St. Thomas
Indian Orthodox Church
Aberdeen
ABOUT US
For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them. - Matthew 18:20
The history of our beloved parish started in May 2009 when the vision of forming a congregation for Indian Orthodox families in Aberdeen, Scotland materialised. We chose to name our congregation “St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church” after St. Thomas, the Apostle of Jesus Christ who sowed the seeds of Gospel in India. We then informed our Metropolitan, Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios of our decisions. He declared our church as “ST. THOMAS INDIAN ORTHODOX CONGREGATION.”
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On the 20th of May 2009, we held our very first Holy Eucharist in Aberdeen which was followed by Eucharist every Wednesday. In July 2009, our Metropolitan appointed our first vicar, Fr. Varghese John. In September 2011, Fr. Ninan Kuriakose became our second vicar; Fr. Mathew Kuriakose served from April 2014, and Fr. Tom Jacob from October 2015. Fr. Eldo P. Varghese served us from September 2016 to December 2018. Rev. Fr. Tiji Thankachan was our spiritual leader from December 2018 to December 2023. As of December 2023, Rev. Fr. Varghese P. A. has been serving as our vicar.
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Our church has grown since its inception to include Sunday School, Orthodox Vacation Bible School, Youth Movement, MarthaMariam Samajam a regular family prayer meeting. We also organise Holy Week service, Christmas Carol service and charity fundraising events. Family Conference for Orthodox congregations in Scotland is coordinated annually in association with other parishes within Scotland. From January 2015, we have been holding Holy Eucharist on 2nd and 4th Sunday of every month. We, as a congregation are immensely grateful to our Metropolitan, who visits our parish regularly giving us constructive advice, guiding us to extend our vision for the future and to follow the footsteps of Jesus Christ.
HERITAGE
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church is an autocephalous Oriental Orthodox church centred in the Indian state of Kerala. It is one of the churches of St. Thomas Christians in India, a community which has its origin in the evangelical works of St. Thomas, the disciple of Jesus Christ, during the first century AD. The church is headed by the Catholicos of the East and the Malankara Metropolitan, presently, His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Mathews III.
THEOLOGY& LITURGY
The theological doctrines are derived from the Holy scripture- the Bible and the tradition of the Orthodox ancestors. We follow the Syrian Orthodox Liturgy, which belongs to the Antiochene liturgical tradition adopted from the anaphora of St. James, the brother of our Lord.
SPIRITUALITY
The goal of Orthodox Spirituality is the perfection of the believer by his/her union with the God in Christ through repentance, prayer, fasting and participation in the sacramental life of the Church.
HOLY QURBANA
Holy Qurbana is our participation in the Body and Blood of Christ. This faith has been founded on our Lord’s words during the Last Supper: 'This is my Body..my Blood.. do this in remembrance of me'.
According to St Paul, through our participation in the Eucharist we become one in Christ. “The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Cor. 10:16-17).