Parish History
The history of our parish can be traced back to the 1960’s when people from all over the world started migrating to the US for higher education and better living conditions. The new immigrants turned to the church for fulfillment of spiritual and social needs. The first regular Marthoma service was held in May 1972 at the All Saints Lutheran church. The Marthoma congregation of the Greater New York was formed on May 18, 1975 consisting of only Marthoma members. The membership in the congregation of Greater New York at the end of 1979 consisted of 350 families spread out over the entire tri-state area. The decision to divide the congregation was taken by the Late Most Rev. Alexander Marthoma Metropolitan after a visit to the area in 1980 and after meeting with a large number of members, culminating in a formal meeting with the congregation.
Through the Kalpana dated September 7, 1980 from the Marthoma Metropolitan His Grace, Right Reverend Alexander Marthoma Metropolitan, The Marthoma Congregation of Greater New York was divided in to 4 Parishes on the basis of geographical locations of its members. Due to a strong bond of fellowship felt by some of the members, a group of families decided to stay together and worship at the Trinity Episcopal Church in New York City. This was formed as the 5th Marthoma Parish in the Tri-State area with approval of the Marthoma Church Episcopal Synod on the 8th of November 1981 as “St. Andrews Marthoma Church”. The inauguration of the Parish was held in January, 1982 at the Holy Trinity Church, Inwood Avenue, New York. On the 15th of April, 1983, we moved to the church of Intercession on 550 West 155th Street, New York, NY. The St. Andrews Marthoma Parish continued to worship at this church for over 12 years. During this period, our membership rose from 28 families to 98 families. From 1988 to 1991, approximately 2/3rd of our families moved to neighboring Marthoma parishes such as St. Peters Marthoma Church in New Jersey, St. Johns Marthoma Church in Queens Village, and St. James Marthoma Church in Rockland County, NY. At present, we have 82 families in our parish.
By the Grace of The Lord Almighty, and the hard work and financial support from our members and well-wishers, we purchased this church building located at 58 Crescent Place, Yonkers, New York in July of 1995. Our church dedication service and inauguration were conductedon the 27th of January, 1996 by Right Reverend Doctor Zacharias Mar Theophilus Episcopa. The church building was later renovated and extended to hold more occupants in the year 2010 to the current capacity and splendor, and the rededication as done by then Diocesan Episcopa Right Reverend GeeVarghese Mar Theodosius.
Since its inception, our parish has been blessed with pastoral care from Rev. N.M. Cherian, Rev. T.O. Joseph, Rev. John Mathew, Rev. Oommen George, Rev. M. Varghese, Rev. Mathai Joseph, Rev. Oommen Philip, Rev. George Abraham, Rev. Dr. C.P. Mathews, Rev. Johnson Varughese, Rev. Johnson C. Jacob, Rev. Benjamin George, Rev. Abraham Oommen, Rev. Sony Philip and currently Rev. K.A. Varghese, Rev. T.S. Jose. T.S. Jose Achen, currently in the first year of his term, continues to work relentlessly for the unity, spiritual growth, and discipline of our parish along with encouraging parish members to volunteer time, talents, and resources for the less privileged around the world. Our Parish has been blessed to be under the spiritual care of our Youth Chaplains who have served in this region naming Rev. Kurien George, Rev. Raju P. Zachariah, Rev. Biju S. Cherian, Rev. Biju P. Simon, Rev. V.M. Mathew, Rev. Jess, Rev. Shibi Abraham and our current Youth Chaplain Rev. Jess Mathew George who have dedicated their services among our second generation youth.