The St. Gregorios Orthodox Church is a part of the Diocese of Southwest America of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church and our Metropolitan is HG Dr Zacharias Mar Aprem.
The church started as a congregation with seventeen families in Houston. The first Holy Qurbono was led by HG Late Dr. Thomas Mar Makarios on January 15, 1978. His Grace appointed the Late Rev. Fr. Koshy P. John as the first Vicar, a soft spoken but vibrant leader. The scarcity of priests and the lack of our own worship space made conducting Holy Qurbono regularly a challenge during the early years. Achen was based in New Orleans and traveled to Houston every weekend to serve in our church.
On December 6, 1981, the Late Rev. Fr. Zachariah P. Venattukalathil was appointed as the Vicar. Under his leadership the congregation grew steadily to thirty-two members by 1985.
On November 10, 1985 HG Late Dr Thomas Mar Makarios laid the foundation for a new sanctuary named after St. Gregorios of Parumala. The newly erected church was consecrated by HH Late Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II (then HG Mathews Mar Coorilos) and HG Late Thomas Mar Makarios on November 29, 1986. The parish hall was constructed shortly thereafter. Rev. Fr. Zachariah passed away suddenly on December 27, 1994 devastating the congregation. Rev Fr John Geevarghese from Arkansas was appointed as interim Vicar.
On June 17, 1995, then Diocesan Metropolitan, HG Late Mathews Mar Barnabas appointed Rev. Fr. P.M. Cheriyan as the new Vicar of our church. Under his leadership, the church grew many fold to around 150 families.
On July 1, 2014, Rev. Fr. Rajesh K. John was appointed the Vicar by then Diocesan Metropolitan, HG Dr Alexios Mar Eusebios. Under his leadership, the church grew to around 180 families. We were blessed to have Rev. Fr. Christopher Mathew also join the congregation on September 1, 2018 as Assistant Vicar.
On Jan 1, 2019, HG Dr Zacharias Mar Aprem appointed our current Vicar, Rev. Fr. Varghese Thomas Vazhayil.