Diocese of North America & Europe

This article discusses <b>The Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church</b> in the North American and European continents. The Church began as a small prayer group in Queens, New York, in 1972. The first approved parishes were recognized in New York in 1976 and in Europe in the 1950s. Over the next thirty years, the Mar Thoma Church would begin to grow considerably.

The church in this part of the world were grouped as a Zone of the Mar Thoma Church in 1982. In its new socio-cultural and geographical habitus, the Church was guided by the Rt. Rev. Dr. Thomas Mar Athanasius, and The Most Rev. Dr. Alexander Mar Thoma presided over the Zone. However, as per the decision of the Episcopal Synod, the churches in North America and the United Kingdom became constituents of the newly formed "Diocese of North America and United Kingdom". The Most Rev. Dr. Philipose Mar Chrysostom then took charge as Diocesan Bishop. As the Church continued to expand, the nomenclature of the Diocese would change slightly to its current name, "Diocese of North America and Europe".

In the 1990s, the Diocesan Assembly decided to permanently house the Diocese, feeling that this step would help to ground the Church into the reality of the socio-economic situation of the "Western" world. Hence, in 1994, the Diocesan Assembly purchased property for their Headquarters in the United States. They initially chose Richboro, Pennsylvania, for their Headquarters, but subsequently...
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