St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India - History

History

On July 10, 1965, Bishop John Varghese died and the Prathinidhi Sabha (Representative Body) of the church authorized the church council to take steps to consecrate two persons as Bishops but the consecration was thwarted by the underhand dealings of a few council members. Hence, no person was elected at the special session of the representative body called for that purpose. This created tension in the church and Prathinidhi Sabha was dissolved as per the Episcopal election rules of the church. Even though a new Prathinidhi Sabha was constituted, it could not elect a new bishop to the church. To crown it all, the Prathinidhi Sabha and the council passed motions ex-communicating the only bishop in the church, the Most Rev. Dr. K.N. Oommen, in utter violation of the constitution of the church.

Thus after a few years, some members of the new church slowly decided to abandon and move away from its guiding principles. They wanted to abandon the Episcopal character of the church and move away from some of its fundamental founding principles. The violation of the constitution by the majority of the Prathinidhi Sabha and the council led the church to a stand-still. The St. Thomas Evangelical fellowship was formed in 1971 to ensure that the church adhered to its founding principles of keeping the 66 books of the Holy Bible as the foundation and authority for all spiritual matters of the Church and to carry out its service to the church members. The members of the Church who accepted the Most Rev. K.N. Oommen as the Presiding Bishop of the church formed a society under the Travancore Cochin Literary and Charitable Societies Registration Act XII of 1955, and got it registered in 1971. Even though a settlement to the disputes in the church was reached in 1974, it could not last because of the adamant attitude of the then ruling group in the church.

In 1977, Rev. P. S. Varghese was consecrated as the Bishop of the fellowship. That was the only choice left for the faithful members of the church to safeguard the interest of the church as well as the Episcopacy of the church. The reformists who came out from the Mar Thoma Church decided this new church should be an Episcopal church. The fellowship made remarkable progress under the able leadership of Rev. P.C. Zachariah and leaders like Bishop K.N. Oommen and Bishop P.S. Varghese. Bishop K.N. Oommen was called home in 1984, and Rev. M.K. Koshy, who was the Secretary of the Fellowship, was consecrated as Bishop in 1985.

A plot of land containing 2 acres (8,100 m2) and 65 cents was purchased for the fellowship in 1985, and Rev. P.C. Zachariah donated the present office building of the fellowship, which has an area of 6,000 sq ft (560 m2), in memory of his late wife, Mrs. Elizaba Zachariah. Rev. P.C. Zachariah and his children gave another remarkable gift to the fellowship which is the present auditorium that can accommodate nearly 1000 members - the Poozhikalayil Thomas & Mariamma Chacko Memorial Auditorium, as a memorial to Rev. Zachariah's late parents.

A Sevinee Mandiram (Women’s Home) was constructed with the help of our church members. Our women workers are unmarried and they are working in different parts of Kerala. A seminary in memory of our late Bishop K.N. Oommen was started in 1989. The foundation stone of the Seminary was laid down by Dr. Carl McIntire, President of the International Council of Christian Churches in 1987.

The Rev. P.C. Zachariah’s contribution in the formation and growth of the Church as well as the Fellowship is outstanding. After he was called Home in 1992, his children, Dr. Chacko P. Zachariah, Dr. Mammen P. Zachariah, Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, and Mrs. Mary George, donated their ancestral property at Trivandrum to the Fellowship.

After the death of Rev. P.C. Zachariah in 1992, there were some reconciliation talks with the ruling group in the church. At the end of the reconciliation talks in 1995, the Vice President of the Fellowship, Bishop M.K. Koshy, along with a few Presbyters and their followers, switched sides and joined the dissident group. To strengthen the fellowship, Rev. A.I. Alexander was consecrated as the Bishop of the fellowship in 1995. Bishop P.S. Varghese was called home in 1996. The disputes between the two factions in the church were settled in 2000, and the two sides have decided to function as two independent churches; viz. St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (Fellowship) and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. However, on December 25 2007, The St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India merged with St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. The St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India will remain as a charitable organization for the propagation of the Gospel.