Announcements – July 6, 2025

Vodcasts

• Sermon Link – Tithe Offering Sunday – Life for the Creator (Rev. P. Chacko)

Upcoming Prayers, Meetings & Events

• July 9 (Wednesday) 
  • 7 PM: Intercessory Prayer (via Zoom)
• July 10 (Thursday) 
  • 8:30 PM: Midwest Region Prayer Meeting (via Zoom)
• July 11 (Friday) 
  • 10:30 AM: Fasting Prayer (via Zoom)
• July 13 (Sunday)
  • 10:15 AM: Holy Communion Service (English)

Condolences

• It is with profound sadness that we inform you of the passing of our  former member, Mr. Abraham John ( 75 Years ) in Houston,Texas on Friday.They are currently members of Immanuel Mar Thoma Church , Houston. He is survived by his loving wife Annamma Abraham, his son Aju John  & his family , and Anju & her family .
  Uncle and his family were active members of our parish for a long time until he moved to Houston to be with his son Aju.  Please keep the bereaved family in your prayers during this time of grief, that they may find comfort and strength in the Lord.
  We as a Parish express our deepest condolences and offer prayers for comfort and peace to Auntie and the entire family during this time of pain and loss.
• Let us also lift up in prayer the people of Central Texas where devastating floods have claimed the lives of at least 88 people including 28 children at this time. 41 people are still missing. Let us uphold the families that are grieving the loss of the loved ones, for those who are still searching for their missing ones, for all the emergency services and the volunteers for the strength, comfort and restoration across the affected communities. Let us hold them in our hearts and ask for the God’s mercy, protection and healing in the days ahead.

Sevika Sanghom

• The Mid-West Regional Sevika Sanghom will host a Prayer Meeting on Thursday, July 10, 2025 at 8:30 PM EST via Zoom platform. Rev Kurien Jose, Vicar of St. Thomas Mar Thoma Church, Indianapolis will deliver the message. The theme is “I see you and you are blessed” and is based on the bible passage St. Matthew 5: 1- 5. We earnestly request your presence and participation as we come together for a time of prayer and fellowship.Join Zoom Meeting: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/81566397431?pwd=r9AmP8tMjgQsncK4e4FBvQEytCbNIP.1
  Meeting ID: 815 6639 7431     Passcode: 612177
• Diocesan Sevika Sanghom is conducting an essay competition based on the theme “Women: Transformers by Faith”, “സ്്രതീകൾ : വിശ􀅙ാസ നിറവിൽ മാറ്റത്തിന്െറ ചാലക ശക്തികൾ”. Essay can be composed either in English or Malayalam and competition will be conducted separately for each language. Submission of essay can be done via email to dsss.essay@gmail.com or postal mail to Rev. Sherin Tom Mathews ,11 Walker Avenue, Pikesville,Maryland, 21208. The deadline for essay submissions is 6:00 PM ET on August 10, 2025. Detailed rules/guidelines for essay are also attached. Please encourage yourself to participate in this competition and be blessed. There will be first, second and third place awards presented for the English and Malayalam essay competition. The winners will be announced at the Diocesan Sevika Sanghom meeting scheduled for September 4, 2025.

Church Picnic

Our Summer Picnic is happening on Saturday, July 12th at Raintree Park in Troy, MI!

Picnic is scheduled to start at 10 AM. We hope every one make it to the park early so that we can start the games and get enough time for fun and fellowship. We are planning to have lots of games and food. We are also planning delicious breakfast for the early birds. PLEASE KEEP PICNIC IN YOUR PRAYERS AS WE NEED GOOD WEATHER.

To those who have never attended these picnics before, especially the new families who have joined us this year and the young families with small kids, we assure you that it is a very good time worth spending with your fellow church members, getting to know them through fun, food and fellowship.

Midwest Regional Activities (RAC) 

• Family Enrichment Seminar:  Mar Thoma Diocese of North America Midwest Regional Activities Committee RAC is conducting a family enrichment seminar in Chicago Mar Thoma church on July 19th from 9 – 12 PM. Two well known speakers on this area, Dr. P. C. Mathew and Mrs. Ciby Mathew are conducting the sessions. RAC is inviting anyone interested to attend this seminar.

Mar Thoma Festival

Registration for the marthofest summer league 25 has been opened. Anyone interested in playing basketball, volleyball, pickleball or table tennis please sign up on the google form found on the QR code at the bulletin boards or with the link that’s provided here in the announcements. The deadline for registration of basketball and volleyball will be July 13th, which is the day after the picnic. The cost for each tournament to play in is $10 per person per tournament, with a maximum cost of $35 per person for all tournaments.

The tentative schedule for the volleyball draft league will be July 18th Friday evening and August 15th Friday evening.
The tentative schedule for the basketball draft league will be July 19th Saturday morning and August 16th Saturday morning.

Pickleball and table tennis tournaments will begin end of July. More details to follow in a few weeks. Please sign up soon as you can so that you can be placed into a team.

Tournament Schedule for TT & PB:
AUGUST 3 – TABLE TENNIS ( SINGLES & DOUBLES )
AUGUST 5/6 – PICKLEBALL Mens Doubles
AUG 12/13/14 – PICKLEBALL MEN’s Singles, Womes & Mixed Doubles

REGISTER AS TEAM FOR PICKLEBALL WOMENS AND MIXED DOUBLES

Yuvajana Sakhyam

• Mid-West Region Mar Thoma Yuvajana Sakhyam Regional Conference and Kalamela-2025 is planned to be held on Saturday, August 23rd, 2025, at St. John’s Mar Thoma Church, Michigan from 8 AM to 4 PM (EST). From 8 AM to 9 AM (EST), registration and breakfast will be served. All YJS members participate in both the conference and Kalamela. Rev. Sanjo P Varghese (Vicar, St. John’s MTC) will inaugurate the conference and Rev. Ashish Thomas (Vicar, Chicago MTC) will lead the session on the theme “Youth: Shapers of Tomorrow” based on 1 Timothy 4:12.Last date to register for the Conference with $10 Registration fee: August 15th, 2025. (Late Fee: $15)Following the conference, Kalamela will start and the Shakha with the most points will be awarded the Donna Alex Memorial Ever Rolling Trophy.Last day to register for Kalamela: August 3rd, 2025. (Late Fee until August 10th: $5). Registration after August 10 will not be accepted.Kalamela -Competition Events are as follows:1.   English Solo (M & F)
  2.  Malayalam Solo (M & F)
  3.  Group Song (Participants: 5-12)
  4.  Elocution – English
  5.  Elocution –Malayalam
  6.  Bible QuizFor competition details reach out to Convenor: Sandeep George or YS Secretary.

Blood Drive

• As we have been announcing for last couple of weeks, Detroit Mar Thoma Church Medical Team, Yuvajana Sakhyam and Youth Group is planning to host a blood drive here at the Detroit Mar Thoma Church on Sept 7. We request interested individuals to sign up for the blood drive. So far they have got 45 people signed up.  Please sign up using the link provided with today’s announcement. Blood donation is easy and harmless and it is also divine as it saves life.Below is the registration link for the Blood Drive

https://detroitmarthoma.org/main/resources/2025-dmtc-blood-drive/

If you have any questions, please reach out to Mrs. Mini Varghese or Mrs. Sansu Mathai

Photo Directory

• We will be releasing a 2025 Photo Directory book later this year. As done with previous editions, this directory will include names, a photo, current addresses and contact numbers of every parish family, formatted in a physical copy released to all families. To compile all the photos needed for the directory, the Photography sessions will take place at church on September 12th-14th of this year.
• The sessions will be as follows:
  • Friday the 12th: 2pm-10pm
  • Saturday the 13th: 9am-10pm
  • Sunday the 14th 2pm-10pm.
• Photography sessions will be scheduled via this SignupGenius link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/10C054EA5AA2DA6FAC25-57289147-2025
• Each family is asked to sign up for a single 10 minute slot during one of the 3 days that is available and works with their family’s schedule. If you have any questions, please reach out to Debbie George or Justin Jones.
• Time slots are filling up fast now. Please go in and add your name. We also got request from extended families to make group pictures. If you have plans to get a big group picture of your family while you are taking the pictures for the directory, please make sure, all individual families reserve time next to each other so that your extended family picture can be taken while you are all there. Just note that, your big group picture will not appear in directory, this is for your needs only.

Refreshments

• Thanks to refreshment committee for arranging today’s refreshments. Requesting everyone to join the fellowship after the benediction.
• 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.
  • They are also requesting those who haven’t contributed to the annual refreshment fund to do so soon. The minimum expected is 100 dollars.

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 want to thank,  Rev. P. Chacko for leading todays service and message, Lay Leaders, Worship team, Live stream and Audio teams for assisting today’s 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.

Office Bearers Contact Information

• As part of our transition to the new domain, contact emails of the office bearers has been updated. Please take a note of the new email Ids for the church office bearers
  • Vicar: vicar@detroitmarthoma.org or 248-792-1134 (Mobile)
  • Secretary: sec@detroitmarthoma.org
  • Trustees: trustees@detroitmarthoma.org

We are not monitoring the old emails any more. Please take a note of the new emails.

Online Photo Directory

As many of you may or may not know we maintain an online photo directory of parish families. Many photos in the directory are outdated and we invite and encourage all families to provide a more recent photo to be included in the directory. If families have a new photo please e-mail it to the secretary at sec@detroitmarthoma.org. We thank everyone for their support. Link and log-in information for the photo directory will be included in the weekly announcements.

Online Photo Directory Link: https://detroitmarthoma.org/main/resources/parish-directory/

Photo Directory Passcode: 48033

Note about Security – Email/Phone Contacts from the church

• As we are all aware there are many security threats to our personal information in the modern age and unfortunately many ill-intended people try to access this information through underhanded methods. One of the common methods used are communication mediums such as e-mail or phone. We ask members to please take precaution when reviewing and responding to text messages and e-mails they receive including text messages/e-mails from church representatives. In regards to church emails our vicar (Santhosh Achen), secretary and trustees have specific church e-mail accounts: Vicar: vicar@detroitmarthoma.org or 248-792-1134 (Mobile) Secretary: sec@detroitmarthoma.org Trustees: trustees@detroitmarthoma.org. The Vicar, Secretary, and Trustees have their own personal e-mail which they rarely use to communicate parish related matters. If any member is suspicious or uncomfortable with a text message or email they have received from a church representative we ask that you do not respond and instead contact the church representative by phone or in -person. Also please note the Vicar or office bearers will NEVER ask for any personal information (ex. bank account or credit card number) or request for purchases to be made on their behalf via text message or email. We have recently been made aware of a scam e-mail that was sent out using the name of a church representative and therefore we are recommending appropriate precautions by parish members. If you have any further questions please contact the church office bearers.

Live Streaming of Church Events

Live streaming will be available on the church YouTube channel – https://youtube.com/@DetroitMarthomaChurch.  After clicking the link, click on “Live” and find the livestream for the respective church event.

We will do our very best to live stream all church events, however as this is dependent on trained volunteers, there may be technical interruptions and occasions where live streaming is not available. We appreciate your patience and understanding.

Zeffy – Online Payment Option

• Zeffy is a user-friendly platform for not-for-profit organizations that allows for one-time and reoccurring monthly contributions with a no transaction fee option. Contributions can be made with credit card, bank account, Apple or Google pay. We strongly encourage all members to utilize Zeffy for electronic payments. Our Trustees want to thank all the members who have utilized this method as this streamlines the financial activities of the parish.
  • Zeffy is available through the DMTC Mobile App or church website (link below):https://detroitmarthoma.org/main/resources-2/online-donation/
  • With this online payment option, PayPal will no longer be available as an online payment option. If any member has questions or would like additional assistance with Zeffy please contact our Trustee or Accountant, Mr. Thomas Abraham or Mr. Alan Thomas, at any time

Church Zoom Information

Zoom Meeting ID: 811 6679 1004       Password: 926644

• Zoom on computer
  • https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81166791004?pwd=NU40ZGZmL2hSa29BSEhKMGZ4MTRqQT09

• From the Web Browser
  • https://us02web.zoom.us/wc/join/81166791004?pwd=NU40ZGZmL2hSa29BSEhKMGZ4MTRqQT09

• Dial-in
  • (US) +1 312 626 6799 and then enter the access code 811 6679 1004# and then# again and then the passcode 926644#
  • (Canada) +1 647 558 0588 and then enter the access code 811 6679 1004# and then# again and then the passcode 926644#

Admin Update

If you are currently not receiving emails from the church or would like to update your email address, please notify us by sending it to sec@detroitmarthoma.org. Send your name and address in the email so that we can identify you properly. Please visit the church website