St. Thomas’ Indian Orthodox Parish at Hemel Hempstead

The St. Thomas’ Indian Orthodox Parish at Hemel Hempstead was established for the benefit of Malankara Orthodox members living in the northern & western parts of the city of London and beyond.

After the forming as a congregation in early 2006, the first Holy Qurbana was held at St Margaret’s Church Hall, Rectory Lane, Edgware on March 19, 2006. The congregation was officially declared as the St. Thomas Indian Orthodox Church Parish on January 01, 2007 by the Late Lamented Metropolitan Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios, the then Diocesan Bishop. The property of the present premises was purchased in 2011 and the Church was consecrated on September 01, 2012 by the Diocesan Metropolitan Dr. Mathews Mar Thimothios. Fr George Joy has served the parish as its Vicar from its inception in 2006.

Over a hundred and twenty Malankara Orthodox families worship at this Church. Services are held regularly on all Sundays and other feast days and festivals. The members of the parish are actively involved in all the spiritual wings of the Church such as the Sunday School, Youth Fellowship, Women’s Fellowship, Prayer Meetings. Members also wholeheartedly participate in several social activities.

St Thomas’ Indian Orthodox Church, London was declared as a parish by the Diocesan Metropolitan, Late Lamented His Grace Dr Thomas Mar Makarios on the 1st of January, 2007 and Rev Fr George Joy was duly appointed as the Vicar of the church.

We were blessed to be able to hire the Edgware Parish Hall in Rectory Lane, Edgware in order to conduct worship on Sundays. Our parish was formed for the convenience of all the IOC members residing in the North London area and the vicinity. There were around 70 subscribing members during the initial phases of the Parish. Regular worship services were conducted every Sunday, during the Holy Week and on important Feast days. The morning prayers started at 9 am and the Holy Qurbana at 10 am. As this was a hired place, we prepared the Madbaha and the Church every Saturday evening for the evening prayers and for the Holy Qurbana on Sunday. The services were conducted mainly in Malayalam with one English service in a month. Our Vicar, Rev Fr George Joy compiled the English Qurbana liturgy book and taught us the hymns which we continue to use till this day. We had a very vibrant Sunday school following the Holy Qurbana every Sunday, in addition to the annual Orthodox Vacation Bible School. We also had regular Youth, Women’s Fellowship and prayer meetings