About Us
The Mar Thoma Congregation Scotland is an Ecumenical Christian fellowship in Scotland under the Mar Thoma Syrian Church and its North American and Europe Diocese. The Holy Communion is held once in a month and the service is in Malayalam and follows the Mar Thoma Church liturgy. Area wise cottage prayer meetings is held once in a month at the residence of the members.
Rev Sham P Thomas
The first Holy Communion Service was held on 4th October 2003 with the permission of the Diocesan Bishop of the Mar Thoma Church, The Rt. Revd Dr Euyakim Mar Coorilos Episcopa. Revd. Dr Sham P Thomas (in the picture), who was then doing his Doctoral studies in Edinburgh University, started this Congregation as a small prayer group with a few families in October 2001 meeting on alternative Sundays in Edinburgh, which later developed into this Congregation.
The Diocesan Bishop formally approved the Congregation as the Mar Thoma Congregation Scotland from 1st July 2004 with Revd Dr Sham P. Thomas as our first Vicar Rev. Jacob K A is leading the Congregation at the moment and he is our seventh Vicar after Revd. Gigy Thomas, Revd. Shiby Abraham and Rev Varghese Mathew, Rev Sam John and Rev Ronnie Cherian.
We have members from all over Scotland and other Churches, and we are in the process of registering as a parish and charitable trust in the UK. The Congregation enjoys the loving support from St Mary's Church, Dalmahoy and Old Saint Paul's Episcopal Church, Edinburgh, and many other local parishes.
our vicar
Rev Abu Cherian
Rev. Abu Cherian is an ordained minister of Mar Thoma Church. He hails from Niranam, Thiruvalla, Kerala and his home parish is St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Niranam. Achen holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from St. Barchman’s College (Mahatma Gandhi University), Kottayam and Bachelor of Divinity from Mar Thoma Theological Seminary, Kottayam. Achen also holds a Masters Degree in Sociology from Indira Gandhi National Open University.
About Mar thoma Church
The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, often shortened to Mar Thoma Church, and known also as the Reformed Syrian Church and the Mar Thoma Syrian Church of Malabar, is an autonomous Reformed Oriental church based in Kerala, India. While continuing many of the Syriac high church practices, the church is reformed in its theology and doctrines. It employs a reformed variant of the West Syriac Rite Divine Liturgy of Saint James, translated to Malayalam.
The Mar Thoma Church sees itself as continuation of the Saint Thomas Christians, a community traditionally believed to have been founded in the first century by Thomas the Apostle, who is known as Mar Thoma (Saint Thomas) in Syriac, and describes itself as "Apostolic in origin, Universal in nature, Biblical in faith, Evangelical in principle, Ecumenical in outlook, Oriental in worship, Democratic in function, and Episcopal in character".