The headquarters of the church is at Tiruvalla, Kerala.
History
Branches & Denominations of Saint Thomas Christians
The St. Thomas Evangelical Church is one of several groups of Saint Thomas Christians who trace their origins to St. Thomas the Apostle who, according to their tradition, came to India in AD 52.[1]
In the 1800s, South Indian Christians were in contact with British missionaries during the time of British colonialism. The missionaries facilitated the translation of the Bible into Malayalam in 1811; this was the first vernacular Bible in Kerala. Further changes introduced by the influence of missionaries led to a schism within the Thomas Christians.[2]
By the 1830s, some clergy in the St Thomas Church were looking at reform, particularly in the area of rituals. This movement led to the St Thomas Church establishing the Mar Thoma Evangelistic Association (MTEA) in 1888.[3]
In the 1950s, reforms within the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church led to some members creating the Mar Thoma Pathiopadesa Samathy (St Thomas Organisation for Sound Doctrine) in 1952. In 1960, four presbyters (P John Varghese, P I Mathal, CM Vaghese and KO John) were suspended. This led to the establishment of the St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (STECI), on January 26, 1961, with 20 ministers and 25,000 lay Christians.[4]
STECI believes in; the Trinity, the Second Coming, Sola Scriptura of 66 books of the Bible, salvation by faith (not works), safeguarding sound doctrine, evangelism and sharing the news about Jesus, royal priesthood and prayers to Jesus for the living.[7]
In 2023, the Church has seven dioceses. Four of these are in Kerala; the others are "Bahya Kerala" ‘’Gulf and Singapore’’ and ‘’North America and Europe’’.[9] The dioceses cover 240 parishes.[10]
