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St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India, now merged with St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India, was founded by St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 52. In those days, Ionians Greeks (Yavana), Romans, Arabs and Turks used to work as businessmen and merchants between India, the Middle East, and Europe. Europeans had no direct land or sea link with India. The merchants used to come to Kerala for trade - buying ivory, condiments such as pepper, cardamom, ginger, etc., and timber such as teak, rosewood, mahogany sandalwood and black wood, which were greatly appreciated, treasured, and sought after by the Europeans and the Middle Easterners. Thus, along with these traders, St. Thomas came to Kerala in 52 AD, on a merchant ship from the Middle East. ==History== On 10 July 1965 Bishop John Varghese died and the ''Prathinidhi Sabha'' (Representative Body) of the church authorised the church council to take steps to consecrate two persons as bishops, but this was prevented by a few council members, and no bishops were elected. ''Prathinidhi Sabha'' was dissolved according to the Episcopal election rules of the church. A new ''Prathinidhi Sabha'' was constituted, but could not elect a new bishop to the church. The ''Prathinidhi Sabha'' and the council passed motions excommunicating the only bishop in the church, K.N. Oommen. Thus after a few years, some members of the new church left. The St. Thomas Evangelical fellowship was formed in 1971 by the remaining members. The members of the Church who accepted K.N. Oommen as the presiding bishop of the church formed a society under the Travancore Cochin Literary and Charitable Societies Registration Act XII of 1955, and registered it in 1971. A settlement to the disputes in the church was reached in 1974, but did not last. In 1977, Rev. P. S. Varghese was consecrated as the bishop of the fellowship. The reformists who came out from the Mar Thoma Church decided this new church should be an Episcopal church. The fellowship was led by Rev. P.C. Zachariah, Bishop Oommen, and Bishop P.S. Varghese. Bishop Oommen was called home in 1984, and Rev. M.K. Koshy, the Secretary of the Fellowship, was consecrated as bishop in 1985. A plot of land containing and 65 cents was purchased for the fellowship in 1985, and Rev. P.C. Zachariah donated the present office building of the fellowship, which has an area of , in memory of his late wife Elizaba. Zachariah and his children gave the present auditorium, with a capacity of over 1,000, to the Fellowship; it was named the Poozhikalayil Thomas & Mariamma Chacko Memorial Auditorium, as a memorial to Rev. Zachariah's late parents. A Sevinee Mandiram (Women’s Home) was constructed with the help of church members. A seminary in memory of the late Bishop Oommen was started in 1989. The foundation stone of the Seminary was laid by Carl McIntire, President of the International Council of Christian Churches in 1987. After P.C. Zachariah died in 1992, his children, Dr. Chacko P. Zachariah, Dr. Mammen P. Zachariah, Dr. Zachariah P. Zachariah, and Mrs. Mary George, donated their ancestral property at Trivandrum to the Fellowship. There were then some reconciliation talks with the ruling group in the church. At the end of the reconciliation talks in 1995, the Vice-President of the Fellowship, Bishop M.K. Koshy, along with a few Presbyters and their followers, joined the other group. To strengthen the fellowship, Rev. A.I. Alexander was consecrated as the bishop of the fellowship in 1995. Bishop P.S. Varghese was called home in 1996. The disputes between the two factions in the church were settled in 2000, and the two sides decided to function as two independent churches, St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (Fellowship), and St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. On 25 December 2007 the St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India merged with St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India. The St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India will remain as a charitable organisation for the propagation of the Gospel. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「St. Thomas Evangelical Fellowship of India」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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