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The Stream
From Around the Diocese
NW Regional MGOCSM Summer Conference 2013
From July 12-14, the Northwest Region MGOCSM, had their
2nd annual MGOCSM Conference held in Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada. Many of the MGOCSM in this region had
never met, hence the theme of the conference was unity. This
conference allowed a time for the MGOCSM of the Northwest
to bond and grow together as a family. The verse that was
constantly in our minds during the conference was 1 Cor 3:810 which says, “Just as a body, though one, has many parts,
but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we
were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—
whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given
the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.” The Northwest MGOCSM were blessed to
have Rev. Dn. Anoop Thomas as the main speaker for the conference. Dn. Anoop Thomas taught us about how we should unite
with Christ and unite with others, while Dr. Biju Mathew, a respected psychiatrist in Vancouver, taught us about unity within our
family. Listening to these speakers, allowed the MGOCSM to reflect on their own unity with Christ, others and family. Besides
listening to these speakers, the MGOCSM were able to spend the July 12th afternoon and evening in downtown Vancouver
together with Dn. Anoop Thomas. There, they participated in different activities and had testimonials about their faith, which
helped the MGOCSM to grow closer to each other. On July 14th, St. George Malankara Orthodox Church in Vancouver had their
very first, of hopefully many, English Holy Qurbana. It was a groundbreaking event which occurred in their parish. The MGOCSM
of the Northwest region left the conference united with each other as a family, occurring because of their unity with Christ.
SE Regional MGOCSM Summer Conference 2013
For a spiritual renewal the South-East Region
MGOCSM of the South-West American Diocese of
the Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church of India
conducted its annual MGOCSM South-East Region
Fall Retreat at Warren Willis Camp in Fruitland
Park, FL. It was held during the Labor Day
weekend; the retreat began with Evening Prayer
on Friday August 30th, 2013 and ended with Holy
Qurbana on Sunday September 1st, 2013. The
retreat was truly a blessed and an eye opening
experience for all the youth who attended. We
were graced by the presence of Rev. Fr. Sujit
Thomas from (Albany, NY) and Dn. Daniel Dennis
Mathai from (Minneapolis, MN). The theme for
this year was Discipleship taken from The Gospel
According to St. Matthew 28: 19-20. The youth learned a great deal about following Jesus and making Disciples in today’s world
by attending workshops in Apologetics- “Defending the Faith” led by Rev. Fr. Sujit Thomas & Faith and Science – “Does Science
contradict Christian Faith?” which was led by Dn. Daniel Dennis Mathai. Through Worship, Study, and Service we hope to see
the South-East Region MGOCSM flourish in the coming years. Furthermore there was great attendance from various parishes all
around the Florida area and for the very first time we were excited to have full attendance from the Tennessee parish. We hope
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to conduct this amazing event once again in the fall of 2014 God willing and we all look forward to it.