St. Peter’s & St. Paul’s Church of Houston
St. Peter’s & St. Paul’s Church of Houston is affiliated with the ‘South-West Diocese of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church’, under the ecclesiastical jurisdiction of His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II and His Grace Alexios Mar Eusebius.
The church uses Syriac language, a dialect of Aramaic, spoken by Lord Jesus, as the liturgical language, along with Malayalam and English.
The main purpose of the church is to address the spiritual needs of the Malayalee community in Houston metropolitan area, in the faith and traditions they have learned while growing up in India, and to instill those time honored values and traditions to their second and future generations. The church that started with a humble beginning on 1 January 2005 grew in size and spirituality under leaderships of various ordained priests and spiritual leaders.
At inception, the church had no permanent place to conduct the worship service, and at times of need, the God almighty has abundantly blessed us by providing appropriate locations, for free or leases, to conduct uninterrupted service. The continued blessings have enabled us to acquire an acre of land in Fresno, Texas in December 2007. The cornerstone for the church was laid by Senior Priest Very Rev. Dr. Thomas Itty and Vicar Rev. Fr. Shinoj Joseph, along with parishioners and friends in August 2008. The construction was spearheaded Jose Thottumkal, a contractor, who completed the construction activities at his cost, without and markups. The managing committee, under the leadership of Rev. Fr. Shinoj Joseph, parishioners and their friends facilitated the construction efforts through their generous contributions, time and earnest prayers. The dream of a permanent facility was blossomed as a 5000 square feet building, and the blessed consecration was performed with the presence and blessings of His Beatitude Baselios Thomas I, amidst the prayers of parishioners and their friends. A pre-manufactured building was acquired to serve as the Sunday school building, and in February of 2016, half an acre of neighboring property was also purchased for future expansion.
During the second half of the first decade of its growth, the faith and determination of the faithful was tested multiple times. The church had to bear through certain trials and tribulations due to the illicit intervention of few outside forces, which decremented the peace and tranquility of the church during those times. The relentless prayers of our patron saints have continued to protect and bless the congregation through good and bad times. “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, yea, than the mighty waves of the sea”. The Lord intervened to defeat the thorn of those forces and reinstated a peaceful environment to praise His name and Glory.
On 31 May 2015, the church became a member church of the South-West Diocese of the Malankara (Indian) Orthodox Church. In order to serve the spiritual needs of the faithful with a full time priest, diocesan metropolitan His Grace Alexios Mar Eusebius has made arrangements to bring Rev. Fr. Isac Baby Prakash from India, who is a well-known spiritual leader with ample international experience, to the church as the Vicar and President, and he has been serving in that capacity since May 22, 2016.
Our Mission
The mission of our church is to make Disciples of Christ by growing a family of faith in Orthodox-Christian traditions, sharing God’s love and grace with the community.
The risen Christ has portrayed the mission of a true Christian very clearly through the gospel (St. Mathew 28:19-20). “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Our congregation exists to nurture people of all ages in Orthodox Christian faith, help them practice the discipline of discipleship and prepare them to master the work of transformation in Christ. The church leads its members to live the work of love by being the Lord’s disciple in the community through Baptism, Holy Communion, Bible Study and Prayer. Spiritual and missionary organizations serve as instruments for the spiritual sustenance of the faithful.
Our Vision
As more and more Keralite Christian families immigrated to the United States and adopted the American way of life, it became a struggle for them to practice Orthodox faith and traditions due to lack of facilities, knowledgeable spiritual leaders and time demand due to survival needs. However, most of them have succeeded in keeping their spiritual lives in balance through attending Sunday services and prayer fellowships. The second generation experienced even more struggles in understanding and following the faith and traditions, as most of the services were conducted in Malayalam, churches were catering mainly to the first generation and unavailability of priests who were brought up in North America.
The vision of this church is to provide a biblically functioning orthodox community of Malayalee immigrants and their next generations growing:
- Deeper through worship and practicing the faith
- Stronger through discipleship and fellowship
- Effective through evangelism and ministry
- Awesome by achieving Christ-like character