The regular worship service of the St Thomas Evangelical Church of India in Philadelphia began in November 1987 at the Fellowship hall of St Paul’s Reformed Episcopal Church in Oreland. Rev. M.V. Abraham and family, Dr Paul. J.Pathickal and family, Mr. John Mathew and family, Mr. Cherian Daniel and family, and Mr. Sam Pathickal were present. On April 15, 1988 the Church became a Non- Profit Corporation in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and on December 24, 1988 the honorable Sabha (Church) council officially recognized it as a Parish of the St Thomas Evangelical Church of India.
Before the congregation was recognized as a Parish, members of the St Thomas Evangelical Church of India, Rev.M.V.Abraham and Dr Paul Pathickal with their families used to get together for prayer in the 70’s, occasionally joined by Mr. P L Thankachan and his Family. Worship services were conducted using the Book of the Common Prayer of the St Thomas Evangelical Church of India in which Rev T. C. George (1979) and Rev P. M. Samuel (1981) and Bishop Rt. Rev T.C. Cherian (1981, 1985) participated.
From 1985 on wards regular prayer meetings are being conducted in the homes of our members. From the very beginning members have been interested in the mission work in India. So, we started to support Dondi Mission Field since 1985. The Lord added members and the Church continued its growth from four families and 14 members in 1987 to32 families and over 100 members in 2001.The congregation had worship service every Sunday at St Paul’s R. E. Church. Members of the parish are grateful to St Paul’s R.E Church for their kindness in allowing us to use their facility without any reservation.
As the Church continued its growth we realized that we needed a church building of our own. We began praying and looking for a building. As a result in March 2001 we signed an agreement to purchase a building located at 9039 Eastview St., Philadelphia PA 19152.In July of 2001 we moved into our new facility and conducted our first worship service there. The dedication service was held on August 25, 2001, by our Bishop Rt. Rev. T. C. Cherian. We thank all those who prayed with us and contributed sacrificially to the purchase of our church.
Today we have over 50 families and 150 communicant members. We are grateful to the Lord for helping us to grow from strength to strength both spiritually and in numbers.
Rev. M. V. Abraham retired as the Vicar effective December 31, 2004. His valuable and effective leadership since the inception of the parish was commendable. Rev. Sunny C. John, who is on study leave from the faculty of Jubilee Memorial Bible College, Chennai, is our Vicar effective January 1, 2005. We have our Sunday school at 9.30 A.M and Sunday Service at 10.30 A.M. We also have Cottage Prayer Meetings on Saturday evenings, Men’s Fellowship on Tuesdays, Women’s fellowship on Saturday mornings, the Sevini Samajam, Youth’s Union and the Young Couples meet once every month. At present, the Parish and its wings support the work in Jaipur, Panvel, Andegarh, Dondi, two student scholarship at JMBC, Dondi Children Home and Mrs. Barbara Jo Sterrett of JMBC (supported by Sevini Samajam), Amla Field of Youth Board (supported by Youth Union), Vikas Puri Field of Sunday School (supported by Sunday School). The parish involve in other outreach work such as Vacation Bible School, visiting nursing homes, and door-to-door distribution of Christian literature. We are certain that He who has begun a good work in us will continue it till the day of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Master.
