St. Mary's Orthodox Church White Plains New York

Malankara Orthodox Syrian

White Plains, New York, USA

Contact

99 Park Avenue
Westchester
White Plains New York, USA


The scrolls that unroll the history of St. Mary’s parish tell the struggles, achievements and progressions of a small group of Malayalee families living in the New York Metropolitan area. With the humble beginning in very modest circumstances in 1979, eighteen Malayalee families organized themselves into a small congregation in New York City. Holy Qurbana was initially conducted only twice a month in a rented place. The infant parish was officially dedicated to the blessed memory of St. Mary on 9 September 1979 by His Beatitude Mor Baselios Paulose II at the Interchurch Center in New York City. By 1981, the parish, achieving its fiscal stability, had grown to match the activities of a full-fledged parish with regular Sunday liturgies, monthly prayer meetings, Sunday School, Vanitha Samajam, Retreats, Family picnics, Christmas caroling and publication of monthly Newsletters. The general membership decided to form a separate independent entity called the Malankara Jacobite Center of North America, and brought the parish under its umbrella for its religious services. The center was officially inaugurated by the then Consul-General of India in New York, Hon. P.A. Nazareth, in front of a large audience with a musical concert by the famous playback singer of Indian Cinema, Mrs. S. Janaki, providing the backdrop to the inauguration debut. The destiny of the parish began taking new shape