Church has home to call its own

Deacon John Sankarathil spreads incense during the consecration of St. Thomas Orthodox Church of India on Friday in Warren.

Jim Thomas of Sterling Heights waits under an umbrella Friday for the reception of bishops.

Drummers prepare for the reception of bishops Friday. The consecration was a three-day event. St. Thomas is the first Indian Orthodox church built in Michigan and the largest in the United States.

Indian Orthodox celebrate their new building

BY NIRAJ WARIKOO • FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER • June 18, 2008

They are the inheritors of a unique faith that believers say stretches back to the first century, when St. Thomas the apostle is thought to have landed off the coast of India.

Now, local members of the Indian Orthodox Church have their own place in Warren.

During three days last weekend, they consecrated St. Thomas Orthodox Church of India -- the first Indian Orthodox church built in Michigan and the largest in the United States.

Filled with the colors and sounds of India, the festivities in Warren reflected how much the faith is rooted in the country's traditions. Over the centuries, Catholics and Protestants from Europe tried to stamp out the church, unwilling to tolerate its syncretic culture. But the church managed to survive and flourish; today, it has about 3 million members worldwide, roughly 650 of them in metro Detroit.

"It's been a long journey," said Chacko Abraham, 65, of Rochester Hills, a skilled trade worker at General Motors and one of the church's founding members. "It's a wonderful feeling to see this after all our hard work."

As Abraham spoke Friday night, hundreds chanted and prayed inside the church in Malayalam, a language from the Indian state of Kerala that the Indian Orthodox Church uses for its liturgy. They came dressed in Indian saris and dhotis, whacked Indian drums to herald the entrance of the priests and placed along the aisle lit oil-lamps -- ornaments often found in Indian and Hindu ceremonies.

For much of its history, the Indian Orthodox Church was intertwined with the customs and traditions of south India and Hinduism, according to historians and church members. Hindu rulers helped finance the churches, and the church would sometimes finance Hindu temples, according to "Christianity: A Global History" by religion professor David Chidester.

"Unlike in many other countries, the Indian church may be the only church that didn't have to undergo any persecution from non-Christians," said Bishop Zacharias Mar Nicholovos, assistant metropolitan for the American Diocese of the Indian Orthodox Church. "The local Hindu kings and government were always helping us."

But when European Christians arrived, the church faced problems. In the 15th Century, Portuguese Catholics attacked the church and tried to bring it under their control. Later, English Protestants attempted the same. They converted some Indian Orthodox Christians into Catholics and Protestants and produced a jumble of Orthodox offshoots with outside rulers.

However, the original faith survived and kept its authority inside India.

"During the Portuguese period, we were oppressed by the Roman Catholics, and then during the English period, there was an attempt to suppress us through the Anglican Church. And then we ended up in a relationship with the Antiochian Church, and they tried to swallow us up," Nicholovos said. "But despite all the struggles and difficulties, we somehow managed, through the grace of God, to preserve our independence and grow."

There are two other Indian Orthodox congregations in metro Detroit -- another in Warren and one in Rochester Hills -- but they have not constructed their own buildings. They have about 20 families each, while St. Thomas has 150 families. Across the country, there are 77 churches, about half of the 150 Indian Orthodox churches outside India, which has 1,500, according to church officials.

There are more Indian Orthodox Christians in the Middle East than in the United States, but the Arab governments either don't allow them to build any churches or allow them to build only church for the entire country.

And so, the United States is where Indian Orthodox churches may continue to increase, church officials say.

Jinesh John, 23, of Troy, who was raised largely in the United States and brought up in the faith, says the youth "have a strong connection" to the church.

"It's not just about the faith," added Paul Jacob, 31, whose father is the Warren church's vicar. "It's about tradition."

A history of St. Thomas Church
1970s: Malayalam-speaking Orthodox Christians from India begin arriving in metro Detroit and started worshipping in one another's homes.

1978: Parish formed; the Rev. Philip Jacob becomes priest. Services first held at Cass Methodist Church and then Trinity Episcopal Church, both in Detroit.

1990: Bought and moved into Apostolic Faith Temple Church, Southfield.

2005: Purchased land for new church in Warren for $825,000.

June: $2-million church building and hall almost completed; consecrated by priests from India.

Source: St. Thomas Orthodox Church of India

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