OUR HISTORY

OUR CHURCH IN OMAN – A BRIEF HISTORY

By the Grace of God Almighty and through the intercession of Virgin Mary mother of God, our parish has completed thirty one years of its existence. Thirty one years is not a long period for a congregation or parish within our Church, which has a history of 2000 years. However, being in another country with a few members down from Kerala, surely an important milestone.

ISince 1970 His Majesty Sultan Qaboos Bin Said has given the Christian Community a place to worship in the heart of Oman’s capital. Each and every one of us within our Christian family is indebted to His majesty for his brave decision and religious tolerance without which we would have been where we are as far as our religious fellowship is concerned.

It all started with a spark within a few firm believers, who seem to be selected for this purpose by our Lord. Having own place to worship became the main topic of discussion whenever they met. It was for a good cause and prayerfully and jointly they went ahead with the idea of forming Jacobite Syrian (Orthodox) parish in this country. On 16th May 1980, a formal meeting was convened at the residence of Mr. A.K.Thomas. This meeting was attended by 18 people and St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Congregation was formed. Following office bearers were also selected during the course of this meeting.

Dr. T.M. Kuruvilla – President, Mr. P.V Georgekutty – Vice-President, Mr. Jacob Mangadan – Secretary, Mr. Ipe Mathew – Jt. Secretary & Mr. M.K. George – Treasurer.

In addition to this, the following members participated in the meeting:

Mr. E.I. Kunjumon, Mr. George P.Jacob, Mr. Abraham P.Jacob, Mr. Jacob Cherian, Mr. Jacob Kuruvilla, Mr. P.O Joseph, Mr. K.J Paulose, Mr. P.M. Thomas, Mr. T.K. Punnose, Mr. V.M Thomas, Mr. K.T Kuruvilla, Mr. Uthup Thomas, Mr. A.K.Thomas.

At this moment, we remember all these stalwarts with gratitude and admiration. They were well aware of the responsibilities on their shoulders and had a clear vision of what has to be done for the growth of the newborn St. Mary’s Jacobite Syrian Congregation. Around that time, The Metropolitian of the Knanaya Diocese, HG Abraham Mor Clemis, was on a spree of paying parish visits outside India and on contacting him, HG agreed to visit Muscat. On 18.07.1980 Friday, His Grace celebrated Holy Eucharist here and officially declared our Parish in Oman as ‘St.Mary’s Jacobyte Syrian Church’. This event, attended by 136 devoted members and was a milestone in our history.

he first general body meeting of the church was held on 15-08-1980 in which following committee was elected:

Office bearers : Dr. T.M. Kuruvilla – President, Mr. P.V Georgekutty – Vice-President, Mr. Jacob Mangadan – Secretary, Mr. Ipe Mathew – Jt. Secretary & Mr.M.K. George – Treasurer.

Committee Members: Mr. A.K Thomas, Mr. E.I Kunjumon, Mr. Jacob Kuruvilla, Mr. K.J. Paulose, Mr. K.Y Thomas, Mr. M.P.George, Mr. Nelson Abraham and Mr. Uthup Thomas.

Auditors: Mr. Benny M. George and Mr. Mathai Joy.