Jacobite Syriac Orthodox Church
St. Thomas parish is part of the Malankara Archdiocese of the Syriac Orthodox Church in North America (Jacobite). Our Archdiocese in turn belongs to the Syriac Orthodox Church of Antioch and All the East. The Syriac Orthodox Church is within the family of canonical Oriental Orthodox churches that includes the Coptic, Armenian, Ethiopian, and Eritrean churches. We have limited communion with the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox families of churches.
“Malankara” refers to the state of Kerala in India which gives heritage to our parish. However we minister to people of all backgrounds. “Jacobite” has become a moniker denoting the historical importance of St. Jacob Baradeus’ as well as our loyalty to the Holy See of Antioch. Services are conducted in Malayalam and English with Syriac interspersed. The Syriac used in our liturgy is a dialect of Aramaic, a dialect of which was spoken by Jesus Christ, His Mother, the Apostles, and almost all the earliest Christians. After over 2000 years, we still represent their fellowship in the modern world.
