the preichoresis, indwelling, and

differentiated unity of the Trinity. In the Gospel of

St. John, faith and indwelling are brought so close

together as to be virtually identical. When

Abraham was faced with the crisis of Sarah’s death

and the need to find a burial place, he realised that

‘I am stranger and a temporary resident amongst

you’ (Genesis 23:4). Abraham and Moses knew

what it is to be a stranger in other people’s

territory. Moses even gives his son the name,

Gershom, meaning ‘I was a stranger in the strange

land.’ Our Diaspora history and its memory is good

in recognising the importance of changing our

relationship with others and changing into

brotherhood and sisterhood. It is therapeutic to

realise in our current affluence to think that we

were once on the other side of the dividing line.

This would help us to appreciate those human

beings who are outside the Mar Thoma fraternity

are also children of God. Genesis teaches us that

people outside the Abrahamic covenantal

relationship (Hagar, Ishmael and Esau) are also

under God’s loving care and blessing. This

understanding is helpful in our appreciation and

dialogue with other faith communities. It is in

reaching out and understanding the other we

establish the kingdom values. It is for this God has

created us in His image and likeness.

References:

1. J. Krishnamurti, Ojai talks, 1947

2. Sri Aurobindo, Satperm, The Mother’s Institute

of Research, Delhi and Mira Aditi, Mysore, 2003.

3. Jonathan Sacks, ‘Not in God’s Name,’ Hodder

and Stoughton, 2015.

“God became man that we might be made

god” - Athanasius

15

Conversation Corner This is a new feature of the Mar Thoma ECHO; it

emerged from the recent reader’s survey that our

readers would like to see an opportunity to raise

comments and questions relating to issues, which

are of concern to them. You have the freedom to

raise questions or make comments, which we shall

try to answer with the help of people who may like

to respond and help us. Communication is the

heart beat of the community and indeed this is a

way of making our views known to others and also

an opportunity to listen and feel the pulse. We do

hope that you will make use of this corner.

One of the issues bothering everyone in Europe is

the refugee crisis emerging form the violence in

Iraq and Syria. This kind of displacement of people

and creating ‘refugee Diaspora’ is not new. We saw

this in India, immediately after the Indian

Independence in 1947; we had it in Europe in

nineteen thirties and forties; we saw it again

during the Communist expansion in the Eastern

Europe. These sorts of displacement have a very

long history and now it is our responsibility to

respond to this human predicament. God raised a

question to Cain in Genesis chapter 4: “Where is

Abel, your brother? “I do not know,” he replied.

“Am I my brother’s keeper?”

Question:

Does this story of Cain and Abel describe the

origin, development and consequence of human

violence? In the context of present crisis, what is

your answer to this question?

Please send your responses to the ECHO Editorial

Board(compe.echo@gmail.com)

All by itself, true sharing can

transform the world. This refers not

only to the sharing of the physical

objects, but especially to the sharing

of the wisdom and the creator’s light.

(Kabbalah)

16

News & Reports

Death, Renewal & Revival

The 33rd UK & Europe

Conference started on Friday the

21st of August at 2pm and closed

on Sunday the 23rd of August at

4:30. In those 50 and ½ hours,

many lives were transformed

and touched by God’s Holy Spirit

and His presence being felt

among the adults, the youth and

the children

Rev. Jose Punamadam welcomed

one and all to the Conference

reminding everyone to reflect,

study and be in fellowship and not

just look into the mirror to see

ourselves but check if we reflect

God’s image!

Our leaders were

Adult - The Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Theethos,

Diocesan Bishop for Mumbai.

Youth - Jose Philip, Regional Director for

RZIM (ages 16-25) supported by Isaac Samuel

(ages 13-15) from the St. Thomas MTC, Bristol.

Children -Shija Samuel (ages 8-12) & Neena

Abraham (ages 4-7) from the St. Thomas MTC,

Bristol.

All of this overseen by our Diocesan Bishop, The

Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius

Our beloved Theodosius Thirumeni, presided the

blessed conference stating that it was the first time

that he has seen a conference theme with a

question mark. Thirumeni formally inaugurated

the conference challenging everyone to ask who

‘our gods’ were and do we really worship the true

& living God?

33, the year that our Lord was crucified. Theethos Thirumeni challenged us with the opening words in his session – “I want us to have a death experience to give up the ‘gods’ in our lives so that we may reflect the image of the True God in our lives!” What a fantastic start to the theme – Whose Image do we reflect? Christ versus the ‘gods’ of our life!

17

Summary of the Adult Sessions

Having opened with asking

all of us to go through a

death experience,

Theethos Thirumeni spoke

in the power of the Holy

Spirit, asking each of us to

open our hearts to the

transformation to receive

the one True God in whose

image we are all made. Our choices define who we

are.

So, he pointed us to three questions for realisation

– Who am I, Where do I belong and what am I

living for? Once we start truly seeking the answers,

we will be led to repentance. We never leave space

for God, we are always trying to control – Permit

God to edit life so that we are deconstructed for

transformation.

The Kingdom is the motive, Christ is the model and

the Cross is the way. He brought to life these three

key statements through the story of Zacchaeus. He

pointed out that Zacchaeus’ disability was not that

he was short, but that he did not have God in his

life. His life was filled with ‘gods’ and in Zacchaeus’

case it was power and money. Likewise, we are all

disabled because we do not have God in our life

because the ‘gods’ of work, power, corruption,

money, etc. take over our lives.

There is a vast difference between look like and be

like. Our potential is to realise what our image is

in God. Daniel and his friends even had their

names changed to mean different things but the

image they reflected was that of the living God.

Our faith and lifestyle need to go hand in hand

because sin fascinates but finally assassinates.

Our faith and lifestyle need to go hand in

hand because sin fascinates but finally

assassinates.

The challenges of living a reflected image of God,

because of living in a hyper connected world, with

ideas, people, goods & services moving across the

world where information is easily available at the

touch of our finger tips, are many. We are selfish

with a culture of accumulation without

consideration for the many and culture of

elimination where we exclude the many. We are

exercising power over others. We are driving

towards a single, mono-culture. We are

assimilating many cultures into one making it a

melting pot of values and morals while threatening

the diversity and uniqueness of humankind.

In this process we are distorting moral values.

Wealth is considered the supreme power versus an

Almighty God. Loving service to other is being

replaced with profit for oneself. Respect for all is

being replaced with respect for the wealthy &

powerful, instead of the liberation of captives, we

are creating debt slavery for the poor and the

sanctity of the unity of families is being replaced by

broken families.

Women today are a commodity and reduced to

objects. We have gone from being spiritual beings

to sensual beings. He gave the example of a

daughter who became a prostitute to pay for her

mother’s hospital fees. Are we so uncaring that we

make our mothers & daughters prostitutes? We

forget that the body is the temple of the living God.

And today for us it is Prayer time in direct

competition with prime time!!

In treating the world as a machine, we have

exploited it for instrumental value versus realising

its intrinsic value. There we have the groaning of

the environment, groaning of people, groaning of

18

children, the groaning of the family and the

emptiness of life groaning in each of our hearts!

To fill this emptiness, we need to seek His

Kingdom first and His righteousness. Giving the

example of the creation story he asked where is

God in my life? But what exactly is the Kingdom of

God? Romans 14:17 says that “the kingdom of God

is not eating and drinking but righteousness,

peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.” He contrasted

between the fruit of the spirit (Galatians 5:22-26)

and the fruits of the flesh (Galatians 5: 19-21).

Righteousness is about having the right

relationship with each other, with our spouses,

with our children, with the people in the world,

with the world (including the environment) in the

complete understanding that God is the creator.

He concluded by saying that God will bring us to a

new heaven and a new earth. We are partners with

Christ and co-workers with Christ.

The above reduced synopsis will not do justice to

the Holy Spirit filled talks by Theethos Thirumeni,

so please visit the following You Tube links.

Talk 1 - https://youtu.be/bDrTZNYwSS0; Talk 2 -

https://youtu.be/BQuW_x3rRlo;

Talk 3 - https://youtu.be/8AgHJ2stvrY; Talk by

Jose Philip to Adults -

https://youtu.be/AJjtT3Z650M

Question Time facilitated by our own John

‘Dimbleby’ Thomas had an able set of panellists

comprising of Theodosius Thirumeni, Theethos

Thirumeni, Rev. Dr. T.J. Thomas, Pushpa

Punamadam Kochamma, Dr. George Mathew and

Dr. Zac Varghese. There were some very deep

questions around liturgy and the identity of the

Mar Thoma church into the future.

The devotions for all the sessions were led by the

Achens and a tradition when St. John’s runs the

conference is to have one worship session led by

the Kochammas. What a blessing our Achens &

Kochammas are!!

The testimony session was an amazing and moving

experience which touched the lives of many people.

A number of people stood up and witnessed the

power of God in their lives. It was led by Alexander

Tharakan achen.

19

Youth

The youth (there were a 100 of them) were blessed

to have 2 fantastic speakers to lead them for this

year’s Family Conference.

They were Jose Philip and

Isaac Samuel. The

speakers touched on a

number of key issues

related to the theme

during the 3 days and

these included messages

on a very personal level.

Topics were ‘who are we &

how are we sure of this?’,

‘Have we accepted Christ’s

invitation’ and ‘The idols of our lives’.

The core message was in recognising our value as

God's children and the challenges in living out this

identity in the real world. Through audio visual

presentations, scriptures and messages the youth

were alerted to the subtle traps in today's world

that can lure them away from serving God whole

heartedly.

The youth discussions revealed hearts that

acknowledge biblical values but also their own

struggles and dilemmas in living up to this. It was

evident that God was touching these young hearts

as some of the youth made commitments through

quiet reflections whereas others were able to make

a public stand by coming forward to receive prayer.

The youths were split up into small groups to

discuss these topics further. They were aided with

mentors for each group who provided support to

the youths in their groups for the 3 days. A panel

discussion was then conducted on the topic on how

to make faith personal to each of us in a changing

secular world. The panellists included the 2

speakers and Dr. Jansen Jacob, a scientist by

profession and a strong believer. Science and the

influence of other religions were discussed in this

among other things. This session proved highly

enlightening to many of the youths who stayed

back after the session ended, to ask further

questions to our panellists.

On the final day, a session titled ‘Grill a Christian’

was organised and during this session the youths

were asked to send in questions to an online portal

where others could like or dislike questions and

questions were answered by our 2 panellists based

on the popularity of each question. This again

proved to be a highly informative session as several

meaningful questions were asked and answered.

After the conference, the youth had an interesting

set of discussions and I am told that one poor soul

who picked up the thread the next day saw close

to 3000 messages – which were Q&A between the

youth! Praise God!! The Q&A continues….

20

Children

Sessions

for

children

in the age

group 3-

12 years

were

conducted

in parallel to those for the adults. The 3-7 year

olds were led by Neena Ann Jacob and that of the

8-12 year olds were led by Shija Isaac. We had 30

and 52 children in the respective age groups. The

children had fun singing action songs during the

common Praise and worship sessions after which

they were split up into the 2 separate age groups

to cater to their needs.

During the

group sessions

the 8-12 year

olds had

discussions on

the topic

“Whose image

do we reflect”

as well as being

shown thought

provoking

videos to make the topic relevant and real to

them. The younger children were given activities

like puzzles, craft and were shown videos to make

the topic relevant to their young minds.

We believe at

this conference

we were able to

challenge their

understanding

of the image

they reflect, as

well as having

some fun with

friends

and

family.

All the

children

were

involved

in

decorating and personalising a wooden cross that

they took away home with them to remind them

about this conference, and what they learnt here.

Fun & Games too!!

The first day had the traditional showcase of

talent from the various parishes and

congregations!! The talent show demanded that

the Mar Thoma Church either enter the ‘X’ factor

or at least have one of its own! It was simply

amazing the efforts people took – especially the

youth. Some parishes & congregations displayed

‘Mollywood’ skills with skits that struck home

with a balanced combination of humour and

serious messages. The youth put together dances

& choreographies

that obviously

made their

parents proud –

and their churches

too!! What grace!!

Well, to say the

least we are a competitive bunch whether it was

for badminton, treasure hunt or musical chairs!!

Take a guess who won the musical chairs?

Hmm...

21

The last day came to a close with the Carmel

Marthoma Church, Liverpool winning the

bragging rights as champions of the Quiz

Competition in the

run up to the Family

Conference. And so

did two families

from the same

church who won the

individual prizes in

1st & 2nd place. Well

done, Carmel!

We as a church would like to thank all the

volunteers who gave all their time and effort to

minister to the needs of the 450+ delegates,

without whose dedication and commitment these

sessions would not have been possible. And all

the churches for the prayerful support and

enthusiasm in making this a blessed conference.

Overall, the conference was an uplifting spiritual

experience and everyone felt the presence of our

Lord – felt their lives had been touched. The St.

John’s Mar Thoma church, who were the host,

had been praying for a year every Sunday and in

smaller groups that the Lord will bring those

whose lives He needed to touch to the conference

and that we will leave the conference in the

strength of the Holy Spirit. We believe the Lord

heard our prayers!

St. John’s as a church decided that the offertory

collected at the Sunday Service would be given to

the Navjeevan project which is primarily engaged

in rehabilitating the children of women working

in the red-light areas in Mumbai. Over the years

Navjeevan gradually stepped up its involvement

and today has assumed total responsibility for the

education and upkeep of a number of children in

the Navjeevan Village. This was announced the

previous day.

The cash machine onsite at Yarnfield ran out of

money and the offertory bags were heaving with

£3041 (~Rs. 300,000)! A huge thank you to the

generosity of the UK Mar Thoma churches!!

The Conference core committee consisted of Jose

Punamadam Achen, Suresh Thalikallumkal, Saji

Varghese, Samuel Daniel, David Philip and the

convenor, Isaac George.

Here is

praying for a

death experience to the ‘gods’ of our life, to fill the

void in our hearts that only the true God, our Lord

& Saviour Jesus Christ can fill.

Feedback from one of the youth

I truly felt the power of God through the sessions

…as our youth speaker definitely made me have

a new perception on God and develop my faith.

……Yesterday, I also felt the presence of the

Holy Spirit when I got home as all my family

was at my home and the Holy Spirit spoke to me

and asked me to pray. I felt the power of prayer

throughout the whole conference and praise God

for giving us such a blessed time!

22

Feedback from one of the adults

I thought I would write to give some feedback on

the Conference. Both my wife and I were really

blessed by this Family Conference, being our very

first. Thirumeni's talks were so inspiring; he

taught us how to make changes in our lives (to

reflect God's image). If there are any links to the

video-taped teachings at this Conference by

Thirumeni, please let us know. I thank you and

your committee for your excellent organisational

skills in bringing this large conference together so

successfully. We thoroughly enjoyed it and look

forward to next year.

Would it be possible for you to ask the relevant person in your church to send us application forms to join the Hounslow church as members? Though we are Marthomites, we have yet to join in UK. Anyone wanting to join a Mar Thoma Parish look for Mar Thoma church web sites or write to ECHO <compe.echo@gmail.com>

34th Mar Thoma Family

conference-Europe 26th-28th August 2016

Hayes Conference Centre, Derbyshire, DE55 1AU

‘Preserving the Timeless While Adapting to

the Times.’

The Sinai, MT Church, North London together

with All Saints MT Church Peterborough have

accepted the responsibility to host the 34th Mar

Thoma family conference.

The initial planning has started. By the grace of

God, we have a beautiful theme and very

competent speakers to enlighten us. The

preparation and nourishment for the conference is

entirely based on a staple diet of ‘PASTA’, which is

praying, assessing, supporting, thinking and

articulating. Under the theme of the conference we

will be exploring the timeless truth, our Mar

Thoma faith formulations, and the challenges

facing Mar Thoma Diaspora Christians in pluralist

societies and in various post-modern life

situations, and continuing the reformation under

the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

The Christian faith is timeless, God-given and

grace-driven, but its intellectual expressions must

change with the passage of time because our

thoughts forms change. The presuppositions and

suppositions of one age are different from those of

another. The practical aspect of Christian life is

not the same as that which was proposed and

practiced at the ‘Pentecost’, a thousand years ago

even before the Second World War or at the

beginning of the 21st century. Care must be taken

23

to acculturate the essential Christian faith into the

language and thought forms of our present age and

younger generations without in anyway losing its

core beliefs and fundamental faith these contain.

In this effort, equally great care must be taken not

to dilute the Christian faith with the passing

fashions of a particular age, so that the cutting edge

the Christian faith is not lost. Is something true

because it is ancient and traditional? Without

doubt, great truths were enunciated in the Bible,

other Holy Scriptures, and in ancient times in

many places through many holy people and

traditions. But of course great truths can also be

revealed under the grace of God now and in the

future.

May the Holy Spirit help us to ‘Preserve the

Timeless While Adapting to the Times.’

Early registration from now on will help us to

organise this conference to bring out the maximum

possible effect and enjoyment. Please help us with

your prayers and advice.

1st Mar Thoma Youth

Conference

Rennie Philip, Carmel MTC, Liverpool

By the grace of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,

the 1st Mar Thoma Youth Conference of Europe was

conducted successfully. Carmel Mar Thoma Youth

Fellowship, Liverpool was the host to this blessed

event, and it took place at the Cefn Lea Conference

and Holiday Park in Newtown, Wales from the 26th

to 28th June 2015. The theme for the conference,

‘Soar on Wings like Eagles’, was based on Isaiah

40:31: ‘but those who hope in the Lord will renew

their strength. They will soar on wings like

eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they

will walk and not be faint.’ The subject matters

explored were very relevant for the youths of this

generation and was easy to relate to.

This 3 day conference had over 125 delegates

involving the participation of youths from 9

different Mar Thoma parishes and congregation

across Europe. The conference was blessed with

the presence of Rev Jameson K. from Dublin,

Ireland, as a speaker along with the well renowned

authors and missionaries Rod Gilbert and Ruthie

Gilbert. Rev Dr Thomas Philips and Family, Rev

Vinoj Varghese and Family, Rev Roney Cheriyan

and Family, Pushpa J Punamadam Kochamma,

along with several other adult members also

participated and supported the conference for its

smooth running.

The main talks for the conference were held on the

second day. Rev Jameson focused on the liturgical

aspects of the theme and provided an in-depth

biblical message. The messages given by Rod and

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Ruthie focused more on the social aspects faced by

today’s youth and included stories and experiences

from their ministry in Asia. The Q&A sessions with

Rod and Ruthie were highly beneficial for the

youths as they had the opportunity to express their

doubts and ask questions which they have

encountered in their lives.

The worship sessions led by Mr Isaac George and

teams consisting of youths from St Johns MTC

Hounslow and Carmel MTC Liverpool, were

especially memorable and were most valued

amongst the youths. Their passion and enthusiasm

provided an energetic enthusiasm throughout the

conference.

Along with the main talks and singing sessions, the

other programmes consisted of worship sessions

led by various parishes, split- group sessions,

group activities, talent night programmes by

different churches, games sessions and a testimony

session. The testimony session proved to be one of

the most important sessions as it allowed the

personal dedication and commitment of over 30

young people to the Lord for the first time and

rededication of their lives by many in order to be in

a deeper relationship with Christ Jesus. The youth

members were able to enjoy, bonding, and take

away significant life lessons through the various

programmes that took place over the 3 days.

Altar Boys & Covenant

Girls: Preparing the

Future Leaders of the

Church Rev. Dennis Abraham, Convener*

The Altar Boys & Covenant Girls is a

ministry that has started in conjunction with the

Silver Jubilee of the Diocese of North America &

Europe of the Mar Thoma Church. The program is

a vision of our Diocesan Bishop, the Rt. Rev. Dr.

Geevarghese Mar Theodosius Episcopa. The goal

of this ministry is to encourage our children and

youths to (a) learn more about our church, faith,

heritage, tradition, (b) to grow spiritually, and (c)

to be well equipped to be a leader in the church.

Those who are interested in becoming an

Altar Boys or Covenant Girl should be above 12

years of age, and should be a full communicant

member of the church, and be committed to learn

and serve for at least 3 years. They should be

willing to attend the training programs, which take

place once a year. This is for a total of 3 years (a

total of 3 training programs according to the

required syllabus, over the period of 3 years). The

vicar serves as a mentor for them during the three

years, and helps train them on the local parish

level, so that they are ready to attend the next step

in training. They are expected to come to church at

least 30 minutes early, in order to attend the

training conducted regularly by the vicar. The

parish vicar delegates the responsibilities and can

decide on the dress code.

Once the Altar Boys & Covenant Girls have

gone through at least one training class, they are

able to participate in the Altar Boys & Covenant

Girls dedication service in their church (along with

signing pledge form). Once they are dedicated,

they are able to help out with the various needs of

the parish, in consultation with the parish vicar.

Completion of three years of training is required in

order for them to be officially recognized as an

Altar Boy or Covenant Girl of the Diocese (a

certificate will be issued by the Diocese after

successful completion).

25

Altar Boys

Assist the Achens during the various

sacraments and services.

Greeting to Parishioners.

Help with the arrangements/preparations

on the Madbaha and the sanctuary.

Help with the worship service

arrangements as directed by the vicar.

Participation in the Thooyaba (preparatory

service).

Learn faith & practices of the church.

Lay Ministry.

Covenant Girls

Greeting to Parishioners.

Help with the arrangements in the

sanctuary, and for the worship service.

Participation in the Thooyaba (preparatory

service).

Learn faith & practices of the church.

Lay Ministry.

The Vision of this Ministry

The vision and goal of this ministry is to

encourage, build up and develop future leaders

and mentors in the church. This is also preparing

them for them to leading in bible studies in the

colleges where they attend (which can be done in

arrangement with the local parish vicar/Youth

Chaplain) Also, they are expected to go to attend at

least three Leadership Conferences (upon reaching

age 21), and attend the LEAD classes, and take

active leadership in the parish so that they can also

be recognized as an official leader and resource

person of the church.

This ministry involves much prayer and

commitment. The parents, family, friends, and

parishes are asked to encourage their youths for

this special ministry, and foster their leadership in

the parishes. It is the hope that their service to the

parish will lead to an orderly and meaningful

worship experience, and also strengthen the faith

community as a whole.

The Altar Boys & Covenant Girls

Subcommittee of the Diocesan Council plans and

organizes this ministry. This consists of the

Diocesan Bishop, Diocesan Office Bearers,

Convener, & Regional Clergy Conveners.

Questions and/or suggestions are welcome.

May this be a fruitful ministry, which further the

building up of the Holy Church and the extension

of God’s kingdom.

*Rev. Dennis Abraham is the Youth Chaplain

of the South East Region, of the Diocese.

Achen was born and brought up in New York,

and a member of St. John's MTC. He

completed his B.A.

in Psychology from Hofstra University in

2006, and completed his Bachelor's in Divinity

at the Mar Thoma Theological Seminary,

Kottayam, and was ordained in 2011. Achen

served in

Sehion MTC

& St. Peter's

MTC,

Venmony

(Kerala)

before

coming to

Philadelphia.

26

Connecting Church-Based

Social Action and

Church Growth

The following is a report published by CTE in their

August Newsletter.

The 2014, 2012 and 2010 National Church and

Social Action Survey Reports show that churches

in the UK have responded significantly to the social

challenges in their communities. In 2014, it is

estimated that 1.1-1.4 million volunteers

participated in church-based social action in the

UK, touching millions of people through various

initiatives. The number of volunteer hours on

social action increased to 114.8m per annum. This

is an increase of 16.8% compared with 2012 and

59.4% compared with 2010. Funds given by UK

Church members that were spent on social action

initiatives increased to £393m in 2014. This is an

increase of 14.9% in two years and 36.5% in four

years. The average number of social action

initiatives undertaken by individual churches has

risen to 8.9. This represents an increase of 20.3%

compared with 2012 and 81.6% compared with

2014.

However, is all this effort helping to grow the

Church or is this just social work?

The leading two encouragements in the 2014 and

2012 Surveys were ‘Community Involvement’ and

‘Attendance at Events/Growth’. This is exciting

news for the Church as it shows that social action

is helping it connect to local communities and has

resulted in Church growth. Social action seems to

enable connection to people who are not at a place

where they would be interested in Alpha or

equivalent courses.

All social action initiatives have an effect on

church growth

Looking at responses to the question in the 2014

and 2012 surveys, “Thinking of organised

activities of your church in the local community in

the last 12 months, how do your rate their

effectiveness in seeing people added to the

church?”. Answers to the question could be; Poor,

OK, Good, Excellent. If we look at the responses to

‘Ok’, ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’, ALL initiatives have

some effect on church growth, some a lot more

than others.

Some initiatives seem to consistently result in

church growth; Parents and toddlers, Caring for

elderly (apart from church members), Special

needs adults, Cafe open to public, Children's club -

up to age 11 (apart from church children's

ministry), Bereavement counselling (apart from

church members), Youth work - 12-18 (apart from

church youth ministry). Others seem to be sample

dependent.

One might be tempted then as a church leader to

just pick the most fruitful on average, but is that

the whole story? No: some churches running the

same social initiative respond with ‘Poor’; some

respond with ‘Good’ and ‘Excellent’. What could be

the reasons for this?

Relationships, prayer and invitations are

important

To help answer this, in the 2014 survey, we asked

the additional question, “What made the

difference between activities rated as 'good' or

'excellent' in seeing people added to the church

versus those rated 'poor' or 'OK'?”. We listed some

factors that could be reasons and asked

respondents to tick all that applied as well as giving

a text box for other reasons. The leading factors

mentioned by 50% or more of the sample are:

We were able to build a long-term

relationship with people

We were able to spend time with

individuals

The initiative is regularly prayed for

The volunteers are welcoming

We invited people to other events

This is very encouraging as these behaviours point

to building good relationships – ‘evangelistic

gifting’ was well down the list of factors.

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Photo Gallery

Parsonage dedication service of St.Peters Mar Thoma Church, which was held on 14/08/2015 by our Bishop

Rt. Revd.Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius