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St George MOCV
  • Home
  • Church
    • Our Faith
    • Our Church
    • Meaning Of Holy Qurbana
    • Organisations
    • Administration
    • Church Construction
  • Gallery
    • Photo Gallery
    • Video Gallery
  • Forms and Reference
    • Forms and reference
  • Events
    • Services and Events
  • More
    • FAQs
    • Prayer Requests
    • Become a member
  • Order-Online

Our church

Our church

The St. George Malankara Orthodox Church of Vancouver, BC is a member  parish of the South-West American Diocese of the Malankara Orthodox  Syrian Church. The Supreme Head of the church is the Catholicos of the  East and Malankara Metropolitan enthroned on the Apostolic Throne of St.  Thomas with headquarters at Devalokam, Kerala (India). 

The Church has a regional Diocesan Metropolitan headquartered in  Houston, TX, USA. Our Diocese Metropolitan is H.G. Thomas Mar Ivanios.

The Church follows the traditional Oriental Orthodox faith and  liturgy and our parish presently conducts services at our new church  facility 15151 72 Ave Surrey, BC V3S 2G3.

With the Intercession of our patron, St. George, we continue to grow  in faith, and by the grace and blessings of our Lord Jesus Christ, our  needs and requirements are being met. We invite everyone to come and  worship with us.

Our History

The history of St. George Malankara Orthodox Church Vancouver BC, is  inspirational and vibrant. The desire, focus and perseverance of the  faithful worshippers are going to have their dreams come true - of  having our own Church Building.

Let us take you through our journey…

1993 – 2003 – Genesis - divine guidance

We trace our recorded history to 1993: according to our senior member  Mr. Philip Zachariah who had just arrived in Vancouver from Singapore,  there were less than 40 Malayalee families in the entire Vancouver  region. During this period there were no mainstream Kerala churches or a  Malankara Orthodox Malayalam service in Vancouver. Malayalee immigrants  attended the Anglican or Catholic Church to remain in faith and  worship.

Although, in 1997 at the request of Mr. Samuel Mathunny, HG Dr.  Thomas Mar Makarios had unofficially visited Vancouver and conducted an  Orthodox Holy Qurbana at the St. Michael's Anglican Church Surrey. A  formal Orthodox church could not formed.

During this period A Syro Malabar (reeth) Malayalee Priest Fr.  Alphonse Powath conducted Malayalam service, which was also attended by  the Orthodox believers. The service was disrupted when he was  transferred to another province.

2003 – 2005 – Period of strengthening the faith

In late 2003 Mr. Sabin Alexo an orthodox believer had personally  invited Rev. Ramban Lazarus to Vancouver for the baptism of his son  which was solemnized at a rented church.

During this visit Lazarus Achen suggested, he would conduct one Holy  Qurbana per month if people were interested to attend.  This offer  helped the orthodox believers to rebuild their congregation.  

Lazarus Achen played a pivotal role in bringing all Orthodox  believers together in Christ and form a strong congregation. He would  personally contact the Malayalee families to attend the church. He  offered Holy Qurbana once a month at the Ukrainian church Surrey, which  was well attended by people in and around Vancouver. However, due to  financial constraints Holy Qurbana could only be offered once a month.

In the early days Lazarus Achen paid for his travel, he would fly in  on Friday evenings, hold a prayer meeting at one of the follower’s  residence, and would conduct the Holy Qurbana on Saturday morning. He  would then leave for Edmonton at the earliest available flight. Lazarus  Achen was based in Edmonton and he continued this practice until 2005.  With the passage of time, Lazarus Achen’s service was formalized by the  Diocese Metropolitan HG Makarios Thirumeni.

We are indebted to Lazarus Achen for his selfless service and  creating a strong Orthodox congregation in the Vancouver region. Here  starts our humble beginning…..

A noticeable personality in the Vancouver region is Fr. Paul  Illickal. He was the only Malayalee Anglican Priest in the entire BC  region serving the Anglican Church. Fr. Paul has a passion to support  the needy and has always helped every Malayalee newcomer to the region.  In the early days, without receiving any monetary benefits Fr. Paul had  opened his church to the Orthodox community to conduct the Holy Qurbana.  To-date, he continues to be a big supporter and well-wisher of our  church.

The benevolent Anglican Church in Surrey has been supportive of our needs, we shall remain thankful to their kind support.

2005 – 2007 – Period of overcoming challenges

In May 2005 Fr. Daniel Chacko arrived in Vancouver and as directed by  the Diocese Metropolitan, took charge of the Vancouver congregation.  Upon his arrival, Lazarus Achen was relieved from his duties. Although  by now the congregation was growing, it was still a financial challenge  to meet the expense of the Priest and other miscellaneous expenses.

Fr. Daniel conducted the Holy Qurbana at the Ukrainian Church Surrey, and finally at the Methodist church in Surrey.

In 2007 Fr. Daniel moved to Toronto and once again the Vancouver  congregation was left with the challenge of finding a spiritual leader.  The Holy Qurbana was disrupted however, prayer meetings continued to  keep the faithful together in Christ and the search for a priest  continued.

2007 – 2010 - Period of inspiration and strength

The elders of the Vancouver congregation contacted the North American  Orthodox Metropolitans for help. HG Barnabas Thirumeni and HG Makarios  Thirumeni came to our help and requested the Vicar of St. Thomas  Orthodox Church Seattle, Rev Fr. T U Jacob Achen to help the Vancouver  church.

Jacob Achen accepted the request and gracefully helped us with his bi  weekly Holy Qurbana and spiritual leadership. Regardless of the weather  conditions, Achen would drive the distance of 200+ KMs to conduct the  Holy Qurbana. Achen was also instrumental in encouraging the parishner’s  to look for a permanent priest and grow in size not only to meet the  spiritual needs of the people, but to be able to meet the expenses of  the church. His vision and persistence was a guiding light for us.

During Jacob Achen’s tenure the newly appointed Diocesan Metropolitan  of NW region and Canada HG Eusebius Thirumeni gave us the permission to  appoint a full time priest for the church. Thirumeni identified an  Achen from India and the parishner’s supported the initiative, thus a  new era in the history of the church was about to begin. A big thanks to  our Eusebius Thirumeni and Jacob Achen, without their support we would  not have reached this stage.

It was during Jacob Achen’s leadership in 2007 the church was  established in the name of St. George (Gee Varghese Sahdo) and  officially registered as charity under Revenue Canada and BC Charitable  Corporation. The legal name of our church henceforth is St. George  Malankara Orthodox Church Vancouver BC.

The church was formally registered under the leadership of Babychen Mattammel.

2010-2014 – Period of growth and prosperity

On September 28, 2010 a young and energetic priest from India Rev Fr.  P.C. George arrived in Vancouver. It was a moment of joy and  achievement for the Vancouver church members. George Achen is a gifted  person with great oratory and interpersonal skills. His first Holy  Qurbana was conducted on October 1, 2010. Ever since the church has been  spiritually growing. We started weekly Holy Qurbana at the St.  Michael’s Anglican Church Surrey, where we still continue. 

George Achen arrived and revitalized The Sunday school, Martha Mariam  Samajam, Youth Movement, Prayer meetings, Family conference, Church  Picnic, Onam and cultural programs, Carol singing, Christmas functions  etc. He provided leadership in all spiritual areas and had a knack of  keeping people together under challenging circumstances.

The parishner’s wanted a church of their own but were weary of the  challenges. This is when George Achen had convinced the congregation  that ‘nothing is impossible when God is with you’. He formed a  church building committee led by Mr. Cherry Itty and let the ball  rolling to find a suitable place to build a church and raise funds for  the building.

Our Metropolitan HG Eusebius Thirumeni donated $5000 towards the  Church building fund setting an example for others to follow. Ever  since, the parishner’s have been generously contributing towards the  cause and still continue to do so.

During George Achen’s tenure we managed to identify a land for the  church, raised adequate funds to pay the down payment, and signed the  purchase contract with the bank and the seller.  Achen had to leave for  US before the final purchase transactions could be completed. Without  George Achen’s vision, encouragement and initiative this would not have  been possible, the Vancouver Church shall remain indebted to him  forever.

George Achen’s biggest contribution to the Vancouver Church was  starting a ‘Church building fund’ drive and ‘Agape’ – a fund raising  event contributing towards the church building fund.

The first Agape was organized and managed under the leadership of  Babychen Mattamel and his team. It was a huge success and continues to  be the same, year after year the Malayalee community of Vancouver looks  forward to Agape. These initiatives are still progressing and will  continue until the church is built.

In 2014, George Achen moved to a US church handing over the baton to Fr. Dr. Paul T Varghese. 

June 2014 – May 26, 2019 - Turbulent times while marching towards the goal

Our Diocese Metropolitan HG Eusebius Thirumeni appointed Fr. Dr. Paul  T Varghese as our Vicar. Fr. Dr. Paul T Varghese is a Canadian Citizen  who moved from Edmonton to BC in December 2013. Fr. Paul took charge of  the church in June 2014.

In May 2019 Fr Paul was relieved from the church and thereafter Holy  Qurbana was celebrated by priests coming from the neighbouring province  of Albert as directed by HG Aprem Thirumeni.

November 27, 2019 - period of revival and inclusiveness

HG Aprem Thirumeni appointed Rev Fr. Zerah Paul from India as the  Vicar of the church. Achen arrived in Vancouver in November and since  then has been working towards its spiritual revival and serving the  church.    

Key events:

July 1997: HG Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios had an unofficial visit to Vancouver and a Holy Qurbana was conducted.

October 1998: first non-denominational Malayalam service was conducted by Fr. Alphonse at the St. Joseph’s Church Langley.

October 2003: Holy Qurbana conducted by Rev. Ramban Lazarus, the beginning of regular Orthodox service in Vancouver.

May 2005:  Holy Qurbana conducted by HG Dr. Thomas  Mar Makarios at the St. Mary Ukrainian Church Surrey. This was  Thirumeni’s unofficial visit.

August 13, 2005: The Vancouver congregation was  declared as a parish to be known as St. George Malankara Orthodox Church  Vancouver BC under the Malankara Orthodox Church of the East with HH  Moran Mar Baselios Mar Thomas Mathew II as the present Catholicos and  Malankara Metropolitan. It was introduced as a new parish under the  Canada, UK, and Europe Diocese.

The first official committee consisted of;

President: Fr. Daniel Chacko, Trustee: Santosh Philip, Secretary: Dr.  Abraham Punnen, Committee Members: Santosh Koruthu, Sunil Mathunny,  Sabin Alexo Auditor: Babychen Diocesan representative: Philip Zachariah

August 2007: The parish was officially established  in the name of St. George (Gee Varghese Sahdo) and officially registered  as charity under Revenue Canada and BC Charitable Corporation. The  legal name of our church henceforth is St. George Malankara Orthodox  Church Vancouver BC.

Mr. Babychen Mattamel took the leadership to register the church in  Vancouver BC. The first official office bearers after the registration  were;

President: Fr. T U Jacob, Trustee: Babychen Mattamel, Secretary:  Santosh Phillip, Committee members: Jacob Mathew, Santosh Koruthu, Sunil  Scaria. Auditor: Shaji Mathew

March 21, 2010: North American Diocese Metropolitan  HG Alexios Mar Eusebius approved the appointment of a full time priest.  He personally selected a priest to lead the church.

September 28, 2010: Fr. P.C. George arrived in Vancouver and his first Holy Qurbana was held on October 1, 2010.

June 2014: Fr. Dr. Paul T Varghese took charge as the Vicar of the church.

Nov 2019: Rev. Fr. Zerah Paul  took charge as the Vicar of the church.

Jan 2023: Rev. Mekkattil M C Kuriakose Rampachen took charge as the Vicar of the church.

September 15 2024: HISTORIC MILESTONE

St. George Malankara Orthodox Church, Vancouver, Designated as "Parumala of Canada"

On  September 15, 2024, His Grace Thomas Mar Ivanios Metropolitan  officially declared our church as the "Parumala of Canada" in honor of  Saint Gregorios of Parumala.

This prestigious designation  recognizes our church's unique possession of the Saint's relics and  solidifies our position as a central hub for the Malankara Orthodox  Church in Canada.

We express our deepest gratitude to His  Holiness and His Grace for this blessing. May this honor inspire us to  continue spreading the teachings of our beloved Saint Gregorios.

"Parumala of Canada" Declaration Ceremony Details and attendees:

Date: September 15, 2024
Declared by: His Grace Thomas Mar Ivanios Metropolitan
Approved by: His Holiness Baselios Marthoma Mathews III

  • Rev. M C Kuriakose Ramban, Vicar
  • Rev Fr Dr O Thomas
  • Ninan Mathews, Sabha Managing Committee Member
  • Babychen Mattamel, Trustee
  • Kurian Varkki, Secretary
  • Abraham George, Diocesan Council Member

Let us rejoice in this remarkable achievement and rededicate ourselves to our church's mission.

May the blessings of Saint Gregorios of Parumala be upon us always!


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