Mar Thoma Church of South Florida

On December 26th 1977 Rev. Ipe Joseph, vicar of Mar Thoma Church of Chicago conducted a Malayalam service in Mar Thoma liturgy in Miami. In April 1978 our Valiya Metropolitan Rt. Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Crysostom conducted a prayer meeting in Cooper City. There were only 7 families here at that time. The Mar Thoma Church of South Florida was organized and recognized in the year of 1981 with the blessings of the late Suffragan Metropolitan Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius. There were only 16 families, and most of them were members of the Mar Thoma Congregation of greater New York. The Mar Thoma Church of South Florida was incorporated in the month of August in 1984. Rev. Dr. Ipe Joseph was our first appointed vicar.

Since the inception of our parish in 1981 worship services were conducted at the member’s homes, and then eventually at the Holy Sacrament Episcopal Church at Pembroke Pines. It is really very appropriate to remember and thank the members and Rev. Brian Hobbs of the Holy Sacrament Episcopal church for allowing us to use their facilities as we needed. In the beginning stage the Holy Communion was conducted every fifth Sunday which later changed to once a month. At the end of the first decade the number families were increased to 70 and the number of Holy Communions was also increased to twice a month.

In 1991 Mar Thoma Church of South Florida hosted the 9th annual Mar Thoma family conference, and it was really a great success. M. Varughese Achen’s leadership, the conference committee’s hard work, and the whole-hearted support and prayers of all the members were the main reasons for the success.

The parish grew spiritually as well as financially during the early part of the 1990’s. The different organizations like Sunday school, Sevika Sanghom, Choir, Youth fellowship, Edavaka mission, and the Hollywood and Sunrise area prayer groups were also formed during this period.

To have a Sanctuary of our own was a dream for a long time. Our Parish purchased a property in 1991 to build a sanctuary. Even though we were unable to build a sanctuary on that property, we were able to buy a church building and eventually modified it to our present beautiful church. Our first resident vicar was Rev. P.G. Mathew Achen. Through his leadership, and the continuous support our members our prayers were finally answered. On December 25th 1996 Dr. Zacharias Mar Theophilose dedicated our beautiful church.

In the year 1999 our youth group hosted the National youth conference of North America at Leesburg Florida, and it was a great success.

In the year 2003 our parish hosted the 21st Annual Mar Thoma Family Conference. Once again we did a wonderful job hosting the family conference. It was due to the leadership of Joseph Mathew Achen, the hard work of our conference committee, and the whole hearted support and prayers of our members. 2003 was another remarkable year in our history as we were able to purchase a beautiful Parsonage.

The vicar and the parishioners also witnessed the destruction and damage caused to our church due to hurricane Katrina in the month of October of 2005. The sanctuary was completely damaged and the worship services and Sunday school were in jeopardy. But the generosity of Pastor James Cox and the members of the First Baptist Church of Davie helped us to continue our worships and Sunday school at their facility. May I take this time to thank them from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to use their facility for our services. The great leadership of Alexander Tharakan Achen, the consistent work of the Executive committee, and the hard work of the members finally paid off. On April 22ND 2006 our Diocesan bishop Rt. Rev. Dr. Euyakim Mar Coorilose Episcopa rededicated the current beautiful Sanctuary.

The year 2006 was celebrated as our Silver jubilee year. Home for homeless was the main project for the Jubilee year and the hard work of the Vicar, Executive committee, and the silver jubilee conveners paid off. Sixty three people became home owners for first time in their life thanks to the cooperation from our members and well-wishers.

Also our youth group hosted the National Youth conference of North America in the year 2006 under the leadership of our Vicar Rev. Alexander Tharkan, and it was conducted in a very organized way.