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The pioneers of Indian immigration to
the United States were young college graduates who, beginning in 1940s,
arrived in small numbers in search of higher education at American
universities especially in the Northeast. This trend continued in the
1950s and 1960s.
Larger groups began arriving in the 1960s and 1970s in search of
professional careers. The influx of Indian immigrants to the New World
reached its peak in the 1980s, when large numbers of Indians living in
India and the Middle-eastern countries flooded into metropolitan cities
like New York, Chicago, and Houston as relatives of the first immigrants
and also as a result of the rising political unrest in the Middle East.
The first Indian Orthodox Church clergymen came to the USA for higher
education during the time of His Holiness Baselios Geevarghese II. The
first Indian Orthodox Church congregation started in New York in the
late 1950s and the first official parish in the late 1960s. By early
1970s, the number of Indian immigrants grew and there were about ten
clergymen serving the Indian Orthodox Church in America. Several
parishes were organized by these clergymen and laypeople under the
Outside Kerala Diocese headed by His Grace Mathews Mar Athanasius,
Metropolitan and Catholicos-designate.
In 1975 Rev. Fr. K.C. Thomas was elevated as a bishop by name His Grace
Thomas Mar Makarios. In 1976 the parishes in America and Canada were
brought under a new Diocese called "Bombay Diocese". The Managing
Committee and the Holy Episcopal Synod declared establishment of the
American Diocese in January 1979. His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma
Mathews I, Catholicos and Malankara Metropolitan came to America in July
1979, and the American Diocese was established officially by His
Holiness presiding over the enthronement ceremony of His Grace Thomas
Mar Makarios as the first Metropolitan.
During the 1980s, several parishes purchased their own church buildings
for their worship services and other activities. Currently, about half
of our parishes own their church buildings. The American Diocese is one
of the 22 Dioceses of the Indian Orthodox Church with headquarters in
Kottayam, Kerala in India and His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Mathews II
as the supreme head of the Church.
Currently, there are about ten thousand Indian Orthodox Christians in
the United States. There are 66 parishes assisted by 78 priests and 9
deacons in the American Diocese. The head of the American Diocese, also
known as the Diocesan Metropolitan is His Grace Mathews Mar Barnabas.
The Diocesan Metropolitan is president of the Diocesan Council
consisting of the Diocesan Metropolitan, the Diocesan Secretary, two (2)
clergy council members, and four (4) lay council members, which governs
the affairs of the Diocese. The Diocesan Metropolitan is president of
the Board of Trustees consisting of the Diocesan Metropolitan, the
Diocesan Secretary, and one lay member, which govern the assets (real
estate and others) of the Diocese. The Diocesan Metropolitan presides
over all spiritual organizations of the Diocese as well as the Diocesan
Assembly. In August 2002, His Grace Zachariah Mar Nicholovos was
appointed as the Assistant Metropolitan of the American Diocese.
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