Send us a text Joshua currently works as the Director of Recruitment for Teach for America while also serving as a local representative on the Prince George's County Board of Education . My relationship with Josh began with me as a youth leader and him as an energetic and creative teenager, so hearing about his journey and accomplishments was especially rewarding. Guest: Joshua M. Thomas Interview Date: April 27, 2021 Parish: MTC Greater Washington Related Links LinkedIn: Joshua M. Thomas Teach ...
Jun 11, 2021•1 hr 17 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Send us a text Dony Oommen has been a Marthoma choir enthusiast for many years both as a choir member and as a choir leader. More recently, he has been sharing his musical talents through his YouTube channel, DeeCee Music Productions . We discuss his journey, our shared experiences with MTC choirs, and his thoughts on opportunities for improvement. Interview Date: April 3, 2021 Guest: Dony Oommen Parish: Christos MTC (Philadelphia) Links Dony on LinkedIn Dony’s music on Facebook Dony's music on ...
May 27, 2021•1 hr 4 min•Season 2Ep. 25
Send us a text Betsy Chacko is a Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW), Therapist, Christian Counselor, and author of her blog, TheFamilyIBuilt.com. Our conversation covers her professional work, as well as how she goes about creating content for her site. We also explore how the topics she covers can benefit our community. Interview Date: April 5, 2021 Guest: Betsy Chacko Parish: Staten Island MTC Connect With Betsy Linkedin - Betsy Chacko Instagram - @ByBetsyChacko Facebook - @ByBetsyChacko The...
May 20, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 24
Send us a text Captain Shibu Philipose currently serves as the Assistant Chief for the Investigative Branch of the Maryland-National Capital Park Police based in Silver Spring, Maryland. He also serves as the Vice President for America Malayalee Law Enforcement United (AMLEU). Their mission, “To be a conduit between law enforcement and the community it serves, primarily the Malayalee American community.” Shibu and I discuss family, his path to becoming an officer, and more detail on how AMLEU ho...
Apr 06, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Send us a text Guest: Merlin Kochunilathil Parish: St. Thomas MTC Delaware Valley Interview Date: February 9, 2021 This year’s Diocesan Leadership Conference was held virtually due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. This was also the first MTC leadership conference that my guest, Merlin, has had a chance to attend, so I was curious to hear her thoughts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITE: www.marthopodcast.com CONTACT: george@marthomaco...
Mar 24, 2021•47 min•Season 2Ep. 22
Send us a text Guest: Divya Mathew Parish: Carmel MTC (Boston) Interview Date: February 2, 2021 Divya and I discuss how she was informed that she was ineligible to serve as a lay leader (executive committee role) for her parish based on her gender. We then go on to discuss the actions she’s taken since then along with the comments and feedback she has been getting as a result. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- WEBSITE: www.marthopodcast.com CONTACT: george...
Mar 18, 2021•59 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Send us a text Guest: Rev. Dennis Abraham Mother Parish: St. John’s MTC (NY) Current Parish: Vicar of the MTC of San Fransico Bay Area Interview Date: January 26, 2021 I sit down with Dennis Achen to reflect on his path to ministry, his experiences as a Vicar, and how his current studies are broadening his views on the mission of the church, and the role the Mar Thoma Church must play moving forward. As of this interview, Dennis Achen is furthering his education at the Graduate Theological Union...
Mar 04, 2021•53 min•Season 2Ep. 20
Send us a text Guest: Been David Parish: St. Thomas MTC (Lombard, IL) Interview Date: January 19, 2021 In this interview, Beena and I have fun geeking-out on the challenges of singing an Eastern classic after years of training and experience as a Western classically trained vocalist. The song, Yahoodiayile Oru Grammathil , is a popular Christmas devotional song that was made popular by Yesudas. Beena's version almost sounds like a different song, while still evoking the same feeling of Christmas...
Feb 03, 2021•38 min•Season 2Ep. 19
Send us a text Guest: Pushpa Samuel Parish: Silicon Valley MTC (CA) & Horeb MTC (Los Angeles, CA) Interview Date: January 5, 2021 Pushpa shares the story of her journey to the present day where she is getting ready to finish her theological studies (M. Div.) with plans to become a board-certified chaplain. She hopes that sharing her story will be an encouragement to others interested in ministry, especially women, and looks forward to remaining active in our community. CHAPTERS 00:00:35. Int...
Jan 15, 2021•1 hr 9 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Send us a text Guest: Ron Jacob Parish: Long Island MTC (NY) Interview Date: December 30, 2020 KEY TOPICS: Part 1 (Previous Episode) Ron's background Experience of serving in the Diocesan Assembly and Council The Mar Thoma Church Constitution Part 2 Women serving as lay leaders (lay ministers) "The Revolution" (Article by Ron, originally published in the Marthoma Messenger, click here for the full paper ) Background on "Be The Match" Ron on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-jacob-md-b3779...
Jan 06, 2021•43 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Send us a text Guest: Ron Jacob Parish: Long Island MTC (NY) Interview Date: December 30, 2020 KEY TOPICS: Part 1 Ron's background Experience of serving in the Diocesan Assembly and Council The Mar Thoma Church Constitution Part 2 Women serving as lay leaders (lay ministers) "The Revolution" (Article by Ron, published in the Marthoma Messenger) Background on "Be The Match" https://www.linkedin.com/in/ron-jacob-md-b3779a6/ Support the show...
Jan 06, 2021•36 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Send us a text Guest: Merry Thomas Parish: Horeb MTC of Los Angles (Los Angeles, CA) Interview Date: December 14, 2020 After ending our interview, we decided to hit record again and explore the topic of women serving as lay leaders in the madhbaha (altar). We also hear the story of how she was asked to do just that. ___________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.marthopodcast.com CONTACT ME DIRECTLY: george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Dec 22, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 15
Send us a text Part 2 of 2 (Go back and listen to Part 1 first!) Guest: Merry Thomas Parish: Horeb MTC of Los Angles (Los Angeles, CA) Interview Date: December 14, 2020 Our interview continues as we reflect on the role that Youth Chaplains play in our diocese, and we discuss the possible future of a lay chaplain ministry. ___________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.marthopodcast.com CONTACT ME DIRECTLY: george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Dec 21, 2020•27 min•Season 1Ep. 14
Send us a text Guest: Merry Thomas Parish: Horeb MTC of Los Angles (Los Angeles, CA) Interview Date: December 14, 2020 EPISODE SUMMARY Merry and I share our observations and thoughts after attending this year’s Diocesan Assembly meeting as representatives for our respective parishes. ___________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE VISIT OUR WEBSITE: www.marthopodcast.com CONTACT ME DIRECTLY: george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Dec 21, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 13
Send us a text Go back and listen to Episode #11 for Part 1 of this interview! Guest: Rev. Larry Varghese Parishes: MTC of Silicon Valley, Sacramento Congregation Interview Date: 6/4/2020 “The church exists by mission as fire exists by burning.” -- Emil Brunner, Swiss Reformed Theologian References Mentioned: The Marthoma Church Heritage and Mission by Alexander Mar Thoma Mission and Liturgy: Contest, Convergence and Congruence with special reference to the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church Cont...
Dec 07, 2020•22 min•Season 1Ep. 12
Send us a text Don't miss the second half of this interview in episode #12! Guest: Rev. Larry Varghese Parishes: MTC of Silicon Valley, Sacramento Congregation Interview Date: 6/4/2020 References Mentioned: The Marthoma Church Heritage and Mission by Alexander Mar Thoma Mission and Liturgy: Contest, Convergence and Congruence with special reference to the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church Contact Larry Achen: https://www.facebook.com/larrypv _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO ...
Dec 07, 2020•23 min•Season 1Ep. 11
Send us a text Guest: Shaun Rajan Parish: St. Andrews MTC (NY) Interview Date: 5/30/2020 During my conversation with Shaun, I also got to hear some of Shaun's thoughts around an article by Charles Samuel that he had shared on Twitter several days before. It didn't quite go with the episode topic, so I've broken out as a bonus episode. Enjoy! Referenced Article: I Still Believe The 'Indian Church' Must Die https://www.charlessamuel.com/ Shaun's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shaun-rajan-a4...
Dec 05, 2020•4 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Send us a text Guest: Shaun Rajan Parish: St. Andrews MTC (NY) Interview Date: 5/30/2020 Back in May, I spoke with Shaun about his thoughts on the impact that COVID has had on both his teaching and on our worshipping community as a result of the push to go exclusively virtual. Shaun is an assistant professor of mathematics at Westchester Community College in New York and is currently a member at St. Andrews MTC, NY. REFERENCES: The Sunday Seven YouTube playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?...
Dec 05, 2020•48 min•Season 1Ep. 10
Send us a text Guest: Nirmala Abraham Parish: Philadelphia MTC Interview Date: 5/16/2020 I chat with Mrs. Nirmala Abraham about how she, as a grandparent and an elder in our community, works to "stay relevant" in the eyes of her grandchildren and our MTC community. Our conversation ranges from her engagements with her children, grandchildren, and their peers to our missions fields among Native Americans, Sevika Sanghom, and navigating the future of the MTC. Finally, we hear her thoughts on how w...
Dec 03, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 9
Send us a text Danielle Verghese, an internal medicine resident, recently helped to organize demonstrations supporting #WhiteCoatsForBlackLives in Philadelphia. Her original tweet from their first event has had over 44K views as of this post, and was "liked" by 2.5K people. But more importantly, Danielle tells us the story of why she felt the need to get involved, how the initial event came to be, and what the experience has been like so far. The full video version of this interview (via Zoom) i...
Jun 07, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Send us a text Thanks again to Beena David for the interview. Check out the links below to learn more about Beena or hear some of her work. Instagram: @beenabeenabeena YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgeQ9nHdzrss37QT5WWfiCw Beena’s Quartet: thesecondfire.com _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
May 14, 2020•36 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Send us a text In this episode, I sit down with Sajan Joseph - one of the leaders and founding members of Redeemer MTC in New Jersey. Being a parish made up primarily of 2nd generation immigrant families, we talk about what went into the process of forming the church and how it is both similar and different from other parishes in North America. CONTACT REDEEMER MTC www.redeemermtc.org https://www.facebook.com/redeemermtcfamily/ https://www.instagram.com/redeemermtc/ info@redeemermtc.org ________...
May 05, 2020•35 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Send us a text Brian Thomas is a young engineer, musician, and entrepreneur from Philadelphia, PA. Together we cover topics including pressures to participate in everything the church had to offer while growing up, navigating his undergrad years, and looking ahead to developing his non-profit, Heartbeat Mission. CONTACT BRIAN https://www.linkedin.com/in/brianbthomas/ https://www.facebook.com/thebrianbthomas https://www.instagram.com/brianbthomas/ HEARTBEAT MISSION https://www.linkedin.com/compan...
Apr 28, 2020•44 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Send us a text In part 2 of the interview (see Episode 3 for part 1), OC Uncle describes the early days of the Marthoma community in Philadelphia, and goes on the describe the various mission projects that he has helped to establish in conjunction with the diocese, including plans for the next phase of missions work here in the US. _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Apr 20, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 4
Send us a text OC Abraham shares the story of his arrival in America in 1960, nearly 60 years ago. This episode contains Part 1 of this two part interview. Be sure to check out part 2 as well! _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Apr 20, 2020•18 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Send us a text Mrs. Sindhu Aby, serving as Sunday School superintendent for the St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church of Delaware Valley, shares some memories from her days as a Sunday School student along with her thoughts on being a parent and what it takes to serve in her current role. Bonus: Check out her YouTube channel, “ Meals and Memories ,” for some easy to follow recipes! _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Su...
Apr 10, 2020•25 min•Season 1Ep. 2
Send us a text Rev. Abraham Kuruvilla and I discuss the idea of a "scattered church" and the evolving role of technology in ministry today. _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomacommunitypodcast.com Support the show...
Mar 29, 2020•19 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Send us a text Before getting into our content, I take a moment to orient you to What the Mar Thoma Church is (in case you're not a Marthomite), who I am, and what I hope to accomplish with the podcast. In short - I look forward to having conversations with the members of our community about whatever it is they'd like to share with you. Thanks and don't forget to subscribe for future episodes! _____________________________________ DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! www.marthopodcast.com george@marthomac...
Mar 29, 2020•3 min•Season 1Ep. 1
