Announcements – March 15, 2026 – Detroit Mar Thoma Church

Vodcasts

Sermon Link – Call to be Liberative (Rev. Santhosh Varughese)

Upcoming Prayers, Meetings & Events

March 16 – 20 (Monday -Wednesday)
- 7 PM: Lent Sandhya Namaskaram (via Zoom)
March 21 (Saturday)
- 10:30 AM: Edavaka Mission Meeting (at church)
- 1 PM: Youth Bible study (at church)
March 22 (Sunday)
- 9 AM: Sunday School
- 10:15 AM: Divine Worship Service (English) – Achen is travelling to Indianapolis as part of his
  Pulpit exchange arrangement. Praise and worship team will be also assisting the service.
- 4 PM: General Body Meeting of the Midwest Region VEA (via Zoom – details to be communicated later)

Condolences

Mr. Abraham K. Abraham, Karudamannil, Ayroor, beloved father of our member Dr. Batchu Abraham, who entered eternal rest in Kerala on March 12, Friday. He was 92 years old. Since 1975, he was an active member of the Philadelphia Mar Thoma Church, faithfully participating in its worship and fellowship. Later, he and his wife relocated to Trivandrum, Kerala, to enjoy their retirement years.Funeral services will be conducted on Thursday March 19, in Kerala at the Salem Mar Thoma Church, Ayroor.Detroit Mar Thoma Church extends our heartfelt condolences to Dr. Batchu Abraham and the entire bereaved family.

Circulars / Kalpanas

CIRCULAR # 178 – Ressissa – All registerd members of our church who are 18 years and older is required to pay $3. This is a mandatory collection by sabha and this is collected during the passion week.
CIRCULAR # 179 – Good Friday Offertory is set apart for the operational support of various Old Age homes under sabha’s care. This offertory will be collected during the Good Friday Services on April 3^rd. Each old age home is paired with Mar Thoma parishes around the worldOur parish’s collection will support the Shanthi Mandiram of Hosekotte

Great Lent Prayers

Our Great Lent prayers will continue this week – Monday through Friday, March 27. Prayer is online via Zoom and will start at 7 PM sharp. Encouraging every one to prayerfully attend the evening meetings. There are certain house keeping rules to follow when you join the zoom,
1. Please keep your zoom muted until your turn comes to speak.
2. Do not login using two devices in the close proximity as it might create feedback loop for everyone.
3. Achan encourages you to have the camera on if possible
4. Please have your camera on if you are delivering the devotion.
Attached are the Great Lent Liturgy in English and Malayalam
Great Lent Liturgy English
Great Lent Liturgy Malayalam
Great Lent Liturgy-Transliteration
Great Lent -Weekly Readings

Cottage Prayers

Prayer Group 5 will have a prayer meeting at the residence of Mr. Shaji & Laly Thomas, , on March 15^th at 5:30 PM. All prayer group 5 members are requested to attend this prayer meeting. Address: 3425 Cork Wood, Sterling Heights

Edavaka Mission

There will be a prayer meeting of the Detroit Marthoma Church Edavaka Mission on Saturday, March 21, @ 10:30 a.m. at the church. All Edavaka Mission members are requested to prayerfully attend this meeting
General Body Meeting of the Midwest Region VEA will be held via Zoom at 4:00 PM on Sunday, 3-22-26 to elect office bearers for the term 2026-2029. The prayerful participation of all members is requested.Agenda:
1. Election of Office Bearers for the term 2026-2029
2. AOB with permission of the chair

Youth Group

Youth Group Bible Study @ 1 PM on Saturday, March 21^st. All youth group members are requested to attend..

Passion Week Schedule

MARCH 27: 40th Friday – HC MALAYALAM @9:30 AM
MARCH 29 –PALM SUNDAY (HC IN MALAYALAM )
MARCH 30 –APRIL 1: SANDYA NAMASKARAM AT CHURCH
APRIL 2nd –MAUNDY THURSDAY, HC SERVICE ( ENG ) @ 7 PM
APRIL 3rd – GOOD FRIDAY
- 1st SERVICE – ENGLISH,
- 2nd & 3rd Service – MALAYALAM
APRIL 5th – EASTER, HC (MAL) AT 9 AM

Leadership Retreat

We will be conducting a Leadership Retreat for all Executive Committee members and leaders of every organization and Sub-Committees in our parish. The retreat will be held on Saturday, March 28th at 10:00 AM. As we begin a new year of committee responsibilities, this retreat is an important opportunity for all leaders to come together, reflect, and prepare for the year ahead. Please make the necessary arrangements to attend.To help with planning, kindly inform the Parish Secretary of the number of representatives attending from your organization so that all arrangements can be made accordingly. This will be a three‑hour retreat, concluding with lunch.
We encourage everyone to take part—this is a valuable opportunity to bring renewed vision, vigor, and energy to your organization for the coming year.

Choir Audition

We are excited to welcome new members to both the English and Malayalam choirs.A choir voice audition will be held on Sunday, March 29, beginning at 1:00 PM, after the worship service and refreshments. All parish members aged 12 years and above are welcome to participate.Songs to Prepare:For the Malayalam Choir
• Enne Rakshippan Unnatham Vittu (Kristiya Keerthanangal 416)
• Nanmayallathonnum Cheythidathavan (Kristiya Keerthanangal 467)

(Choir sang both of these songs today)

For the English Choir
• ’Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus (AG 26)
• As the Deer Panteth For Water (AG 96)

Participants are requested to learn both songs. On the day of the audition, the judges will select one of the songs, and participants will be asked to sing the introduction and the first verse.

Practice materials, including lyrics, sheet music, and MP3 recordings, are available at: bit.ly/dmtcchoir

2026 Planned Church Events

MARCH 28 – LEADERSHIP RETREAT ( EC & ORGANISATION COMMITTEES)
APRIL 19 – FAREWELL FOR OUR VICAR REV.SANTHOSH VARUGHESE
JUNE 15 – JUNE 20 – VBS
JULY 18 – PICNIC
JULY 31- AUG 1 – MID WEST JUNIOR CAMP ( AT OUR CHURCH )
AUG 22 – MAR THOMA FEST
AUG 30 – FIRST FRUIT AUCTION
SEPT 6 – ONAM SADHYA
OCT 23 – 25 ( PARISH RETREAT / CONVENTION ) ( TENDATIVE)
OCT 25 – FAMILY SUNDAY / TITHE
NOV 28 – DEC 13 – CAROL ROUNDS ( VISITING HOMES )
DEC 19 – XMAS CAROL SERVICE

Farewell for Rev. Santhosh Varughese & family

The Executive Committee met this week and finalized the plans for Santosh Achan’s farewell. The farewell will be held on Sunday, April 19th, immediately after the worship service.We hope and pray that our entire church family will join us on this special day to give Achen a heartfelt and blessed farewell, in gratitude for the wonderful service he and his family have offered to our parish. Please keep Achen and family in your prayers as they prepare to move back to India and the new ministry.If any of you have any questions on the farewell arrangements, please let us know

Our incoming Vicar: Rev. Jobin Jose

We would like to share an update regarding our incoming vicar, Rev. Jobin Jose. He completed his biometric interview this week, and his visa interview is scheduled for the coming week.Please keep Jobin Achan and his family in your prayers—for blessings during the interview process and for safe travels throughout the week.Here is picture of Achen’s family. Kochamma’s name is Jincy, he has three children, daughter is Sia (7), son is Nathan (4) and youngest daughter is Nia (2)

Lost & Found

We have got a pair of GOLD ANKLETS ( PADASWARAM) from the church parking lot on 03/08/2026. Please check and contact Church Trustees if you have lost it.

Marthoma Mission Board

Native American Mission VBS

2026 NAM VBS Flyer

Email Issues

If you are not receiving the church emails or weekly announcements, please send an email to the secretary at sec@detroitmarthoma.org. We will check from our side if there are any issues. You can also check your spam folder or blocked emails to see if this email is being blocked. You can also check our church website www.detroitmarthoma.org to see the weekly announcements

Refreshments

Thanks to the refreshment committee for arranging todays refreshments
Note from the refreshment team:
- Refreshments will be served for 30 minutes only and the cleanup will start after. Requesting every one to join the fellowship time as soon as we finish the benediction.
- Requesting everyone to give the one time yearly contribution for the Refreshment. The minimum required contribution is 100 dollars. If you give the amount at the beginning of the year, it will greatly help the team better plan for the year
- We also request everyone—kids and adults alike—to please dispose of used plates, cups, and glasses in the trash cans provided. Leaving them around the parish hall creates extra work for our volunteers, who already dedicate their time to arrange the refreshments, clean up all the plates, coffee makers and other vessels used in the refreshments and make the space ready for the next event. Let’s all do our part to keep the hall clean and reduce the burden on our volunteers and office bearers. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Birthdays & Wedding Anniversaries

DMTC Family wishes all our fellow members celebrating their Birthday and Wedding Anniversary this upcoming week. May the Almighty Lord bless each one of you and your family in the New Year and the years ahead.

Acknowledgements

We extend our sincere thanks to Rev. Santhosh Varughese for the service and message, Rev. P. Chacko, our Lay Leaders, Choir, and the Livestream and Audio teams for their dedicated support in today’s worship service.

Please uphold our near & dear ones who are sick and those grieving the loss of their loved ones.

Thank you all for participating, have a blessed week.

Detroit Mar Thoma Church

Announcements – March 15, 2026