New York- October 21,
2006:The Annual Conference of the Marth Mariam Vanitha
Samajam of the American Diocese was held at St. Mary’s Orthodox
Church, Sayville on Oct 21st Saturday from 9.00 am to 4.00pm.
The conference was inaugurated by the Asst. Metropolitan
Zachariah Mar Nicholovos.
The theme of the conference was “The challenges to Christian
faith today”. Fr. Bijesh Philip, professor of Nagpur theological
seminary was the keynote speaker. In his speech, he went over
the various elements which stand against to our faith and the
ways to overcome them. His speech was very enthusiastic to the
audience. In his presidential address, Mathews Mar Barnabas, the
metropolitan of the American Diocese, put emphasis on showing
Christ’s love in our practical life.
The Bible quiz competition
was conducted in the afternoon session. Fr. M. K. Kuriakose (St.
Thomas Indian Orthodox Church Philadelphia) was the Quiz-Master.
Almost 26 churches were participated in the quiz competition.
The St. Thomas Yonkers and St. Stephens Bergenfield shared the
1st and 2nd prizes respectively.
The Raffle drawing was also conducted and the winners were from
St. Thomas Yonkers(1st &3rd) and St. Mary’s Montclair(2nd). The
top two raffle sellers were St. Thomas Yonkers (1st) and St.
Thomas Detroit and St. Baselios Brooklyn (2nd).
The Business meeting session in the afternoon was under the
leadership of Chor-episcopos Paulose Adai. Saroja Varghese was
elected as the new Treasurer and Saramma George as the Jt.
Treasurer. The melodies songs by the church choir, Group song by
St. George Orthodox Church, Staten Island, Devotional songs by
Elizabeth Tharaken and Sangeetha Mani gave a spiritual uplift to
the conference.
Chor-episcopos Paulose Adai welcomed the gathering and general
secretary Shiny Raju delivered the vote of thanks. Including
Priests and Deacons, about 300 members were attended the
conference.
Shiny Raju, Mary Ennacheril, Thankamma Korah, Thresiamma
Vettichira and Elcy Yohannan Shankarathil gave their leadership
to the conference.
The conference for the year 2007 was sponsored by St. Mary’s
Church, Jackson Heights, New York .
( Indian Orthodox Herald News Release,
November 09, 2006 )
