A forum to unite Marthomites to discuss issues and debate on why the Mar Thoma Syrian Church needs to wake up and reform!

The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Reply to letter in the earlier Post!

Dear friends,

The young man is right. I am new to the faith and even though I have studied malayalam and is fluent in colloquial language, even I find some usages in the book awkward. Many a time, the young who use the Living Sacrifice with the Malayalam written in English mispronounce the words. I have heard them sing Rakshakane nin gaathrathe bhaashichum" and also many times Kanyakayam mariyam innum instead of Mariyameennum (from Mariyam) A translation and use of contemporary language is necessary. eg O yaar is a very awkward usage especially for Hindi areas.It is obvious that even those who actively participate without knowing the language, are unaware of what they are singing.

Many of the older generation would miss the familiar comfort of the Malayalam Liturgy if English Liturgy is used on all days. Our Bishop H G Ireneus has taken the initiative to record the English Liturgy (Qurbana) and it is available to anyone with a will to learn the tunes etc. I have a humble suggestion. One Sunday at least in a month can be laid aside for English Liturgy so that our youth can come to understand the prayers. Once they become familiar with the English Liturgy, they would come to understand the Malayalam Liturgy also.

When I first came to the Orthodox Church, after growing up in the Marthoma Church, I found words like prasavithri also quite odd. Now I am used to it, though I don't think it beautiful.

My sons speak Malayalam at home and can just read the language. However, they too find the prayers difficult to follow. Especially the beauty of the sedera and the songs etc are not understood unless one knows malayalam well. The rahasya prarthanakal or " Adhyathmika Sangeerthanangal" will sound odd to one whose level of Malayalam is just basic.

The Church does seem indifferent to the problems of today's generations- the old, the middle aged and the young all have different sets of problems. In large cities at least, it would be useful to have support groups or counselors.

Another thing that I have found is that the Orthodox Laity come down hard on anyone who asks any doubts. (Not ICON, ICON is an exception) But I have found that if we approach the clergy with genuine desire to learn, & seek, they rise magnificently to the occasion. Perhaps in large forums, we may not get the opportunity to raise doubts. But for these gatherings, advance preparation can be made collecting information from the target audience as to what they would like discussed etc depending on the nature of the conference. I am a zero in Church matters, but when we want to implement new ideas in the Bank or want to know the pulse of the people, we always get feed back on the proposed innovation or on the un-addressed needs of our clientèle
from the field functionaries. This helps us prepare. We have to keep our ears to the ground whereas the church must keep its ears in 2 places- to the ground as well as to the voice of God.

These are just the humble ramblings of an old woman who has spent nearly 30 years interacting with people.

May God Bless us all,
Susan Eapen, Bangalore

Common Concerns in all Syrian Christian Churches

The Mar Thoma Church is not the only Church facing issues, the Orthodox Syrian Church which claims the same roots as us are seriously talking about these issues and there are high level committees which are meeting to find a solution.

Today, I am pasting a letter by an Orthodox Member to his Bishop, But all that he has written applies to our Church all the same, point by point! But here the difference is that the Bishop or Thirumeni as some would say, has taken into consideration the letter and made it public on the orthodox newsletter mailing list which goes to thousands of their members each day!

When will our Bishops, priests and Church elders acknowledge the problems of the Church?

Comments are most welcome!

*************

A Youth in Diaspora Writes
Posted by: "HG Yuhanon Meletius Metropolitan
Tue Jan 16, 2007 11:11 am (PST)

Dear all

I wish to forward a maill I received from a participant at the the Gulf Orthodox Youth Conference held in Kuwait. The mail is self explanatory. For obvious reason the name of the sender is withheld. I would appreciate if our members would look in to it an comment on the issues raised.
With regards and prayers
Yuhanon Mor Meletius Metropolitan (President OCYM)

*********

Your Grace Yuhanon Mor Meletius,

First of all, allow me to express my deepest appreciation in having you preside over the Gulf Orthodox Youth Conference in Kuwait. I and my friends who do not speak Malayalam went into this conference with great anticipation, hoping that we would be able to address some of the important issues that were facing today's youth in a mature and orderly fashion. Unfortunately, our pleas fell on deaf ears. Firstly due to a lack of time ? what was meant to be a 1 hour discussion panel turned into a 15 minute diatribe of church politics which seem befitting for some of the elders. I felt that we couldn't even address half the issues pertaining to today's youth because people were not willing to ask the right questions or push the envelope so to speak. You were right when you stated that we come from a culture where not enough questions are asked and the solution is sought without providing any analytical or thought-provoking discussion. There was little to no participation from the female members; and on top of that we the non-Malayalam speaking people were not being taken seriously just because we chose to speak in English as opposed to Malayalam.

It's a sad day in our Indian Orthodox Church when a language such as Malayalam takes precedence over the way we have our relationship with God, as well as the people within the community. Why should we as a youth, who have already been displaced from Kerala, have to speak in a language that our parents have been brought up in? We live in a culture today where
English is the main language of communication, yet here in Kuwait within our Indian Orthodox parish, unless you know Malayalam you are treated as a second-rate citizen; I'm sure this is not the case in North America. We agree with you, when you said that we need a separate liturgy for English speaking adults ? yet, I don't think that's going to happen in our lifetime at the rate that things are going. As English speaking youth, we don't know who we should address our concerns to, or what channels we can take to bring about any real change within our church. If we were to approach our church elders, they would simply say, "you should learn Malayalam; it is after all
your mother-tongue". This response is saddens me, because it demonstrates nothing but sheer ignorance. The parameters in which today's youth is involved in has changed drastically. We do not live in the same world as our parents did. There must be some way of our church moving forward by having English services that are relevant to this generation, while still encompassing all that at makes our church's traditions so glorious.

Many of today's youth attend the Malayalam Holy Qurbana, not because they want to be there and take part in the liturgy, but because they want to please their parents. Take myself for instance ? I only get to see my parents for few hours every day, therefore going to Church with them is more of a social way of me spending more time with my family. Going through the motions and doing lip service to a Malayalam liturgy that hardly makes any sense to me, is a small price to pay.

If you were to ask me what is the biggest problem facing our Gulf youth, I would have to say it's fear; fear of their parents. Many of them are brought up in a draconian system, where the father makes the rules and the children are told to obey. If the child questions the father's authority, it is considered "disrespectful" and so the child gets punished. Like you mentioned at the conference, there is no open dialogue that exists between the parent and the child, and perhaps the church should play a more prominent role in providing some kind of counseling in this respect.

During the discussion, our people were very quick in criticizing the media as one of the main ills of society. According to them, our youth are watching way too many soap operas these days that encourage adultery and divorce, and so they're afraid that they'll pick up after these bad habits.
I do not think so. Only weak-minded people who are not brought up in a God fearing environment would do such a thing. How about embracing some of the positive aspects of the media: such as changing all out-dated Sunday School books into interactive DVDs, and creating an online curriculum. We are now in the 21st century and we should be getting away from coloring books, and use television and the internet as a way of teaching kids more about our church. While it may not be the case in Kuwait, I know of many of our youth who attend other denominations, such as the evangelicals, not because their services are made out to be like rock concerts or even more attractive, but because it fits into the culture they have grown up in. Perhaps we should start looking at how other churches are tackling the problem of being relevant to the next generation and learn from them.

Here's an example of what's happening within our church. The growth of the church is based purely on generational members attending ? parents, children, their children and so on. That number possibly grows through marriages; this growth is slow and organic. Yet at the same time we have a significant part that are leaving church as our generation crosses into new countries, where Indian Orthodox parishes may not exist. What option is left to them? Some may decide not to attend any services at all, as not to mix with other denominations, while others will take the opportunity to explore and may even switch to a different church as it is more relevant.

Take a the case of a friend of mine for example ? while he currently resides in London, and while there is an Indian Orthodox parish present, he has found that his relationship with God has grown in leaps and bounds in the short time that he has been there than while he was growing up in Kuwait. Now due to the new concepts that he's introduced to he has found his understanding of our Church being challenged. This is certainly not a bad thing ? what better way to understand our Church than to ask questions. Unfortunately he has expressed difficulty in trying to find the appropriate channels in which to direct his questions; even though he is one example it is almost assured that there are many more like him.

This is not a rant by any means. Like you mentioned at the conference, we should not criticize the church; but as Indian Orthodox Christians we should ask ourselves how we can improve on our current situation ? and this I feel is the best way that I could contribute and play my part. Some of our friends have started to put together an online discussion group called Orthodox Generation in order to encourage forward thinking in our church. We believe that this generation can play an active part in helping the Theological Seminaries get more connected with the issues this generation is facing. While it is still only in its initial stages, the goal is to try and share ideas, not only within the church in Kuwait, but amongst all the dioceses.

Ours is a problem that is not and cannot be limited to the walls of our church. You had defined Orthodox as a means of learning from our history, while moving forward. It's time for forward thinking, it's time for someone to step up and speak out and we the non-Malayalam speaking youth refuse to see our church's youth walk blindly to the future without understanding the Church traditions or developing their relationship with God. We hope that you provide us with some direction.

Maybe we were born for such time as this.

God bless,
(name withheld)

Monday, January 8, 2007

Lingusitics & the Mar Thoma Church

Hi Mr Monk.

I am impressed by your this effort. I would definitely inform my friends in Church to join this blog.


Its really important for us, Marthomites to get into such discussion. I would also like our achens and thirumeni's to take part. It will be good for us to get a direct response from them. Ur this time's issue is a good one.


Even I too agree that we people staying outside Kerala really have to face linguistic problems.


Every year in October we have Western India youth Conferences. There such doubts can be asked to the Thirumeni directly. I every time have different issues to discuss with him. In our Church, girls know Malayalam so for them its not a problem. We too have manglish books in whole of Gujarat.


But still even if we are able to read them we dont know wat they mean. I remember asking the bishop this same problem. I asked him, I go every week to Church, I can read the manglish book but dont even know the meaning of shobha niranjo. These are the first words that come out from our mouth. You know what he replied? He said in this world there are many things we don't know, and sometimes its good. Nothing more came from my side.


Will definitely take part in this forum. Bye for now.

God bless u all.

Anonymous


Thursday, January 4, 2007

English Service in the Church!

I got a comment from Sharjah, United Arab Emirates based on the last post I had put up. The person again choosing to remain - Anonymous - has mentioned a few important points.

1. In most parishes outside Kerala, the English service is only held once a month. This is despite the fact, that most of the members are born and brought up outside Kerala and do not have Malayalam as their mother tounge anymore. For them English is the preferred language! Dubai is one parish I know where a regular English Service happens every week after much discussion and fights in the Church.

2. Most of the older generation think the English service people as a rebellious lot who don't want to learn Malayalam and prefer not to go for the English service. Most of the elders are not comfortable with the English service as they are used to the Malayalam service. Well this is truly a problem, so it seems. But then again, I have seen it for myself - when there are services in Malayalam without Communion - then all of a sudden the Church is almost empty.

3. The person also states that the Sharjah Parish is the only parish using the Manglish Books (Malayalam written in English Script). This however is not completely true as a lot of the outside Kerala Parishes use these books. I myself have used this book only to realize that only the first few words of what the priest says is there before it becomes dots .....

In short only the responses from the members are given in full which makes it really pointless. Most of the people who don't know Malayalam do not know what the priest is reading. Most of the prayers which the Achen recites in between the service are also missing, from the book .

4. In the comment below the writer asks - though the Bishops do look what falls into their pots - why are we bothered as there are people like that in all walks of life. Well my friends, the Church is not any other walk of life and it is not supposed to be like that. As far as it is known the Bishops have given their life for the Church and for God's Service! So they are special and have to live according to what is expected of their divine mission. I do not say banish any of the Bishops - rather I say make them accountable to what they are doing in the Church.

Well do send in your comments, even if you disagree or agree.... Will publish it as it is....

regards

Mtc Monk!

_______________________________


Dear MTC Monk,

I simply have to appreciate the efforts u have taken to bring about a change. Few things I would like to draw ur attention:-

1. I'm writing from Sharjah, UAE n in our parish here... to increase our reach to the teenager community, we hold 1 Sunday service in English... but its sad to note not many join including myself!!! My parents do not wish to go for a English mass hence i dont go too

2. I personally did not know how to read Malayalam but our Church is the only 1 church i have seen who has English Malayalam Scripts. These have helped me attend the Malayalam service effectively. So asking children abroad to learn Malayalam is harsh... cos we don't come across that much, in some places.. but things are changing cos of channels like Asianet or jeevan... we too r learning n understanding Malayalam.

One point i totally agree is - that some of our Bishops do look what falls into their pots.. but don't u find these kind of people in all walks of life... so why do we banish them????

Anonymous

Tuesday, January 2, 2007

Not an Attack but a Call for Change and Prayer!

New Year wishes to all the visitors to this blog.

I just want to say a big thank you to all the members who have visited and responded to the articles on the blog.

There have been positive and negative feedback which is always welcome. There are also articles put up from different members from different parts of the world.

However, I would stress to the new readers - That this blog is not to attack or to tarnish the name of the Church or the Church Authorities in anyway - rather it is to bring out issues which seem to be sidelined in the Church. There is serious resentment and declining memberships in the churches and unless the Mar Thoma Church understands and adopts measures to reach out to the younger and outside Kerala members there will be a problem sooner than later.

No one can deny - that some clergy in the Church have written off the Mar Thoma Churches in Singapore and Malaysia as another entity altogether. There is always the point - why don't the expat children abroad learn Malayalam and understand the Church service and other aspects which are entirely in Malayalam.

The Church must realize in this ever increasingly globalized world, the Church has to shed it Malayalee Kerala Church identity and become more accommodating to the members who do not ever have to come back to Kerala to settle or live again.

There is also the ever increasing problem, where Achens do not speak english, and by the time they are able to build rapport with the youths in an outside Kerala Parish they are transfered to another parish. These are just some of the many issues we will be discussing in length on this blog.

I ask all of you to pray and contribute to this blog.

We have members visiting and writing in from United States, Canada, UAE, Taiwan, Kuwait, United Kingdom, Bahrain, Singapore, Oman, Qatar, Korea and Australia not to mention the various states and districts from these above mentioned countries.

It reflects the global nature of the Mar Thoma Church which we must be proud off. But the Church has to understand this fact and think globally to reach out to the members around the world - rather than see them as money pots to harvested for projects.

About me hiding my identity. Through experience I have learnt that in the Church your opinion only matters if you are from a respected family, high position or some connection to the leaders in the Church. I do not sit back and criticize the Church without any action - however I am deeply committed and working hard within the Church to change the current situation! Anyways I believe the focus should be on the issues and less on me.

This blog however is an effort to gather and discuss issues which the Church will have to listen too from ordinary lay people. Please do let me know your opinions and comments.

God Bless,

Mtc Monk!


Monday, January 1, 2007

Positive Change is what we need!

I would like to bring a point.. providing a luxury form of transportation or seeing bishops in laymens houses where they don’t have their aramana cannot be questioned, where would you expect them to stay when in a country outside India?

They cannot live in a hotel.. it would be like saying all we need you is for our church service.. that is not the right way! They are representatives of our church and in this concern we have to give them as much respect. Give as much kindness as possible even though we don’t get the same in return, for this is what the good lord wants us to do.


Abt bishops or priests concentrating on people who are outside India is a concern.. when all they want is money more than our participation in the marthoma church or giving ideas to make it better… ‘They do not even care about the ordinary laymen who constitutes the flesh and blood of the church.’ As much as I have seen .. this is 95% true


I request all those who have read this blog to spread the news to fellow marthomites with this growing fire in them.. and let them contribute to this blog .. I don’t even know who owns this blog, but the intentions are convincing through the various articles here I would not like to discuss my name, cause my name would not make a difference in the suggestions I make!

4theMTC