Message from the Diocesan Episcopa – Mar Thoma Messenger April 2014
Dear Beloved in Christ,
The Diocese of North America and Europe is having its Diocesan Assembly during the first weekend of April 2014. This affirms that the church is not only Episcopal but also democratic in its nature and administration. The newly elected Assembly members from the parishes and organizations will represent their parishes or the various organizations. They are chosen by God through God’s people. I welcome them to be part of the administrative set up of the Diocese. This is a privilege and a responsibility. Let us together have the joy of being instruments in the hands of God for the furtherance of God’s kingdom and being channels of blessings to the people in the larger society.
In some parishes, there were elections with competitive spirit. The election of the members to the Diocesan Council is also by ballot. While we become candidates and express our willingness to serve, the Bible reminds us that we should consider others better than ourselves (Phil 2:3b). When God chooses one through the people in the church, it is to be a humbling experience to acknowledge that the call is for a servant ministry (John 13:4,5) and to expend life for the furtherance of God’s kingdom. There are people who evade being elected and/or shouldering responsibilities. God wants everyone and every talent to carry out His ministry in the world. Everyone should be willing to devote one’s life, talent and time for the continuation of Christ’s ministry in the world. There are people who consider the privilege of being elected to a position of power and authority. Let us be mindful of the fact that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. The authority of Jesus Christ is seen in His death and resurrection, an act of obedience to the divine plan of God. Discerning the will of God and obeying Him is the mark of a ‘servant of God’. There are also those who are unwilling to move from the positions of administrative bodies. Church is the community of believers. As a member of the church, every person has the role of enabling the other to bring out his or her talents for the glory of God. The purpose of meeting together as a corporate body is to exhort and encourage one another (Hebrew 10: 19-25). Things are achieved not by our might but by the grace of God. While electing new members, let us pray for God’s grace to strengthen the elected members and the ministry given to them.
The Assembly meeting is organized in April 2014 by the members of the Diocesan Council with the help of the members of the Philadelphia Mar Thoma Church. The Diocesan Secretary Rev. K. E. Geevarghese and the Diocesan Treasurer Mr. Chacko Mathew along with the members of the Diocesan Council, who served for the last three years, are bringing the Diocesan Report & Accounts for the consideration of the Diocesan Assembly. I appreciate their selfless service, hard work, earnest efforts and systematic work. The Diocesan Council as a team worked at the local level and the national level to organize various events of the Silver Jubilee Celebrations of our Diocese. The details are given in the Annual Report. The new members elected in April to the Diocesan Council will continue the mission and ministry, God has given to the Diocese. The Annual Budget for 2014 is the link that marks that continuity. The new council will have old members as well as new ones. Those who were in the council earlier may say, “This is how we used to do it!”. The new members may say, “This is how we do it!”. Both have to ask the question, “How do we carry all the valuable experiences and appropriate it to the current context and work towards progress? “. Let us remember that Church is the body of Christ and the Holy Spirit is given to us to discern God’s will. Being obedient to God is very important while we pool our resources together and minister in unity.
Our bishops, Geevarghese Mar Athanasius, Dr. Euyakim Mar Coorilos along with me have entered into the 25th year of the Episcopal ministry. This is a time to thank God and express our loyalty to the church. For me, this is a humbling experience when I remember that God by His grace chose me from a remote village. The church, represented by the members, supported and co operated in my Episcopal ministry. Everyone, within the church and outside, loved and cared for me at all times and in all places. The present ministry in the diocese of North America and Europe is a challenging one. With my experience of the last five years, I wrote the book, “Churching the Diaspora, Discipling the Families”. It will be good if the theme of my book becomes an ongoing discussion among us. The family and the church are important in the life of a Christian, and they both are intertwined and have a mutual relationship that is to be taken seriously in our pilgrimage towards the Kingdom of God. The Diocesan Council has decided to publish a book entitled, ‘Beyond the Diaspora’. This is the first of its kind in our Church and will be a valuable document to understand the nature of our church which is global and has the roots deep in the soil where the third and fourth generations of our Diaspora community have become citizens and netizens.
‘Going Green’ is one of the projects we have planned for 2014. The details of this program are made known to all through the circulars from the Diocesan Office. In the month of February, I read that the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister (India) is celebrating her 66th birthday by planting 6,600,000 seedlings throughout the State. The Slogan is, “A Green Tree Today, A Greener Future Tomorrow”. Think about the difference we can make when more than 8000 families in our diocese decide to plant at least one tree per family in 2014? When God asked Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden ‘to keep it and dress it’, God wanted the earth to remain habitable and humans to respect all the organic and inorganic things. Psalms 24 reminds us that the earth and all its fullness belong to God. That is also a warning that humans have no right to exploit it. We need clean air, clean water and a habitable earth to have life and have it in its fullness. Let us commit to play our part while God is counting on us.
Thirteen (13) of our Achens are getting transferred from our Diocese by the end of April, and more number of our Achens are coming to different places by May 2014. We express our gratitude to all who served us and wish them well in the new places where they are called to serve. We welcome very heartily the new Achens. As we believe in the priesthood of all believers, let us renew our commitment to serve the Lord and His world with humility and love.
God bless us all.
Mar Theodosius+
www.martheodosius.com
