St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India

St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India
St Thomas Evangelical Church Of India Emblem
Type	Oriental Protestant
Classification	Syrian Christian, Saint Thomas Syrian Christians
Scripture	Holy Bible
Polity	Episcopal
Governance	Democratic
Presiding Bishop	Most Rev Dr Thomas Abraham
Prathinidhi sabha Adhyakshan	Rt Rev Dr Abraham Chacko
Language	Malayalam, English, Hindi, Odia, Tamil, Kannada, Marathi, Gujrati, Telugu,
Liturgy	West Syriac Rite (Reformed)
Headquarters	Manjadi, Thiruvalla Kerala, India
Territory	Universal
Possessions	India, USA, Canada, Europe, Great Britain-London & Belfast, Middle East, Singapore
Origin	26 January 1961
Independence	1961
Recognition	Independent Episcopal Church, 1961
Separated from	Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church (1961)
Congregations	350+
Members	100000
Ministers	Bishops- 6, Clergy- 150+
Missionaries	400+
Publications	suvisesha prakasini
Official website	http://steci.org/

St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (STECI) is an Oriental Protestant (Reformed Orthodox) episcopal denomination based in Kerala, India. It derives from a schism in the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church in 1961 and forms a part of the Saint Thomas Syrian Christian community. The church is engaged in active witnessing and building up of faith communities that will witness the love of God and serving people around in need. The headquarters of the church is at Tiruvalla, Kerala.

History

Saint Thomas Christian's - Divisions- History

The St. Thomas Evangelical Church is one of several groups of Saint Thomas Christians claiming origins to St. Thomas the Apostle who, according to their tradition, came to India in AD 52. While STECI is considered to be an episcopal church, it is also deeply influenced by evangelicalism. Until 1961, the church's history was deeply connected to the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, and South Indian Christianity's contact with Evangelical British missionaries during British colonial times. The missionaries facilitated the translation of the Bible into Malayalam in 1811. This was the first vernacular Bible in Kerala. Further changes introduced by the influence of missionaries led to a schism within the Thomas Christians.

Clergy in 1961

Bishops

• Bishop KN Oommen (Late)
• Bishop P John Varughese (Late)
• Bishop Dr. TC Cherian (Retd.)
• Bishop Dr. MK Koshy (Retd.)
• Bishop A.I Alexander (Retd.)
• Bishop Dr CV Mathew (Retd.)
• Bishop Most Rev Dr Thomas Abraham (Presiding Bishop)
• Bishop Rt Rev Dr Abraham Chacko (Prathinidhi sabha Adhyakshan)

STECI Boards

• Board for Evangelistic Work
• Board for Youth Work
• Board for Women's Work
• Board for Sunday School Work
• Education Board
• Department of Music & Communications