ABOUT US
The St. James Orthodox Mission Church is a fellowship of Orthodox believers. Our purpose is to attain spiritual nourishment by partaking in the sacramental life of the Church and to reflect the light of Christ to the surrounding communities through the practices of the One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic faith.
PARISH HISTORY
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OCTOBER 15, 2013 - His Grace Alexios Mar Eusebius, Metropolitan of the Diocese of South-West America formally appointed Rev. Fr. John Abraham (Teji) as the first Vicar of St. James Orthodox Mission Church.
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OCTOBER 20, 2013 - The first Holy Qurbana was conducted on October 20, 2013 at the Fun Asia (now Luxor) Banquet Hall in Carrollton, TX.
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JULY 2014 - Rev. Fr. Christopher Mathew began serving as Vicar.
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OCTOBER 2014 - The parish relocated to Cambridge Office Park II, a more centrally-located building in Dallas, TX.
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JULY 2018 - The parish moved to Park Plaza Tower in Dallas, TX.
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SEPTEMBER 1, 2018 - Rev. Fr. Binu Mathews began serving as Vicar.
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SEPTEMBER 11, 2024 - Closed on the Rowlett property
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OCTOBER 19-20, 2024 - Moved into Rowlett property and held 11th anniversary Parish Day celebrations, led by Diocesan Metropolitan His Grace Dr. Thomas Mar Ivanios
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AUGUST 1, 2025 - Rev. Fr. Diju Skariah began serving as Vicar.
PARISH COUNCIL
Rev. Fr. Diju Skariah
Vicar & President
Sogini Mathew
Secretary
Anu Biju
Treasurer
Jenni Panicker
Council Member
Jobin Panicker
Council Member
Stanley Thomas
Council Member
Bob Thomas
Ex Officio
Joseph (Jomy) Chandy
Auditor
Additional Support:
Gibson Mammen
Diocesan Representative
Sony Alexander
Malankara Association Representative
Rev. Fr. Diju (Zachariah) Skariah was born and raised in Chicago, IL as a member of St. Gregorios Orthodox Church in Bellwood, IL. At a young age, he was engaged as an active member and leader of his parish youth group, the Chicago area MGOCSM, and the National MGOCSM Missions Trip Committee.
After completing his bachelor’s degree in Psychology, Church Ministry & Leadership, and Theology from Trinity Christian College in Chicago, he went on to complete the Master of Divinity Program at St. Tikhon's Orthodox Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania. Following the completion of a six-month liturgical study course at the Orthodox Theological Seminary, Kottayam, India, he went on to pursue his Master of Social Work degree at the University of Kansas.
In October 2011, he was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Grace Alexios Mar Eusebius, who then appointed him as Vicar of St. Gregorios Orthodox Church of Kansas City. After serving the parish for eleven years, he was appointed as the Assistant Vicar of St. Mary’s Orthodox Valiyapally in May of 2022 by His Grace Dr. Zacharias Mar Aprem. On August 1, 2025, our Diocesan Metropolitan, His Grace Dr. Thomas Mar Ivanios, appointed him as the Vicar of St. James Orthodox Mission Church. He also previously served as the Diocesan Sunday School Director from 2012-2019 and also as a member of the Diocesan Council for the Diocese of South-West America from 2017-2022.
Vocationally, Fr. Zachariah is a Licensed Social Worker and feels truly blessed to have the opportunity to serve those within and outside of our community.
Fr. Zachariah resides in Carrollton, TX with his wife, Shirley, and their three children: Arianna, Seraphina, & Micah.
OUR PRIEST
USE OF ENGLISH
The Malankara Church, which has its roots in Kerala, India, primarily uses Malayalam (native language) and Syriac (liturgical language) for worship. As the Church grew outside of India, it became paramount that the full liturgical services be translated into the English language in order to serve a larger population of believers. The Holy Qurbana (Eucharist) was translated into English in the early 1980s. In the last five years, many of the feast day liturgies of the Church such as Easter, Christmas, and Good Friday have been translated into English as well. As a result, the beautiful liturgical services of the Syriac tradition have become available to the English-speaking members of the Church. This has allowed the Church to share its Faith with the community at large. The St. James Orthodox Mission Church is the first church established by Southwest Diocese to solely use English in all its worship services.
A BRIEF SYNOPSIS OF THE MALANKARA ORTHODOX SYRIAN CHURCH
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, also known as the Indian Orthodox Church, is an apostolic church that traces its roots to the evangelical work of St. Thomas the Apostle in AD 52. Tradition teaches us that St. Thomas sailed to the Malabar Coast, by way of spice traders, in an area known as ‘Maliankara’, and later this name was shortened to ‘Malankara’. Thus the name of the church of India came to be known as the Malankara Church to remember the place where St. Thomas first came to evangelize India. Through St. Thomas’ work many Indians in the southern parts of India came to believe in Jesus Christ and be baptized. Through the centuries the Church in India had good relations with sister churches within the Roman Empire and the Persian Empire. This allowed the Indian Church to proclaim and profess the same faith and doctrines of the church as a whole.
The faith of the Indian Orthodox Church is in accordance with the Nicene Creed. It believes in the Holy Trinity, that is one God, subsisting in three persons; the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The Church believes in the mystery of the Incarnation. That is, the Only begotten Son of God, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, took to Himself a body and became man, through the Virgin Mary. Jesus Christ is the One Incarnate Nature of God the Word, without intermixture, confusion, mingling, change and
transformation. The Church further confesses in the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, who conquered death and sin for mankind, and reconciled man with God. The Church believes in the Holy Spirit, as the third person in the Holy Trinity. He is the Lord and Giver of Life, who proceeds from the Father, and is equal with the Father and the Son.
The Indian Orthodox Church believes that the Holy Sacraments are tangible signs designated by Jesus Christ to proclaim divine grace, which He gave for our sanctification. The seven main Sacraments of the Church are: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Confession, the Priesthood, Anointing of the Sick, and Marriage. Holy Sacraments are offered by the Bishops and the Priests, and only confirmed Orthodox faithful can receive the Sacraments.
The Malankara Orthodox Syrian Church, is an active member of the World Council of Churches (www.oikoumene.org/en), and currently has churches and dioceses around the world. The concentration of the church is in India, but has a presence in North America, Europe, Africa, Middle East and Australia. The head of the Malankara Orthodox Syrian is the Catholicos of the East and Malankara Metropolitan, and His Holiness Baselios Mar Thoma Paulose II is the current Catholicos. We currently have two dioceses in North America: the Northeast American Diocese headquartered in New York (www.neamericandiocese.org), and the Diocese of South-West America headquartered in Houston (www.ds-wa.org).