MGOCSM ,Spiritual Dynamo of the Malankara Indian Orthodox Syrian Church
Prof Joseph K Alexander
Hon. Treasurer . MGOCSM.
Malankara Indian Orthodox Syrian Church evangelized and started in Kerala, India, by Apostle of Jesus St. Thomas in 52 AD is the second oldest Christian Church in the World, the first being the Antiochan Orthodox Church preached mainly by St. Paul immediately after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Protestant Churches come into being only after 1596. Even the Roman Catholic Church formed in 869 AD separated from the main stream of Orthodox churches by claiming Papal Supremacy.
Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM) of the Malankara Church started in 1907 is the oldest student organization in Asia. It is second only to the WSF started in Sweden on 1895 Since its inception in 1908 the MGOCSM then known as the Student Conference directed its attention to the spiritual upliftment of the students and youth. With this in view it emphasized the importance of Sunday School activities and evangelism .It used to publish an official organ called “The Vedadhyapakan” M/s N.I.Pilipose C.O.Oommen, K.C.Chacko, P.K.Varki, and ,P.K.Mathew were the persons mainly associated with that work N.I.Pilipose, Nalathra, Olassa was specially deputed for the propagation of this organ, who was actively helped by his cousin Rev.Dn. Kanianthra J.Alexander who went from parish to parish for the propagation of the Vedadhyapakan and for starting Sunday school in all the parishes.
It was this initiative of the MGOCSM that later led to the Sunday School Movement in Malankara Church, thus providing basic structure for the growth of spiritualism within the Church. When the Sunday school Movement became a structured organization of the Church, MGOCSM directed its attention to the College and School going student community.
With Universal Education and a plethora of students attending the annual conference of MGOCSM, the leaders were experiencing the loss of the spiritual atmosphere of the conferences. So they started organizing its units in the colleges and Schools. Under the guidance of the staff the students used to meet regularly for spiritual enrichment. This work was actively taken up during the president ships of H.G. Daniel Mar Philexenos and H.G. Philipos Mar Theophilos Despite this, the Movement felt its knees weakening under the impact of the general deterioration of moral and spiritual values
So MGOCSM devised short term Educational Orientation Programme for the Pre-SSLC and later Post-SSLC students. They have the most impressive and clean uncluttered minds to imbibe spiritualism and churchmanship. The products of this - now 30 year-old- scheme is at present the sheet anchor of and the spiritual dynamo of our Church. It is no exaggeration to state that MGOCSM has been providing the leaders for our church and the society all these hundred years. Its commitment to this cause even today enables it to provide outstanding leaders to the Church and the Society at large. Ever since 1908 the influence of MGOCSM in the spiritualism of the Church has been so total that one can in retrospect say that most of the Church leadership in all these years have come from the MGOCSM fold. This is the reason of calling it as the spiritual dynamo of the Church.
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Prof Joseph K Alexander
Hon. Treasurer . MGOCSM.
Malankara Indian Orthodox Syrian Church evangelized and started in Kerala, India, by Apostle of Jesus St. Thomas in 52 AD is the second oldest Christian Church in the World, the first being the Antiochan Orthodox Church preached mainly by St. Paul immediately after the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The Protestant Churches come into being only after 1596. Even the Roman Catholic Church formed in 869 AD separated from the main stream of Orthodox churches by claiming Papal Supremacy.
Mar Gregorios Orthodox Christian Student Movement (MGOCSM) of the Malankara Church started in 1907 is the oldest student organization in Asia. It is second only to the WSF started in Sweden on 1895 Since its inception in 1908 the MGOCSM then known as the Student Conference directed its attention to the spiritual upliftment of the students and youth. With this in view it emphasized the importance of Sunday School activities and evangelism .It used to publish an official organ called “The Vedadhyapakan” M/s N.I.Pilipose C.O.Oommen, K.C.Chacko, P.K.Varki, and ,P.K.Mathew were the persons mainly associated with that work N.I.Pilipose, Nalathra, Olassa was specially deputed for the propagation of this organ, who was actively helped by his cousin Rev.Dn. Kanianthra J.Alexander who went from parish to parish for the propagation of the Vedadhyapakan and for starting Sunday school in all the parishes.
It was this initiative of the MGOCSM that later led to the Sunday School Movement in Malankara Church, thus providing basic structure for the growth of spiritualism within the Church. When the Sunday school Movement became a structured organization of the Church, MGOCSM directed its attention to the College and School going student community.
With Universal Education and a plethora of students attending the annual conference of MGOCSM, the leaders were experiencing the loss of the spiritual atmosphere of the conferences. So they started organizing its units in the colleges and Schools. Under the guidance of the staff the students used to meet regularly for spiritual enrichment. This work was actively taken up during the president ships of H.G. Daniel Mar Philexenos and H.G. Philipos Mar Theophilos Despite this, the Movement felt its knees weakening under the impact of the general deterioration of moral and spiritual values
So MGOCSM devised short term Educational Orientation Programme for the Pre-SSLC and later Post-SSLC students. They have the most impressive and clean uncluttered minds to imbibe spiritualism and churchmanship. The products of this - now 30 year-old- scheme is at present the sheet anchor of and the spiritual dynamo of our Church. It is no exaggeration to state that MGOCSM has been providing the leaders for our church and the society all these hundred years. Its commitment to this cause even today enables it to provide outstanding leaders to the Church and the Society at large. Ever since 1908 the influence of MGOCSM in the spiritualism of the Church has been so total that one can in retrospect say that most of the Church leadership in all these years have come from the MGOCSM fold. This is the reason of calling it as the spiritual dynamo of the Church.
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