St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India
The St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India (English: St. Thomas Evangelical Church of India , STECI) is an evangelical , episcopal church based in the state of Kerala , India. It results from a schism (church division) within the Mar Thoma Church in 1961.
The members of this church belong to the Thomas Christians who, according to their own legend, can look back on almost 2000 years of Indian tradition. While under the influence of the Portuguese a partial Roman Catholic church had split off from the Thomas Christians as early as the middle of the 17th century (today's Syro-Malabar Church , united with Rome ), it came around the middle of the 19th century - not least under the influence of the English colonial power - to split off the Anglican Mar Thoma Church. A group of members of this church finally separated from the Mar Thoma Church in 1961 and founded the Evangelical Church of St. Thomas of India .
The center of the church is in Tiruvalla , Kerala. The chairman of the Synod of Bishops is Bishop CV Mathew. The church has approximately 50,000 members, mostly in Kerala.