St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, NY Consecration

Consecration of the Rebuilt Place of Worship for the St. John’s Mar Thoma Church
The St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, which came into existence in the year 1990, rebuilt a new place of worship at: 90-37 213 Street, Queens Village NY. The consecration of the new place began on Saturday, March 31, 2012 led by the metropolitan, The Most. Rev. Dr. Joseph Mar Thoma, assisted by the diocesan bishop, Rt. Rev. Dr. Geevarghese Mar Theodosius.

The priests
in the nearby parishes also attended and assisted in the service. The procession started by singing ‘Senayin Yehovaye’. The trustees submitted the property to the Church and handed over the key to the diocesan bishop. After reading Psalm 24 and the initial prayer the key was handed over to the vicar, Rev. Jacob Verghese.

The metropolitan began the consecration service by placing the cross at the middle of the elevated altar. The parish choir and the members of the Church participated in the consecration service by the response to the prayers. The parish choir gave special numbers befitting the occasion. As a mark of dedication all the members present participated in offering offertory.

After reading the scripture portions and the members joining in the Nicene Creed, the place of worship was consecrated by the metropolitan with mooron. The sign of the cross was made on the altar table [thronos], sanctum sanctuary [madbaha], sanctuary [haikala], baptismal fount, and the pulpit. The service ended with benediction

There was a public meeting in which the metropolitan and the diocesan bishop spoke. The welcome speech was delivered by the secretary Mr. Varghese Abraham and the vote of thanks was delivered by the vicar.

Rev. Jacob Verghese, Vicar