1

2

Table of Contents Message from Diocesan Episcopa ................................ 3

Editorial ........................................................................ 5

Disagreement and Grace ............................................. 7

Ministry in a Digital World ......................................... 10

Silence of the Plant Kingdom ..................................... 12

Mission today: Five Key Themes ................................ 13

"Reaching Out Sharing Faith & Meeting Social

Needs ........................................................................ 15

The Mar Thoma Church: Gender Equality in the Sacred

Space .......................................................................... 19

Lent Talks by Lord Leslie Griffiths .............................. 21

Repetition and Recollection ....................................... 23

News & Reports ......................................................... 25

Hermon MTC, Midlands, UK - Parish Day

Celebration ............................................................. 25

Golden Jubilee of the Ordination of Revd Dr. M. J.

Joseph and The Golden Beams ............................ 25

The First Mar Thoma Congregation in Wales ........ 26

Sinai Mar Thoma Church Sunday school VBS ........ 27

Alisha A Lighthouse of Faith ................................ 28

ECHO Garden ............................................................. 29

Appachan..Now youre gone ............................... 29

July Edition 2015 Volume 2(2)

Cover Design: Revd. Jose Punamadam

For private circulation only

Disclaimer: The views published in this journal are

those of its authors. Editors or the COMPE do not

endorse the contents or views expressed and they are

not liable for the contents or views in any form.

The COMPE Executive Committee

President: The Rt.Revd. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius

Vice President : Revd.Dr. Thomas Philips

Secretary: Mr.P.M.Mathew

Treasurer : Mr.Jaffey Chacko

Editorial Board of the Mar Thoma Echo

Editorial Director : Dr. Zac Varghese

Chief Editor : Revd. Jose Punamadam

Mr. Sherry Mathews

Mr. Oommen Abraham

Mrs. Geena Ajay

3

Message from Diocesan

Episcopa Outreach Ministry

I am glad that the Mar Thoma Echo is bringing out

another publication on the theme: Outreach

Ministry. Let us begin at the beginning; the

establishment of the kingdom of God is the single

purpose of Gods outreach programme, Gods

mission (Missio Dei), from the beginning of time.

The revelations of the Triune God in Jesus is the

ultimate reaching out for inaugurating the

kingdom, which is inclusive and integrated from

the centre to margins and from margins to the

centre of our existence. This is an existential reality

of transforming from being-for-itself into being-

for others under the costly grace of the Cross of

Jesus Christ. How can we reach out to present this

authentic truth to our contemporaries?

Let us not get confused about phraseologies such

as reaching out, outreach, witnessing, mission,

ministry, and evangelisation. All these are

expressions and variations of a central theme of

reaching out to people with love to meet a specific

need at a time and a place and to cultivate values

of Gods kingdom. In his classical work on

Reaching Out, Henry Nouven1 explained three

movements of the spiritual life for the reaching out

experience: reaching out to our innermost self

from loneliness to creative solitude, reaching out to

God in prayer, and finally reaching out to fellow

human beings from arid self-centredness to self-

giving. The manifesto for the kingdom of God is set

out in the Sermon on the Mount and in the

reaching out Jesus had done during His earthly

ministry and continued ever since through the

Church under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The

life of Jesus became the good news that gave hope

to humanity. People started to find a new way in

their lives, opened by a gracious God. The mission

that Jesus inaugurated has become the sole

purpose of the Church.

The early Church at the Pentecost became a

witnessing community of Gods kingdom and

hence, witnessing is reaching out to others to

create an inclusive community. Jesus reached out

to every section of the community, to Jews and

Gentiles, rich and poor, sick and healthy people,

villagers and city dwellers, illiterate and scholars;

no one was excluded from his loving attention and

caring concern. He reached out and touched

untouchables, His touch transformed water into

wine, gave vision to both physically and spiritually

blind people; His touch had the power of making

the secular into sacred; people who were living

dead became alive under His gaze, and He made

His disciples fishers of men; such was the power

of His reaching out. Finally, He reached out from

the tomb on that glorious Easter Sunday to liberate

people from shackles of oppression and every kind

of bondage. He established a second exodus for all

humankind.

From the beginning Jesus sent his disciples into

the world, as He had been sent by the Father (John

20: 21). From this stems Churchs responsibility of

spreading the faith and salvation that comes from

the redeeming and sanctifying actions of Jesus in

His death on the Cross and resurrection. Even on

the Cross He reached out to forgive and offer a

place in the paradise to the thief on the nearby

Cross. Therefore, Gods mission, kingdom of God,

is reaching out to everyone at any given time or

space, in ways only known to God. His outreach is

limitless and His love and compassion flows and

flows. It is our business to know Gods ways for a

particular situation in a given time through prayer

and meditation. The Church is not Gods kingdom,

but only a pilgrim body of people moving towards

it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. However,

when the Church equipped with the fruit of the

Spirit to reach out to people, it has the beginning

of establishing the kingdom on earth. We are in an

already, but not yet mode with respect to the

kingdom. We have to commit ourselves to

transform this world in collaboration with all

people of goodwill through our ecumenical

understanding.

4

With rising aggressive religious fundamentalism1,

each religion thinks of itself as the only true

religion. In a pluralist environment, the Christian

witness embraces dialogue with other religions

and cultures. When they meet for inter-religious

conversations, there is usually a clash of absolutes

rather than heart to heart dialogue, but the

dialogue ought to continue, in spite of deliberate

hindrances. Addressing other religious leaders in

India in 1986, Pope John Paul II said; By dialogue

we let God be present in our midst; for as we open

ourselves in dialogue to one another, we also open

ourselves to God. This experience of God should

empower us in reaching out to and with others to

establish the kingdom values for the betterment of

the whole created world. This understanding

should challenge us to go beyond fashionable and

never ending dialogues to collaboration to create a

better human community of freedom, fraternity,

and justice. This is possible only if we listen well,

live well and engage well with the rest of human

society.

Many countries are struggling with interreligious

conflicts, religious radicalisation and violence,

dehumanising poverty, and ecological issues. The

gap between rich and the poor has become more

marked even in the most economically developed

nations. Mans inhumanity to man has given rise to

acts of terrorism and violation of human rights.

Fanaticism and fundamentalism and activities

against human dignity can never be justified in the

name of religion. Therefore, reaching out for wider

ecumenism is inevitable for our meaningful

existence. The veil of the temple was torn from the

top to bottom, symbolizing that the door of

salvation is open for all who turn to God. Let our

actions and traditions do not encourage us in

mending the torn up veil and closing doors to

strangers and the distanced. In doing so, we will be

misunderstanding the heart of God and the Cross

of Christ.

We are called out to serve others and in doing so to

recognise Christ in the least of our brothers and

sisters (Matthew 25: 45). However, it is important

to remember that exploitation of situations of

deprivation and poverty has no place for Christian

outreach ministry. Every human life has a value

and something to contribute. Christians should

denounce and refrain from offering prosperity

1 Henry J. M. Nouwen, Reaching Out, Fount,

Harper Collins, London, (1990).

gospel in such situations, including financial

incentives and rewards for winning souls. It is

good to remember the model of St. Pauls ministry,

Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God

for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak

before God with sincerity, like men sent from God

(2 Cor. 2: 17).

In all aspects of life, Christians are called to follow

the examples and teachings of Jesus Christ,

sharing His love, giving glory and honour to God

the Father in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Watching the crucifixion of Jesus, a Roman

centurion said, This man is truly the son of God.

When we reach out to people let others say that

these people are true Disciples of Christ. You show

that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our

ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of

the living God, not on tablets of stone but on

tablets of human hearts (2 Cor. 3: 3). The image

of a living letter is that others might read Christ in

our lives, as His marks are imprinted on our hearts.

Bearing witness to Christ is not just a matter of our

words: we carry Christ with us, and the more His

Spirit fills our lives, the greater the sense that God

has turned up with us. In humility we will realise

that it is Christ who is carrying us. It is not our

competence that does this, but the Spirits work, if

we allow Him to do so. Hence we need not be afraid

of reaching out; the yeast spreads, the salt

preserves and the light shines. May Gods grace be

with all the faith communities for your outreach

ministry in places and situations that you are

placed.

Mar Theodosius+

5

Editorial

The theme for the current issue of the journal is

based on the fourth letter of the title of the Journal,

which is O for outreach. Revd Dr. Valson Thampu

says, Outreach is the very nature of God.

Regardless of the form outreach ministry takes, all

Christians are called to share the Gospel, to reach

out beyond themselves, their communities, and to

serve those in need. Methods may vary, but the

message is unchanging: Jesus Christ died for us,

He rose again, and He lives for encouraging us to

live, with the help of the Holy Spirit, by the values

of the kingdom that he inaugurated.

Methodists describe themselves as a disciple

movement shaped for mission. John Wesley in his

Rules for a Helper reminded us that we are not

to go to those who need us but to go to those who

need us most. Are we shaped for such a mission?

Every parish has the opportunity to reach out to

spiritually blind people and those who live on the

margins of the society in their parish and beyond

its boundary. What kind of outreach ministries

should a parish have? Do we have a clear vision

before we start out this mission? How do we get the

resources needed for a reach out mission? Who has

the ownership of this outreach mission? It is

obvious that no single parish or congregation can

provide every type of outreach ministry. In His

wisdom, God has uniquely gifted each

congregation with those who excel in particular

types of outreach ministry.

There are a few types of outreach that every

Christian should perform because there is no

solitary Christian, and we are expected to share our

life with others. Scripture is clear on how the

church is to reach out. Jesus said, Then the

righteous will answer him, saying, Lord, when did

we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give

you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and

welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when

did we see you sick or in prison and visit you? And

the King will answer them, Truly, I say to you, as

you did it to one of the least of these my brothers,

you did it to me (Matthew 25:37-40). Ministry to

the least of these must be part of every churchs

outreach. Every Christian is called to reach out

beyond his/her local community to make disciples

of all nations (Matthew 28:18-20). Christians

should be involved in telling others silently and

actively about Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:15-16). Since

most adults spend the majority of their weekday

hours at work, outreach in the workplace offers

connections to people the church might otherwise

miss. This is an experimental theatre for working

out the Gospel. Appreciating a God-given

mandate, many forms ministries could be

developed. Examples include the following: food

banks, prison ministry, meeting the needs of the

elderly and the sick. Serving those affected by

disability provides life-changing help to those

often neglected by others. Teenagers and college

students represent a strategic ministry

opportunity and they in turn may become agents

of this ministry too.

There is a forward and backward movement in

reaching-out. We should look within ourselves first

and develop a relationship with the indwelling

Christ before venturing to reach-out to others with

our evangelistic vigour. Henry Nouwen2 wrote: To

live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to

enter into the desert of our loneliness and to

change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a

garden of solitude. The movement from loneliness

to solitude, however, is the beginning of any

spiritual life because it is the movement from the

restless senses to the restful spirit, from the

outward-reaching cravings to the inward-reaching

search, from the fearful clinging to the fearless

play. In the midst of a turbulent, often chaotic, life

we are called to reach out, with courageous honesty

6

to our innermost self, with relentless care to our

fellow human beings, and with increasing prayer to

our God. A prayer- centred life is important for any

type of reaching-out ministry. Nouwen wrote2: A

spiritual life without prayer is like the gospel

without Christ. A prayer-centred life helps us to

find space for others in our lives. This gives us an

opportunity for providing hospitality for others.

Hospitality is not to trap and change people, but to

offer them space and freedom where they can be

transformed under the grace of God. An Irish

proverb states: It is in the shelter of each other that

people live. Religious conversion and increasing

the membership of the church should not be prime

aim of the outreach programmes. It is often said,

Jesus came to disturb the comfortable and

comfort the disturbed.

In Ezekiels time, Jews who lived both in

Jerusalem and also in Babylon had their own

version of decadence and moral deprivation, and

worshiped other gods as well. They continued to

rebel against Gods prophets like, Isaiah and

Jeremiah. Ezekiel reminded them of their false

ways and errors. But they never listened as we are

not listening today. There were so many gaps in

their lifestyle, a chasm, between them and

Jehovah. That is why God is asking Israelites

through Ezekiel this question. Who will stand in

the gap? Jehovah said to Ezekiel, I looked for a

man among them who will build a wall and

stand before me in the gap on behalf of the

land so that I would not have to destroy it,

but I found none (Ezekiel 22: 30). God is

searching for people to stand in various kinds of

gaps to create a seamless big society or kingdom

of God. It is up to us to understand what and where

these gaps are, and to equip ourselves through the

grace of God to stand in gaps or reaching out to

build relationship and fellowship with God and

Gods people.

There are gaps between us and God because of our

devotion and attachment to other things; this gap

also creates gaps between us and our neighbour.

There are many stories in the Bible about God

finding people to stand in these gaps from time to

time. Abraham, Noah, Joseph, Moses and many

others stood in these gaps. We need people to

stand in the gap to build our church; we need to

2 Henry J.M. Nouwen, Reaching Out, Fount,

Harper Collins, London, (1990).

intercede on behalf of the needy, the helpless, the

voiceless, the troubled, the sick, the mentally

handicapped, and those who have lost their faith.

Outreach is a ministry that never ends.

Intercession is much more than a one-time event

by which a conflict is resolved. There is not a

moment in our lives without the need for

mediation and intercessory prayers. God gave us

the ministry of intercession through Jesus Christ

and the Holy Spirit. Let us pray together to find

these gaps and ask God for His grace to empower

us to stand in these gaps.

We constantly find ourselves looking for grand

projects, and elaborate plans; we appoint

committee and commissions, secretly hoping that

this time it will be different. Sometimes in our

enthusiasm for outreach ministries we may get

burnt out. Jesus avoided this by His dependence

on His quiet meditations and prayer. It is only

when we take time to develop our inner spirituality

and to become comfortable with who we are and be

content with solitude, only after those primary

steps are taken can we reach out to others in true

love. Spirituality is a way of gaining perspective,

recognising that our role in life has a greater value

than just what we do every day. It can separate a

person from dependence on material things and

establish a greater God-given purpose. We simply

must deal with our inner conflicts and needs before

we can help and learn from others. We often reach

out to others when we are confused with our inner

self. We are afraid to deal alone with our needs. We

are desperately seeking someone or something to

drown out our own voice, to give us new answers.

We watch television, listen to music, read books,

and socialise; these are temporary escape routes.

We are indeed God's children, and His Spirit is in

us. When we learn to be still, we can offer that very

stillness and peace to others. We can commune

with God in prayer. We can break the illusions of

busyness and activism by relying on Gods grace. It

is important to realise that we cannot cash a

cheque without having a bank balance. The lack of

this inner strength causes moral bankruptcy.

Therefore, we need to be in touch with our own

reality and our relationship with God before

reaching-out to others.

7

Finally, it is absolutely important to realise that it

is Gods mission. You are the light of the world. A

city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people

light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a

stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the

same way, let your light shine before others, so that

they may see your good works and give glory to

your Father who is in heaven ( Matthew 5:14-16).

Lighted to lighten is the motto of our church;

therefore, reaching out is in our DNA. The miracle

of digital technology allows us to present the

Gospel of Jesus Christ to people across many

boundaries. This online journal may help us to

accomplish our mission of bringing the gospel of

Jesus Christ to as many people in Europe.

The Editorial Board

Disagreement and Grace

Archbishop of Canterbury

Justin Welby

[At the National Leaders meeting of Churches

Together in England (CTE), the Archbishop of

Canterbury as one of the CTE Presidents,

presented a reflection under the general heading

'Disagreement and Grace'.]

I want to say four things about graciousness and

respect in disagreement. The first one is that

disagreement is a reality; and when we deny that,

ignore it, avoid it, pretend its not true, everything

goes badly wrong. We all know that in a household

or a community or a marriage if someone

is looking sulky or saying very little, and you know

theres something wrong and they wont tell you, it

doesnt help. When we look at the New Testament

we see division and disagreement at every possible

opportunity. Look at the beginning of both of

Pauls letters to the Corinthians, the first chapter of

each of them. In 1 Corinthians he talks about a

church entirely divided by people following one

person or another; and in 2 Corinthians he talks

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a

sin, you who are spiritual should

restore him gently. But watch

yourself, or you also may be tempted.

Carry each others burdens, and in

this way you will fulfil the law of

Christ."

Galatians 6:1-2

8

about being in despair because things were so bad.

In Philippians, he calls for reconciliation between

two members of the Church and remember this

was in the days when there was no good

communication, and yet from a great distance hed

heard the row, and he knew there was something

wrong and he had to deal with it. In the Gospels,

we see the apostles and the disciples arguing about

who is the most important, right up to almost

immediately before the crucifixion. They waste all

their energy on disagreements.

The Church has historically always found it easy to

divide, and we still do. And the issues which cause

division are sometimes represented as principled

issues, issues of theology which is true; or they

may be issues around discrimination against one

group of the Church or another. I often think about

the fact that in the 1960s when Afro-Caribbean

people first came to this country they were not

made welcome in our churches. Its the reality; it

was a sin, a very bad sin.

Firstly, Division is a reality. Most of our

divisions come down to issues of power and

prestige. We dress them up in smart clothes

around dogma and disagreement over doctrine;

but at the very heart of them is very often a

failure to be able to talk to each other, to

communicate with humility that enables us

to hear what the other one is saying.

Im an Archbishop; I know about the absence of

humility. I struggle with it. Sometimes its about

money, but it all comes back to Jesuss parable of

taking the best seats at the feast. Power and

prestige; they get under our skin.

We need first of all to recognise that we will

disagree, we disagree, and therefore we need to be

prepared and thoughtful about what is involved in

disagreement. It is a reality.

Secondly, there is the question of reaction

to disagreement. We need to start by

recognising we are family. The reaction must be

from within the knowledge that, not by our choice

but by the will of God, we belong to each other. To

put it crudely and in an unsophisticated way, as the

saying goes: you can choose your friends, but

youre stuck with your family. And my

brothers and sisters, I hate to tell you this but Im

family with you, and by the Lords grace, through

the work of the cross, we are going to be in heaven

forever. So wed better start getting used to each

other, because were stuck with each other

permanently. Thats the work of God. Its not our

option to say, well we can go off and not be family.

We are always family.

Thirdly, our response to division and this is

where grace comes in. Transparency is an element

of grace, because of course God in his grace to us is

transparent. He doesnt say, well, I dont really

mind about sin. He says, I hate sin but Ive given

a remedy. We know where we stand with God;

theres no messing about. Having reacted, how do

we respond? One thing I want to say, and Ive

learnt this in Africa as much as anywhere, is we

need to act to be gracious. Sometimes you have to

do things in order to become them. If were going

to be gracious, act graciously. Whatevers in your

heart, act graciously and the grace of God will

often transform our hearts so as we act graciously

we become gracious.

Theres a well-known story of Corrie ten Boom, the

extraordinary Dutch evangelist and

missionary. She was in her middle age, in her 50s,

when the Second World War broke out. Her family

sheltered Jewish refugees in Holland. They were

betrayed by a collaborator, they were taken away to

a concentration camp in Germany. Her whole

family, apart from her, was killed; every single

member. And after the war they were in

Ravensbruck a really terrible camp, and after the

war she was lecturing in Germany on forgiveness,

and she gave her lecture and at the end she saw a

man pushing his way to the front to come and talk

to her. And she recognised him: hed been one of

the cruellest guards in Ravensbruck; he had

tortured and beaten and assaulted and raped. Hed

done terrible, terrible things. And he pushed

towards her and he didnt recognise her he said

to her: I was a guard in a concentration camp; I did

terrible things. After the war, I found the Lord

Jesus and He has forgiven me. I know you were in

a concentration camp (she hadnt said where), will

you forgive me? And she said that in her heart was

just hatred, but she stretched out her hand (I

remember hearing her say this) and took it, and as

she did so she felt the Holy Spirit dissolve the

hatred in her heart and enable her to say with a full

heart: I forgive you.

9

Now, forgiveness is not often that simple lets be

clear, it may take decades, generations sometimes,

we need to be honest about that. But we need to act

in order to be. And when we disagree with each

other there are moments when we need to act to

be. We need to act to be. . . We need to pray so we

can act. . . One of the top priorities for my time as

Archbishop is a renewal of prayer and the religious

life, the communities of prayer, without which

there will be no renewal of the spiritual life in this

land.

Finally, reconciliation: Reconciliation between

us as human beings is not agreement it is

learning to love one another in deep disagreement.

That is genuine reconciliation. It is being different.

God is so wonderful, we are so different. The

miracle of the church is not that we agree and love

one another; its that we disagree and, despite that,

we love one another. Thats the miracle that the

Holy Spirit brings. So what happens when were

reconciled, when we demonstrate diversity in love?

When we demonstrate that, were straight into the

last seven or eight verses of John 17. And the world

will see that Jesus is the Son of God, and they will

believe. . .

But reconciliation I can tell you this after many

years of working on it, both in myself and

professionally in war zones around the world

comes with two ss: service and sacrifice. If were

going to have reconciliation, if were going to have

graciousness and respect in disagreement, there

has to be sacrifice. It is always costly to be

reconciled. Within the catholic tradition Ive learnt

over the last ten years about the great sacrament of

reconciliation: confession. It is enormously

powerful and hideously painful when its done

properly. . . Its really horrible when you go to see

your confessor I doubt you wake up in the

morning and think, this is going to be a bunch of

laughs. Its really uncomfortable. But through it

God releases forgiveness and absolution and a

sense of cleansing, a sense of knowing that we

belong to him, that were his children. And if were

to be reconciled to each other in CTE and across

the church, and to see people come to faith and be

disciples of Jesus Christ and to live out the

transformation of our society to one of justice . . .

we will see justice when we see a church that is

alive in Christ and is calling with great power in the

service of Christ. . . But that will take great

sacrifice.

So, graciousness and respect in disagreement: the

reality, the reaction, the response, the

reconciliation - that we may maintain the unity of

the Spirit in the bond of peace.

"When your mind and your heart

are pure, then the divine will be

open to you. The voice of your

conscience is the voice of God.

Tolstoy

10

Ministry in a Digital World Dr. Zac Varghese, London

Most of us seem to be somewhat parochial in our

outlooks, loyalties and concerns. Nevertheless, we

appreciate the advice to think globally and act

locally. As stewards of a world created by a loving

and caring God we have no excuse for not having a

loving concern for people throughout the world,

irrespective of caste, colour, and creed. The digital

environment provides a huge range of

opportunities for Gods mission. In a world where

an ever increasing number of people are connected

to the internet and mobile phones, the possibilities

of reaching out to all sorts of people and

generations are greater than they have been at any

time in history.

It is interesting to note how St. Paul broke cultural

barriers to reach out to intellectual giants, traders,

and poor peasants of his time; he spoke to Jews,

Greeks, Romans and Gentiles with relative ease.

He used different skills in spreading the gospel of

Lord Jesus Christ whom he met on the Damascus

Road and his tent-making skills to support his

mission. Pauls reasoning, an ancient rhetoric

method, to men of Thessalonica and of Athens in

Act 17 is an ideal model for ministry even today.

Paul starts with research of the prevailing culture

(vs 16, 17) then he builds on that knowledge by

making links from their culture to the gospel (vs

22, 23). He was taking the pulpit to the pews, to

people where they assembled at synagogues and

market places, where people found it easy to

assemble; it is important to meet people in their

cultural milieu and in their comfort zones. He

respected his audiences history and culture

because persuasion requires the active

participation and even the heckling of audiences.

As we know, Pauls methodology was very

effective. Jesus parables are prime examples of

using cultural conventions and traditions in His

ministry for transforming cultural norms and

establishing the kingdom culture. Jesus was not

using theological jargons, but he used everyday

examples to reach his audience and it made sense

to them.

Lord Donald Soper was a very effective Methodist

preacher, in the second half of the twentieth

century, at the speakers corner at the Hyde Park

near Marble Arch in London. He encouraged his

hearers to heckle him and he used that opportunity

to reach out to the very same heckler and others

around him because he understood and spoke the

language, used their idioms, and engaged with the

mood of his audiences. We are told over and over

again that the young people of the Mar Thoma

Diaspora communities are disenchanted with the

church and its liturgical worship. Therefore, it is of

utmost importance for our church to take this

problem seriously and follow Pauls example by

studying the current, continuously changing,

youth culture and searching for means and

methods of communication, and applying the

gospel to the prevalent culture. There is a huge gap

in appreciating this urgent need in the ministry of

our church. There is an urgent need for churching

the churched before going after the un-churched.

Is it not important to keep the netted fish in the net

and mend the holes before casting the net again for

a new fishing expedition? We mostly depend on

Sunday schools for post-baptismal faith formation.

Are we equipping our youths with sufficient

apologetics to cope with the demands and

challenges of a university and social networking

environment?

However much many of us resist, we need to make

policies by taking into consideration not only the

present realities of the world as it, but also the

world we would love to see to be with kingdom

values. Whilst we continue to use traditional

methods and print media for satisfying the

emotional needs of the older generation we should

be mindful of the needs of the young people and

use the digital media to reach them. It is gratifying

to see that over the last two years the Mar Thoma

Diocese of North America and Europe has

embarked on using internet for sending daily

meditations. These meditations are mostly written

by young laypeople of the church. This is indeed a

very praiseworthy initiative. Revd Dr. Thomas

Philips, Sinai MTC, North London, is using web

casting/ skype very effectively to conduct Bibles

11

studies for the young people; he is finding a day

and time convenient to young people and using

media with which they are comfortable and

breaking into their comfort zones. A series of web-

based seminars known as webinars are organized

by the World Council of Churches, in co-operation

with the National Council of the Churches of Christ

in the USA, in consultation with the Canadian

Council of Churches and with support from the

United Methodist General Board of Disciples. This

will set the scene for a major conference of mission

professionals, academics and church leaders on

Reclaiming Evangelism: Celebrating Change and

Collaboration. These are good models, which

others may be able to emulate.

Doing gospel work online may seem a strange

thing to begin with; it can certainly take you to new

places and creates new relationships in the virtual

space. However, such virtual ministry will never

replace meeting people in person on Sunday

morning worships or fellowship meetings. It has its

negative side as well as we notice in TV evangelism

and parading the Holy Communion on the box.

We are in the middle of a digital revolution that will

have an enormous impact on all our lives as the

printing press (Gutenberg 1440CE) did in the 15th

century. Hence we need to be very careful and

disciplined in using these new technologies for

interacting with people and not exploiting people

who are emotionally vulnerable. Anyone can post

their thoughts on the social media and there is no

clearly defined source of authority of a church or a

bishop in that virtual space. In the post-modern

world the interpretation of a text depends on the

people who read it. For the postmodernists, every

presentation is a re-presentation and every author

of a book or article is dead, writer has no authority

over the text once the text is in the public domain.

It is the reader who interprets the text using

his/her cultural context. The very foundation of

authority is being challenged. Therefore, we can no

longer enjoy on the privileges of respect and

authority we have come to enjoy and respect.

Hence we should be mindful of using the modern

communication media.

There are some positive things in the postmodern

way of thinking as well. They argue that what is on

the margins decide what is at the centre. Jesus

cared for people on the margins of the society, so

we should. Margins should help the centre to

formulate policies and restructure the society. It is

time to consider the importance of the subsidiarity

principles in the management and governance of

the Mar Thoma Diaspora regions. At present, it is

the young people and women who are

marginalised and silenced through a top-down

hierarchical hegemony. We must identity these

margins and help to recover the agency of the

margins for their growth and expression of their

faith.

It is refreshing to see how Pope Francis is

effectively using twitter to reach his people and he

is leading the way; he has a twitter account in nine

languages with over 12 million followers; it is

indeed an amazing transformation. We hope that

our community will rise to the challenges of hyper-

connected super highways of communication with

courtesy and discipline. Being disciplined in using

the digital communication may be counter

cultural, but that is what the Christian message is

all about; our involvement may bring the necessary

discipline in propagating the Christian message of

love under the grace of God.

The internet-based applications including

websites, blogs, facebook, podcasts, and apps are

opening up new frontiers for churchs mission,

ministry and pastoral care. Training in social

communication is an essential area where more

emphasis should be given if future ministers are to

deliver their ministry effectively; it is time to float

the pulpit to reach out to people. We also need to

find ways for intergenerational communication

that are creative, challenging and convincing. The

challenges of todays new globalized culture

demand new and deeper efforts not only to read

the signs of the times but also to see the challenges

for being a new way of being a church in the digital

age.

12

Silence of the Plant

Kingdom Rev Dr. M. J. Joseph, Kottayam

Silence is golden.

The plants and the trees speak in silence.

They pray in silence.

They cook in silence.

They flower in silence.

How great is the silence of the Plant Kingdom!

There is no violence in the Plant Kingdom.

They depend on the Sun, the power of the Universe

They get dew from above;

They too smile, but the human eye is too weak to

see.

They too have hunger and thirst;

The Creator takes care of their needs in a

miraculous way.

They dont celebrate their birthday.

They bloom where they are planted.

They teach humans the ABC of forgiveness.

They give shade to the wood- cutter till they fall on

the ground.

They call upon the tiger and the lion to give them

shelter,

They discover the depth of Mothers bosom.

There is bio-diversity under the earth,

They put humans to shame by their pluralism

under the soil!

O my dear friends!

You were not consulted when we were created by

the Lord

Do you know that we are senior to you in age!

Why dont you respect and learn from us?

Do you know that you and I have one existence?

Remember, you will not be able to live without us.

Repeat the words of the poet Keats:

Truth is beauty,

Beauty is truth

Yes, truth does not shout,

It is silent.

Beauty does not die,

It is immortal.

"For even the son of Man did not

come to be served, but to serve, and

to give his life as a ransom for

many"

Mark 10.45

13

Mission today: Five Key

Themes

Revd Canon Philip Mounstephen

Its a great pleasure to write this short piece for the

Mar Thoma ECHO to help you reflect on mission

and outreach. For reasons which will become clear

I think this is such an important issue for members

of the Mar Thoma Church to be considering. For

myself Im delighted to be in partnership with you

and consider the calling to speak at the Maramon

Convention to be one of the great privileges of my

life.

I want to help us think about mission by looking at

six specific themes. Theme one is this: mission has

been and always will be about people. It sounds

deceptively simple, but its fundamental. Mission

is about people. Its not about technique or strategy

at least not first and foremost. Over the past 216

years CMS has enabled over 10,000 people to

engage in the process of connecting person to

person in all kinds of places, in all kinds of ways, in

order to make Jesus known. Many early

missionaries took their possessions with them in a

coffin because they had no expectation of ever

coming back, so committed were they to that

encounter with other people. It is people, singular

- and a people, plural who the Lord chooses and

uses to be about his mission.

And the members of the Mar Thoma Church are

amongst that people! Please never ask whether

God has called you to engage in mission and

outreach. He has. He has chosen you for that task.

The question is, rather, are you obeying that call?

Theme two: mission in todays world is from

everywhere to everywhere. Mission was once from

over here to over there, from North to South,

from the West to the Rest. But now we are part of

a truly global family, so mission today is not just

about people going from over here to over there:

it is from everywhere to everywhere. Mission

today is not mono-directional and inflexible, but

multi-directional and very flexible.

And you are part of that changing scene. You are

not where you are by accident. God has called you

out from the ancient heartland of the Mar Thoma

Church (where the gospel was preached long

before it ever came to my country, to England).

And he has called you out with a purpose, and that

purpose is mission. You are part of his global

people who he is deploying to make the good news

of Jesus known across the face of the world. You

are not here by accident, but by the calling of God.

Theme three is this: mission must take culture

seriously. The best description of culture I know is

this: culture is the way we do things around here.

Its the way we eat our food, live in our houses, lie

down to sleep, go to work. Its the way we go about

the simplest and the most basic things of life. For

mission to take culture seriously means that we

dont go to other people and say, Come to us and

be like us. Instead we go to other people and as

far as we can we become like them, because that

is exactly what Jesus did. He became like us, that

we might become like him. And that is the path we

are to follow. We are to humble ourselves amongst

others - not that they might become like us, but

that together we might become like Jesus.

God has spread members of the Mar Thoma

Church across the world. But do you understand

the place, and the people, to which he has called

you? You need to make the effort to do so, if you

are going to be effective in mission. Mission must

always take culture seriously.

14

Theme four follows from theme three: Europe will

be increasingly not the source but the focus of

mission. This continent which was once the source

of so much missionary activity now desperately

needs to receive mission from elsewhere in the

world. Europe is the exceptional continent: the one

continent on earth where people consider having a

religious faith to be strange, whereas in most of the

rest of the world it is perfectly normal. So we

desperately need to receive the gifts of the

worldwide church that are already here amongst

us.

But let me be honest with you. The Church in the

West has not been very good historically at

receiving those gifts, perhaps because weve not

always realised that we need them. But we do! So

please dont hesitate to reach out the hand of

friendship to local churches around you. Ask how

you can help them in their mission; how you can

work together in mission. We need you so much.

Lets move on to the final theme: mission is the

heartbeat of God. In the last few years the Church

of England has come to realise that, to quote the

words of Tim Dearborn, It is not the Church of God

that has a mission in the world; but the God of

mission who has a church in the world. Theres a

huge difference between the two attitudes. In the

first mission is just one activity of the Church:

mission is smaller than the church. In the second

its the other way round. Mission is much bigger

than the Church because its not our mission, its

Gods. Mission is Gods agenda, his heartbeat: the

bringing back of the world to himself. If mission is

bigger than the church, then it must change our

perspective. The Church of God does not set the

agenda for mission. Mission sets the agenda for the

Church of God.

The challenge for the Mar Thoma Church, the

challenge for every church is this: are we letting the

mission of God set the agenda for the church of

God? And if we are, just how will things change?

For we can be certain of one thing: as we get

involved in the mission of God it is not only the

world that will be changed. We will be too.

Revd Canon Philip Mounstephen is the

Executive Leader of the Church

Missionary Society.

He took up this role in October 2012 after five

years as chaplain of St Michael's, Paris, a large

multicultural church in the centre of the city. He

described himself as "thrilled and delighted" to

have been asked to lead the CMS community in

mission. He is deeply committed to the church

around the world. He is very much a 'people

person' - his role at St Michael's Paris brought

him into regular contact with everyone from the

homeless to ambassadors. He was a speaker at

the Maramon convention.

"Without truth there is no kindness,

without kindness the truth cannot

be told"

Tolstoy

15

"Reaching Out Sharing

Faith & Meeting Social

Needs Revd Dr. Valson Thampu

Reaching out, or out-reach, is the genius of the

biblical faith. It is the secret of its dynamism.

Out-reach is the very nature of God. Remember

how Adam and Eve went and hid themselves, after

disobeying God? They would have become ant-

hills if God had not reached out to them! Each time

the Jews reneged and slinked away from God, he

reached out to them. This outreach is a natural

and necessary expression of the Creatorship of

God. The Creator, unlike a curator, cannot but

reach out, when any part of Creation is in peril or

decay, just as the Good Shepherd, unlike the

hireling, will reach out to the lost sheep (Jn. 10).

Incarnation is a historical expression of this out-

reaching-ness of God. Jesus said clearly and

emphatically that He came to seek and save the lost

(Lk. 19:10). Given that that is the quintessential

purpose of His coming into the world, we should

expect that He will sent us out, if we heed His call

and go to Him. It is, indeed, to send us out that he

calls us to Himself. It is in this sent-ness that Jesus

abides with us most powerfully (Jn. 15:4).

There are only two models of leadership in the

world. First, leaders who expect you to go to them.

Such people will make it difficult for you to reach

them, even as they expect you go to them! They

want you to go to them, but they do not want to

have you with them. They understand their

importance in terms of this contradiction. Such

leaders show off their importance or power in

terms of their inhospitality and inaccessibility.

This is inherent in the worldly idea of leadership.

In the second model, the leader is marked by his

outreach. He comes! Because he comes, there is

the assurance of redemption and transformation.

The Nazareth Manifesto (Lk. 4:18) for example, is

ridiculous in respect of the first model. i. e. the

come-to-me, but touch-me-not model.

Imagine a leader of the first model meeting with

the woman of Samaria! (Jn.4) First of all, this is a

logical impossibility. But, for the sake of argument,

let us assume that such a meeting can take place.

What would be the outcome? The woman, already

fallen, will only be exploited and degraded further.

I note this in passing only to underline the danger

hidden in the come-to-me model or the anti-

outreach model, which is the reigning model today.

What is the rationale for outreach? Why reach out

at all? What is the discipline of this outreach?

Well, the thief also reaches out! So, not every

instance of outreach is spiritually valid of humanly

beneficial. Outreach has to be, as Jesus defines it,

like sheep among wolves (Mtt. 10:16). The wolf is

a symbol of unilateralism. Outreach, when it is cast

in the mould of unilateralism, becomes predatory.

The corrupt politician reaches out to the electorate

at the time of election. He is a wolf among lambs.

The lamb is the symbolic opposite of the wolf. It is,

symbolically, mutuality introduced into a world of

unilateralism. The lamb will, hence, be at peril. It

risks being ripped apart. But the lamb is,

mercifully, safe against acquiring the nature of the

wolf. The outreach of the wolf and the thief is

marked by aggressive self-interest. They live in a

world in which neighbours will be victims.

You would recall that Jesus, while calling Simon

and his brother Andrew, promised to make them

fishers of men. They were, till then, fishers of

fish. What is the difference between the two?

Fishers of fish work only for their profit. They are,

that is, unilateral. Do their outreach results in

pain and cruelty. Fishers of men reach out for the

sake, and only for the ultimate good, of his fellow

human beings. That is the hallmark of the

Christian outreach.

It is outreach of this kind that embodies the power

and possibilities of the biblical faith. Though this

has many aspects, we shall, for the time being, look

at only two of them: sharing faith and meeting

needs.

Sharing faith

16

The strategy of sharing faith is put incomparably

well by John, the Evangelist: the Word became

flesh (Jn. 1:14). It is inherent in the logic of

outreach that the self (even the Self) changes. The

willingness to change is basic to the wholeness of

outreach. Hence it is that Jesus said, He who

wishes to come after me must deny himself, take

up my cross and follow me. (Mtt. 16: 24).

Outreach, without the saving grace of self-denial,

quickly degenerates into the thief/wolf model.

So the Word became flesh. Not that there was

anything wrong with the Word! Even the Word has

to change itself into something else to be an agent

of outreach. If we are in Christ Jesus, we shall be a

new creation (2 Cor. 5: 17). Or, we shall be born

again (Jn. 3.3). This is the essential precondition

for our outreach to be conducive to sharing the

faith. Else, our outreach is likely to discredit the

faith.

Our educational institutions, for examples, are

embodied outreaches. At least they are meant to

be. Through them we are in engagement with those

outside of our community. Do they, as of today,

share the faith or sear the faith? Why are they, if

they are, stumbling blocks? Isnt it because the

discipline and strategy that God himself accepted

are rejected by them? If the salt has lost in

saltiness, it is good only to be cast out and trampled

underfoot by others, says Jesus.

If, as the administrator of a Christian institution, I

do not deny myself and become something other

than, or more than, an administrator as the world

understands this phenomenon, what earthly

chance there is that I will share my faith, or may

even want to share my faith, with anyone? A

Christian Principal is one who is not a stereotypical

Principal, but a missionary. To be a missionary in

the domain of education, I have to deny myself as

Principal. Only when I deny myself as Principal do

I become a Christian Principal. To be a King one

has to deny oneself. Only the Servant King can be

a true King. All else are imposters and pretenders.

Those who have ears to hear, let them hear.

The second aspect of sharing faith is dwelling

amidst or being with. The Word, would have

fallen short of the model of sharing faith even if it

had become flesh, but did not care to dwell in the

midst of people. Abide in me, and I in you, says

Jesus (Jn. 15:4). This is an area of crippling

weakness for us at the present time. On the social

plane, we live, mostly, self-exiled. We are not in

engagement with the world around us. We

marginalize ourselves. Experientially, we live

compartmentalized. Our professional life and our

faith life are poles apart. Our week days mock our

Sundays! What governs one is irrelevant, even

incompatible with the other. We are split-

personalities and there is, alas, no wholeness in us!

How, then, can we share faith? We cannot have

faith, much less share faith!

The third aspect puts the spotlight on who we are,

or how others experience us. We need to live in

their midst full of grace and truth. Grace is that

God-given quality in you which enables others to

be reminded of the presence and authority of God

in interacting with you. Showing the other cheek,

for instance, is an expression of this grace. Staying

focused on the purpose God has for us in calling us

and sending us out being good and faithful

servants- is an aspect of this grace. How we deal

with difficult situations, including trials and

tribulations (Mtt.5: 11, 12), proves this grace.

Sharing faith is not a walk in the park! It cannot be

done with human abilities or enthusiasm alone. It

has to be a shared labour. In sharing faith we are

partners with Christ. This makes us a new

Creation. It imbues us with grace and truth. It

enables us to abide with people, with even the

difficult ones. It enables us to endure. Endurance

is the key to effectiveness. He who endures to the

end, says Jesus, will be saved. He will be saved

from futility and fruitlessness.

Sharing faith is not a matter of Crusades and

conventions! Remember what St. Francis of Assisi

said, Preach by all means; use words, if

necessary. The simplest, and the most effective

way of sharing is, in the words of Jesus, Come and

see. This is a far cry from the predicament of

Adam and Eve, who went into hiding! Where do we

17

stand today? Are we in a position to say to people

at large, Come and see!? Or, do we have to go and

hide and our heads in the bush of hypocrisy and

playacting?

Meeting needs.

What most people rarely realize is that meeting

needs is the measure of our relevance. The needs

all around us are pregnant with opportunities!

They comprise the matrix of our relevance. If we do

not, or cannot, respond to needs, are we not

irrelevant? The fig tree sans fruit, that Jesus

cursed? But to see and to respond to the needs of

others, we have to bridle our desires, or overcome

our covetousness. That is why the Ten

Commandments contain the Commandment, You

shall not covet. Covetousness, on the one hand,

degrades us into wolves or thieves and, on the

other, makes us blind to the needs of others. We

remain so obsessed with our own wants and

desires that are cruelly unmindful of the needs of

others (cf. The Parable of the Sheep and the Goats).

Clarity on the difference between needs and

desires is basic to the discipline of being sent out in

outreach. If we are not spiritually educated on this

distinction, we will be no better, our good

intentions notwithstanding, than fishers of fish.

We may meet needs if you like; but they will only

be our own needs; or what we think are our needs,

which may not be needs at all. How much land,

Count Leo Tolstoy asks through a short story, does

a man need? Enough to enable him to work and

live? Or enough to make him collapse and die?

Remember the Rich Fool?

God has placed us in a world of needs. And what is

more, we live in a world that denies needs and

pursues desires murderously. There is mounting

confusion everywhere on this count. Take an

illustrative example. Most people covet power: the

reason why we have kissa kursi ka. What we need

is not power but strength. Jesus was strong,

awesomely strong; but he was powerless.

(Characteristically this was lost on those who

mocked the Crucified. They were blind to his

strength. They clamoured for a display of power!)

Power and strength seem, in this contrary world of

ours, to be incompatible. Either you have power or

you have strength. Power belongs to the order of

Mammon and strength comes from the Lord.

Strength is inner. Power is derived from external

sources, means and institutions. What stands us in

good stead is strength. The Holy Spirit is strength

of that kind: the strength that transforms adversity

into an advantage, pain into a profit, crisis into an

opportunity.

Any takers for strength?

One of the basic needs that we have is the need to

understand our needs aright. This is discernment.

Consider the parable of the Lost Son. He thought

he needed the licentious, riotous freedom of the

far country. He learns the hard way that it is the

love of a father that he needs. There is really no

point in busying ourselves with meeting needs if

we are not spiritually educated about what the

needs are and we do not share that faith insight

with others. That is why Jesus gave the mandate to

his disciples, as he sent them out on their mission,

to preach and heal (Mtt. 10: 7,8). Prophetic

preaching sets people free from their slavery to the

pattern of the world which is driven by the

multiplication of desires and wants. The pattern

of the world is the substitution of needs with

desires.

All human beings have a fundamental need for

God. Man cannot live by bread alone. But we

cannot live without bread either. Hence Jesus

instruction, Give them something to eat.

Consider the profundity of this situation. It is the

Living Bread, the Bread of Eternal Life that says,

Give them something to eat! It is this balance

between the eternal and the temporal, the spiritual

and the material, the worldly and the other

worldly, the intimate and the ultimate that we

need. Nothing less will do.

Remember Jesus on the Jericho road? He stops to

ask the blind man, Bartimaeus, What is it that you

18

want me to do for you? What is it, in other words,

that you need? Thank God, he was not confused.

Rabbi, he cried out, I want to see! We have a

need to have our eyes opened. Everyone! If only

Christian education were to result in opening the

eyes of the blind!

It is not pray dont get me wrong- that material

needs do not matter. They do. But material needs

abound in the scope for misunderstanding. Take

your ubiquitous cell phones. How often should you

change your model? And how expensive need your

phones be? If it is to meet your need to

communicate?

Is it, really?

What is your need? Is it to communicate? Or is it

to afford a vague feel-good-factor? Or, to show off?

Or, to keep up with the Joneses? Or, is it to play

mischief? If it is to communicate, is it necessary to

invest in newer and more jazzy phones? Isnt it

more important to develop yourself so that you

have something to say when you use the phone?

To become a person whose communication will

enrich others? How will catching up with the latest

model in the market help in this respect? What is

the use in having the best communication

instrument when you have really nothing

worthwhile to communicate?

It is through outreach that we learn to critique our

needs and to discover the needs of others. This has

a liberating effect on us. Often we remain grumpy

just because we do not know the realities of the

world we live in. We are like the boy in a poem from

yester years who kept crying because the pair of

shoes his dad bought for him was not to his liking,

until a beggar came along who had only one leg to

stand on. Seeing him boy stopped crying! That is

the power, if you like, of the beggars outreach.

How does it matter that it is accidental? The beggar

ministered to the boys need better than his father

did. Isnt this splendid irony?

How can we meet peoples needs, for Gods sake,

when we are so confused about our own needs?

Hence it is that Jesus exhorted his disciples,

Watch and pray!

* The Author is the Principal of St.

Stephens College, Delhi.

In this world you will have trouble.

But take heart! I have overcome the

world"

John 16: 33

19

The Mar Thoma Church:

Gender Equality in the

Sacred Space Jesudas M. Athyal.

This article discusses the wider implications of a

major milestone in womens participation in the

Mar Thoma Church (MTC). The denomination is

part of the ancient Indian Church that traces its

origin to the missionary work of Saint Thomas in

south India during the first century AD. Today

hundreds of congregations of MTC exist in the

diaspora all over the world. The Church, while

accepting at the theological level the full

participation of women in all realms, has so far

been reluctant to take administrative steps to

include women in the pastoral ministry of the

Church. MTCs response to the Lima Document

of 1982 entitled Baptism, Eucharist and Ministry

by the Commission on Faith and Order, stated:

the Mar Thoma Church presently has barriers due

to custom, culture, tradition on allowing women to

share in the ordained ministry of the church. It is

earnestly hoped that these will break down as men

develop greater consciousness of the change of

times and women become willing and open to new

challenges that God is opening before them.

Anitha Oommen at the high

altar along with the chief

celebrant, Bishop

Theodosius, and others

Under the reform movement initiated by Dr.

Geevarghese Mar Theodosius, the current bishop

of the Mar Thoma Churchs Diocese of North

America and Europe, the Rev. Sam Panicker, the

Vicar of the Carmel Mar Thoma Church (Hudson,

MA) assigned Ms. Anitha Oommen, a member of

the congregation, to be the Deacon for the Holy

Communion service on Sunday, January 4, 2015.

This was, perhaps, the first time that a woman

served as the deacon (atmaya sishrushakan / lay

minister) for the regular Holy Communion service

in a parish church of MTC, as the very entry of

women in the sacred space of the high altar was

considered taboo. The event of January 4,

therefore, marked a major step in the participation

of women in the ministry of the church.

While the question of womens participation in all

realms of the church seems to be a settled matter

in most mainline Protestant churches, this

continues to be debated vigorously in the Roman

Catholic and Orthodox churches. Like the

churches of Indian origin, the Catholic and

Orthodox churches too do not ordain women as

priests, though they follow a less rigid approach

with regard to the presence of women at the high

altar. Both the traditions have a long history of

women serving as acolytes and, in certain cases, as

deacons. According to the Catholic scholar Phyllis

Zagano, women as deacons is not a concept for the

future but for the present, for today. Pope

Francis too has emphasized that understanding

womens participation in the Church cannot be

limited to the acolyte, to the president of Caritas

[and] the catechist. Instead, what is needed today,

according to him, is a more profound theology of

women. The Orthodox churches in many parts of

the world, till a few centuries ago, had the practice

of female deacons though, for a number of reasons,

it fell into disuse. The practice, however, has

neither been abolished by canon or a council nor

completely disappeared. The Inter-Orthodox

Theological Consultation that met in Rhodes,

Greece in 1988 noted that deaconess were

ordained within the sanctuary during the Divine

Liturgy with two prayers: she received the orarion

(the deacons stole) and received Holy Communion

at the altar. The consultation affirmed the need to

revive the practice of women deacons.

Anitha along with the bishop and

clergy

Even though the notion that women are inferior to

men is a deeply rooted tradition in many parts of

the world, modernization and secularization have

challenged to a certain degree the patriarchal

structures of the West. The waves of change have

influenced the traditional patriarchal structures of

20

India as well, but religion there seems to be the last

bastion of male dominance. On the one hand,

under the impact of modernization and

urbanization, many Indian women have moved out

of the house and into the professional space.

Women today enjoy an equal status with men in

most areas of the secular life. The religious

structures, however, is where the age-old

traditions are reinforced and solidified. Even the

Indians in the West, who lead highly successful

and professional lives in the secular world, are seen

to fall back on tradition translated here as

casteist and patriarchal values in the religious

sphere. As George Zachariah put it, the

association between Patriarchy and Casteism

based on notions of purity and pollution has

influenced the doctrines and the ecclesial practices

of the Indian churches. [See the Keynote Address

presented at the seminar of the American Academy

of Religion in Chennai (India) on the theme,

Identity and Social Distinctions among Indian

Christians, at Home and in the Diaspora: Some

Theological Reflections," on July 19, 2014

(unpublished).]

What happened on January 4 was historic, at least

as far as the Indian churches are concerned. The

church in the diaspora has managed to pose a

challenge, howsoever insignificant, to the age-old

stranglehold of patriarchal supremacy in the

churches of Indian origin. If the resistance of the

Indian churches to gender equality in the sacred

space is rooted more in the religious tradition of

purity and pollution than in the reformed Christian

values, does it also follow that the churches in the

diaspora, that are at the intersection between the

Eastern and Western values, can provide the

favourable ground for a feminist reinterpretation

of Christian ministry? Questions remain, but an

important step in gender equality in the sacred

space has been attempted and achieved. Though

much remains to be accomplished, this, truly, is a

moment for celebration and thanksgiving.

Jesudas Athyal is a Visiting Researcher at the

Boston University School of Theology and a

member of the Mar Thoma Church; he represents

the Church in the Inter-faith Commission of the

National Council of Churches. This article was

originally published in patheos.com:

http://www.patheos.com/blogs/religionnow/2015/

03/the-mar-thoma-church-gender-equality-in-the-

sacred-space/#ixzz3V9ExjbbS

Be holy, because I am holy"

1Peter 1:15

21

Lent Talks by Lord Leslie

Griffiths

[Lord Griffiths was a past president of the

Methodist Church and elevated to the

House of Lords in 2005, and he sits on the

Labour benches. The following is a

summarised version of five Lent talks that

he gave to the Churches Together

Ecumenical body in North London in

2015. Dr. Zac Varghese]

The 2015 Lent talks were given by the Revd Dr

Leslie Griffiths on the theme I believe in One, Holy

Catholic, Apostolic, Evangelical, Charismatic,

Radical and Liberal Church. The main thrust of

the theme was that over the centuries various

churches and groups confiscated and owned these

Spirit-filled words for their own exclusive needs

and for controlling members of the churches, and

directing them in various ways. The five weeks

journey with Lord Griffiths was an amazing

liberating experience to realise that one does not

have to move out of ones denomination to declare

without hesitation that one belongs to one holy,

catholic, apostolic, charismatic, radical and liberal

church.

On the first week, the discussions centred on: One

Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church. He

introduced the Trinitarian, differentiated unity of

oneness and the unity in diversity. Disunity is a

flagrant violation of our faith in Christ. We need to

cling to everything that we have got. Church has

not changed with the change. There were seven

Ecumenical Councils, but the model of the

Ecumenical Council of unity is the Ecumenical

Council of Jerusalem in Acts 15 when the need for

circumcision was removed. We may have to give up

something that we most cherish. Creeds excluded

many more people than they included; creeds have

limits. There were linguistic issues in reaching

consensus over the final agreements on the Nicene

Creed. It may become more of a hindrance than a

help.

On holiness, he said that holiness is the right

relationship with God. Holiness is an interior

elated state; holiness is a set-apart sacred

experience. But it has been thought of in other

terms, too, such as standing out, chosen, not

contaminated with other people, keeping distinct,

racial purity and not intermarrying and so forth.

There is a pejorative way of thinking of holiness,

too, an elevated way having the pretence of purity,

and having outward practices of devotion, to have

certain purity laws. But holiness is not an outward

thing; it is a sincere and humble relationship with

God. It is being part of a holy people at the disposal

of others, but not the membership of an exclusive

club. The Methodist view of perfection, activists

serving the world, was mentioned. Holiness also

means one is called upon to serve.

Moving on to the word catholic he explained that

when capitalized, Catholic refers to the Catholic

Church. With a lower-case c, catholic means

universal and inclusive. When the early

Christians used the term catholic, they were not

referring to any particular church, denomination,

rite, or communion. They were simply referring to

all true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.

On the Apostolic Church, Lord Griffiths had the

following to say: an apostle is someone who is

sent. A missionary church is an apostolic church.

Apostolic succession became an issue for many

denominations to establish the validity of their

three-fold ministry of bishops, priests and

deacons. In the English context, bishops were

ordained before the physical separation of the

Church by Henry VIII. The apostolic succession

continued. Reformation is not about establishing

a new church, but going back to the origin of the

Church in apostolic times.

The second talk was about the Church being

evangelical. He quoted from William Blake, The

cistern contains; the fountain overflows, to

emphasise the imperatives involved in the

evangelical urge to preach the gospel of Christ, very

much like a fountain that overflowing under the

guidance of the Holy Spirit. Evangelicalism varies

with different confessions and denominations. He

talked about various confessions, such as the

22

Westminster and Augsburg confessions of the

Reformed and Lutheran traditions. He traced the

problems of the inerrancy of the Bible and biblical

literalism. God reconciled man through Jesus

Christ and not the other way round; God is the one

taking the initiative and knocking at the door, but

the handle is inside the door as in the famous

painting of The Light of the World at St Pauls

Cathedral. Some evangelical enterprises have a

habit of making cost-benefit analysis in terms of

money spent in terms of individuals saved. There

is a certain danger in TV evangelism and in big

crusades. Hell-fire preachers try to drive people to

the arms of our Lord through fear. The emphasis

should be on winning people and not driving them.

We should think not only about the salvation of the

individual soul but of the whole community. We

should see the social need in the context of Gods

unconditional love for all mankind. It is not about

preaching the Gospel, but living it. Our neighbour

will know whether we are a Christian or not.

The third

week was about a Radical Church. He described

the difference between fundamentalism and

radicalism. Fundamentalism is inorganic and it is

set in stone or under concrete slabs with their

inbuilt inflexibility and rigidity. On the other hand,

radicalism is organic and it is a movement. He

spent time on explaining the revival movement in

Latin America and liberation theology. There are

various types of Christian radicalism. Dietrich

Bonhoeffers religion-less Christianity and his

emphasis on costly grace is an important aspect of

Christian radicalism. Pope John XXIII and

Vatican II are important, too, in this respect.

Radicalism is about going underneath, watering

the roots, and transforming. Pope Franciss

approach in having a bias for the poor is also

important. Radicalism should be rooted in the

Gospel. A Gospel-centred watering the roots is

necessary for Christian nurturing.

The talk on the fourth week was on the charismatic

or Pentecostal church. Pentecostalism is a form of

Christianity that emphasizes the work of the Holy

Spirit, the gifts and fruit of the Spirit. He traced

the history and development of Pentecostalism in

Wales through the early work of Evan Roberts

from 1904. He developed the practise of hwyl,

which is excited preaching in an emotional and

engaging way to move and make people commit to

God. 100 years before this James Buckley started

a revival movement in Wales. Pentecostalism is a

very successful and fast growing movement; more

than 14% of Christians world-wide have

Pentecostal/Charismatic affiliations. Speaking in

tongues is considered to be very significant in the

charismatic movement. St Paul gives guidelines

about speaking in tongues and other the gifts of the

Spirit in Romans, 1 Corinthians, Ephesians, and

Galatians. One should consider the question: is

there a floating authority for giving the Holy Spirit

the authority for ones own intentions and ideas.

Sometimes people take things for granted and then

there is the danger of mannerisms and traditions

remaining after the power of the Spirit has gone.

We should try to hang on to the timeless truth in

our mainstream churches. Why do charismatic

Christians feel compelled to leave the mainline

churches to express their charismatic experiences?

The final week was on the liberal church. He traced

the historical development of Enlightenment and

liberal thinking in Europe through the work of

Ren Descartes; Descartes established discourse

method to explain realities with mathematical

precision and scientific evidence. I think therefore

I am is his famous dictum. Physics replaced

metaphysics. Alexander Pope said, The proper

study of mankind is man. The Church was against

scientific innovations in earlier centuries;

scientists were thought to be heretics. Pope

Benedict XVI rehabilitated Galileo in 2008.

The historical critical method of studying the Bible

was discussed; there is also a liberal way of

interpreting the Bible, but at times it can be risky

position. He explained the JEDP way of studying

the Pentateuch. Some errors crept into the Bible

through copying errors. One should be careful

about literal interpretation of the Bible, too. The

capacity of the Bible to interpret itself was

discussed, which is a surprising experience when

studying the Bible. Sometimes for giving emphasis

on a point, some selected references may be used

23

at the exclusion of others. To illustrate this point

Lord Griffiths pointed out James, brother of Jesus,

using the Greek version of Amos for supporting the

stand of Peter and Paul on circumcision for the

Gentiles during the Council of Jerusalem.

Sometimes people are tempted to introduce

personal bias into interpreting the Bible; this is one

danger of becoming too liberal. One should be

careful in preserving the timeless truth while

adapting to the times.

These weekly lectures were followed by searching

questions and very rewarding answers. Attendance

of kept on increasing from week one, which is a

measure of the quality and satisfaction derived

from these talks.

Repetition and

Recollection Dr. Zac Varghese, London

The title of this short meditation is based on a

quotation from the Danish Philosopher, Soren

Kierkegaard. In his essay on Repetition he wrote:

Repetition and recollection are same movements,

only in opposite directions; for what is recollected

has been, is repeated backwards, whereas

repetition (properly so called) is recollected

forwards. Therefore repetition, if it is possible,

makes a man happy, whereas recollection makes

him unhappy. This is not an easy quotation to

understand because of the way it is constructed.

The important aspect is the forward and backward

movements of memory of various incidents in

ones life. Mere recollection is just a memory

check, possibly a mental exercise. Forward

movement of recollection is an active re-enactment

of an experience long forgotten. What does this

mean?

One may have a recollection of ones wedding on a

wedding anniversary celebration, but it is a totally

different experience to live out the moment of the

very first meeting of ones lifes soul mate and

partner. Life would be amazing and magical if one

can repeat and live out that beautiful, magnetic,

emotional moment of that first meeting again and

again. This may be also true of the birth of a child

and such experiences. For few, it may be possible

to remember the inexplicable joy of obtaining a

perfect ten during a mathematical exercise or

obtaining a first rank. Our inability to recollect

these events in a forward movement is the

beginning of a tension in many relationships.

"Who is wise and understanding

among you? Let him show it by

good life, by deeds done in humility

that comes from wisdom"

James 2: 13

24

Recollection is a journey from here to there, in a

backward direction, a return journey; but

repetition is a journey from there to here and now;

it is in the now we live and love and have our being.

It is the magical transformation of being-for-itself

to being-for-others experience. It is that

momentous decision to live within the life of the

other, a lifelong friendship of a divine kind. It is a

forward journey; we are leaping back to the

beginning of time and starting that journey again.

Such experiences are not measured or

remembered in chronological time, but they are

timeless kairos moments. Greeks have two

understanding about time, chronos and kairos;

chronos is quantitative, measured in seconds,

minutes, and hours; whereas kairos is qualitative;

it is a timeless experience. We forget time when we

have a really good time with a friend. Further, it

refers to a right, perfect moment. We can become

a timeless traveller through chronos time of

traveling from here to those golden perfect

moments in our lives. This is reliving in absolute

joyfulness. This what St. Paul probably had in

mind when he wrote to Thessalonians, Be joyful

always; pray continually; give thanks in all

circumstances, for this is Gods will for you in

Christ Jesus (1Thessalonians 5: 16).

The point is that it is not possible to embrace the

repetition of an entire life because there are

situations and incidents we may want to forget or

edit out. This editing out is repentance and

kneeling on our knees and asking forgiveness to

our God. The good news is that God in His

abundant mercy is always willing to wipe out these

transgressions; it is God who is in control of the

delete button. The redness of our sins are wiped

out with His blood on the Cross to make us as white

as snow, and He gives us the freedom to start

reliving all the golden moments under the grace of

God. It is to this heaven He always invites us to

enter. He is at the door knocking to come in and

share the experience of travelling forward with us.

He is willing and ready to walk with, but are we

ready and willing to walk with Jesus? This sort of

awareness helps us to bring a new life and

dimension into all relationships. This is the

Liturgy after the Liturgy; it is the Eucharistic

experience of everyday living; it is simply and

experience of receiving, thanking, breaking, and

sharing. This is indeed the everyday theology of

life.

"You give them something to eat"

Luke 9: 13

25

News & Reports

Hermon MTC, Midlands, UK -

Parish Day Celebration

Hermon Mar Thoma Church, Midlands, UK

celebrated its 8th Parish day on Saturday 9th May

2015. The celebrations started with a Holy

Communion service followed b