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The Knanaya community has had
its presence in Dallas since the early eighties. The St Thomas Knanaya Church was registered
as a religious entity in 1983. At that time there were only 8
knanaya families in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Although the worship center did not exist at that time, the few families that were in Dallas decided to assemble
every Sunday at a pre arranged
location to celebrate the traditional knanaya mass under the
leadership of Rev. Dr. P. P. Philips. The tiny congregation would usually have these
improvised services at the home of one of the members, and on special occasions,
the recreation center hall owned by the city.
As the congregation grew in
number, the need for a larger, permanent home became more and more evident. Through
the determination and efforts of a handful of our early pioneers, an aggressive
effort was made to raise funds and plans for a new church were soon developed. In
1996, the land for the church was purchased in Irving and His Grace Abraham Mor
Clemis, the Metropolitan of the Knanaya Diocese, performed the groundbreaking
ceremony of our new church. Construction on the new building commenced soon after,
and on October 12, 1997 His Grace Abraham Mor Clemis Metropolitan inaugurated the
new church and held the first mass.
When the church was first consecrated
there were only 13 knanaya families as registered members. Since then the membership
of the church has seen a steady growth and today our strength is about 50 families.
Article researched by: Tom Jacob, Kochumaliyil (8th grader)
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