Leadership Conference

Praise God Almighty! St. Mark’s Mar Thoma Youth Fellowship was blessed and privileged to host the 15th Annual Diocesan Leadership Conference of North America & Europe from January 5 to 8, 2012. The Leadership Conference was mainly held at the Centerpointe Community Church, Tampa.

The conference was attended by His Lordship Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius (Diocesan Episcopa), Rev. K. E. Geevarghese (Diocesan Secretary), Rev. Dr. Joe Joseph Kuruvilla (chaplain of Southeast Region), Rev. Alex Peter (chaplain of Midwest Region), Rev. Shibi Abraham (chaplain of Southwest B Region), and Rev. Jaisen A. Thomas (chaplain of Southwest A region).

The theme for the conference was “Deal or No Deal” – Choices of Christian Leadership based on Joshua 24:15. The main thrust of the theme was geared towards the fundamental Biblical understanding that serving Christ is a direct decision on whether to serve or not. The Conference was inaugurated by Thirumeni at the St. Mark’s Mar Thoma Church, Tampa, Florida. The main events consisted of praise & worship, Bible study (including small groups), track sessions, messages given by guest speakers, devotionals and reflection.

This year the Conference Committee decided to provide a new approach for the track sessions by dividing the total number of delegates into 5 groups and allowing them to attend each track session at a time. The rotation of groups for each track session provided an intermittent level of understanding for the following topics: counseling, hermeneutics, mission/evangelism, worship and Christian ethics.

Thirumeni also conducted a town hall meeting in which delegates were allowed to participate in a question/response dialogue regarding the Mar Thoma church and the diocesan programmes. The conference was concluded on Sunday, January 8th with the celebration of the Holy Qurbana at the St. Mark’s Mar Thoma Church, Tampa.

The majority of delegates were first-timers and left with great feeling of spiritual rejuvenation, inspiration and enlightenment to take leadership in the church and attend future conferences. The Conference was a great blessing. The delegates developed a relationship with each other and the parish members.
The 16th session of the National Leadership Conference will be hosted by the Detroit Mar Thoma Parish and Youth Fellowship in January 2013.
Rohan Abraham
Conference Secretary