St. Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church
Cleveland, Ohio

A Brief History of Our Church
By Jacob Mathew

Although Cleveland had occasional visits of Indian clergy prior to 1987 based mainly on friendships, the first organized church program was held on Feb.22nd, 1987 when Rev. Fr. Joy Pyngolil conducted Holy Qurbana in a catholic church in Macedonia, a southern suburb of Cleveland. Joy Achen was living in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania at that time studying at University of Pittsburgh. The effort of organizing the church was mainly undertaken by Fr. Joy and Dr. C.V. Jacob. This program was a great success. Several members from Pittsburgh accompanied achen and so we had a big crowd for the service.

Encouraged by the success of the program, the local residents voted to continue with the service on a monthly basis. Joy achen agreed to come from Pittsburgh to provide spiritual assistance to the local faithful. The services were held at the Macedonia City Hall that gave ample opportunity for the kids to look at fire trucks after the service, as well as for the adults to attempt to slide down the fire pole.

The next major milestone in the history of our church came when we held a combined service with Detroit St. Thomas Orthodox Church. The qurbana was conducted by Rev. Fr. Philip Jacob assisted by Rev. Fr. Joy Pyngolil. It was held at Unitarian Universalist Church in Rocky River, a western suburb of Cleveland. This service was attended by the majority of members of St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Detroit at that time. So, it was a big success.

In October 1987, HG Ivanios of Kottayam Diocese visited Cleveland with Rev. Fr. Philip Jacob on the way to Pittsburgh, Pa.

The monthly church services continued in 1988 with Rev. Fr. Joy Pyngolil. The services were held at the campus of Notre Dame College in South Euclid, Ohio, an eastern suburb of Cleveland.

With Joy Achen relocating to Florida in 1989, our regular services came to a halt. The parishioners gave Joy Achen a tearful farewell in May 1989.

After years of neglect, the church got its resurrection in September 1992 when another combined service with St. Thomas Orthodox Church, Detroit, was held at Hudson. The occasion was the house warming for Drs. Jacob and Shila Mathew's new home in Hudson. It was well attended by a big contingent of people from Detroit as well as a big crowd of all denominations from Cleveland area. During this gathering, holding regular services in Cleveland was discussed and Rev. Fr. Philip Jacob offered to come to Cleveland as needed to conduct the services. Another service was held in 1992 at our new location in Twinsburg, Ohio.

The most important turning point for our church took place in early 1993. Catholica Bava thirumeni visited Cleveland in March for 5 days to recuperate from his heart surgery. A big reception for Bava thirumeni was given in Dr. Jacob Mathew's home. It was attended by a big crowd of local Christians of all denominations. A meeting was held at that time and thirumeni asked us to get together at least once per month to worship. He suggested that if we do not have holy qurbana, we can still meet for prayer meeting. Thirumeni appointed Dr. Jacob Mathew as the convenor for the group.

Bava thirumeni's visit provided a breath of fresh air to the church and the prayer meeting. Since that day we had met more or less in every month. Meanwhile the Mar Thoma members of the group formed a congregation to hold regular services. When HG Zacharias thirumeni came to inaugurate the church, a reception was given to him at Dr. Jacob Mathew's home in Hudson as a symbol of friendship between various denominations of Christians. In fact Thirumeni noted the diverse backgrounds of people attending the reception with the comment that 'we have people from Palai, Kottayam and Thiruvalla here today.' One of the hallmarks of the Cleveland Group is the close friendship between the Orthodox Church Members and the Mar Thoma Church Members. We pray together in the prayer meetings and attend the services of each other with profound respect for the faith of each other.

On November 13, 1995 Thomas Mathew incorporated St. Gregorios Indian Orthodox Church. An attempt was made to get a permanent priest for the congregation at that time. It was not successful.

The group, emboldened by the enthusiasm of its members, started new projects. One of it was the start of summer retreats. The first retreat was conducted by Rev. Fr. M.C. Cherian (who later became HG Zacharias Mar Theophilose) in August 1998. The 2-day event was a new experience for the group and was very well received. So, this became an annual event since that time. Other dignitaries who conducted our retreat in Cleveland include Very Rev. Paul Remban, HG Abraham Mar Severios, Rev. Fr. Joseph (Kothamangalam), Rev. George Samuel, and ROTA Ministries of Houston, Texas. We were also blessed by the visit of several bishops from our church including HG Thomas Mar Makariose, Senior Metropolitan of American Diocese, HG Mathews Mar Bernabas, Metropolitan of American Diocese, HG Mathews Mar Severiose, Metropolitan of Kandanad Diocese, HG Abraham Mar Severiose from Kothamangalam, HG Nicholovos, Assistant Metropolitan of American Diocese, and HG Ivaniose of Kottayam Diocese.

In the early days, the Christmas Carole group from Detroit used to visit the member houses in Cleveland. As the membership in Detroit church grew, it was getting increasingly difficult for the group to make the 200 plus miles to Cleveland especially with inclement weather. Mr. John Chacko suggested that we form a local group to sing carols in members' and friends' homes. After extended discussions, we have adopted the model used in Detroit - viz., using the proceeds to fund charitable activities. In the first year, we collected about $1000. It was distributed to 3 projects in India, including one to enable a poor oarsman to undergo heart bypass operation. As the word of our charitable activities spread, more and more people requested us to visit their homes for the Christmas Carole. In the second year, we collected about $1500. In 2000, the collection rose to over $2000 and in 2001, to over $2500. In 2002, in its fifth year, we have collected over $3000. We have earmarked $400 from this collection to fund scholarships for poor students and the rest were distributed to various charitable projects in Kerala. In fact our Christmas Carole singing was so inspirational, one Hindu Singer joined us in singing Christmas Carole in 2002 and we visited 2 Hindu families by special invitation! Christmas Carole service by our prayer group members is now well recognized by the local community as an example of what a small group of people with vision and dedication can accomplish.

In 2000, the prayer group members expressed the desire to conduct passion week services in Cleveland. As a result we had invited Rev. Dr. Daniel Thomas from Montreal to conduct the first ever passion week services in Cleveland. (Good Friday, Saturday and Easter services.) It was a great success. In 2002 and 2003, the passion week services were conducted by Rev. Fr. Jose Daniel from Philadelphia. It appears that this has also become an annual tradition in Cleveland.

Perhaps the Cleveland Prayer Group is best known for the innovative use of Internet to coordinate its activities. We were one of the first to have a website, a project that was undertaken by Dr. Jacob Mathew. The members use this website to obtain the up-to-the-minute information about the church services, prayer meeting location etc. It also gives a summary of memorable sermons and retreats held in Cleveland so that the members as well as people from all over the world can benefit from the information. We get several prayer requests every month as a result of having this website.

From 2004, the services became a regular feature. At least one Sunday service in a month, a prayer meeting, a picnic and retreat, and the annual Christmas Carole became the minimum offerings. In 2005, the passion week services were conducted by Thampan achen from the American Diocesan office in New York. During the Fall, we tried to bring Slommo achen to Cleveland. Achen decided to opt to go to Chicago when he received a better offer from there instead of coming to Cleveland. The Christmas Service was held by Slommo achen.

From 2006, the frequency of the Holy Qurbana increased to 2 per month mostly with visiting priests. The passion week became a full week affair with Rev. PC Thomas, the Secretary to Orthodox Aramana staying and conducting the full week services. We also had evening services on all days. Christmas service was also added to our regular offerings. In November 2006, church members joined together to bring Fr. Ham Joseph to Cleveland. This did not succeed when achen declined the offer.

The passion week services in 2007 were conducted by Fr. Ham Joseph. 2007 also saw major expansion of the activities of the church. A well attended picnic was held in Summer. A full day retreat was held along with a music concert by a family from Texas. Several people underwent Holy confession in answer to the call during the retreat. Later a full church day was celebrated to coincide with the perunnal (church day) for the Paumala Thirumeni our Patron Saint in November. The church day even had a traditional "rasa" (procession) with ornamental umbrellas (muthi koda). The Chrsitmas Carol service in December fetched record collection for the charity. The Christmas service was held by Vazhakoottathil achen. A church choir also started functioning in 2007.

Website address: www.icbs.com/prayer/