## **ST. IGNATIUS ELIAS JACOBITE SYRIAN ORTHODOX CHURCH, CAMBRIDGE** (Under the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch & All the East) ## **Worship at Christ the Redeemer Church, Newmarket Road, Cambridge,** **CB5 8RS** **Trustees Report and Accounts for the year – 27** _th_ **April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024** ## **St. Ignatius Elias Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Cambridge** . **(Under the Holy Apostolic See of Antioch & All the East)** ## **Administrative Information** ## **BOARD OF TRUSTEES** Rev. Fr. Jebin Ipe Mr. Biju Baby Mr. Shebu Varghese Kuriakose Mr. Varghese George Mr. Wilson Mathai Mrs. Nisha Varghese Mrs. Sheeja Sabu Mrs. Aby Baby ## **VICAR & PRESIDENT** Rev. Fr. Jebin Ipe ## **SECRETARY** Mr. Biju Baby ## **TREASURER** Mr. Shebu V Kuriakose ## **AUDITOR** Mr. Jacob Eapen ## **COMMUNICATION ADDRESS** St Ignatius EJ Syrian Orthodox Church Cambridge 5 Parr Close Northstowe Cambridge CB24 1DB **EMAIL** ## jsoccambridge10@gmail.com ## **CHARITY NUMBER** ## **1202872** ## **OUR BANK** HSBC BANK 63-64 St Andrew’s Street Cambridge CB2 3BZ ## **WORSHIP PLACE** Christ The Redeemer Church New Market Road Cambridge CB5 8RS The Trustees present their report and accounts for the period of 27[th] April 2023 to 31[st] March 2024. Let us thank God Almighty for guiding us through the last year and glorify his name. On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I, the Secretary, present the Annual Report of our parish for the year 2023-24. ## **Introduction** ## **Structure, objectives** This Church is a part of the Universal Syrian Orthodox Church and a Diaspora community of the Malankara Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, India. The supreme head of this Church is His Holiness Moran Mar Ignatius Ephrem II, The Patriarch of Antioch and all the East and his Successors. His Beatitude Abon Mor Baselios, Catholicos of the East is the second highest hierarchical position of the Church. He is the Head of the Church in India. The Patriarch appointed a Metropolitan (called Patriarchal Vicar) from Malankara Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, His Grace Dr. Issac Mor Osthatheos who is the bishop in charge of the Parish. Church’s objective is to maintain the faith, traditions and doctrines of the Jacobite Syrian Christian Church and to perform all the religious rites and sacraments to all its members in accordance with the ancient Syriac Orthodox traditions and to help the poor and the needy. ## **Governance and Management** This Church is a registered charity and therefore governed as per its governing laws. The Charity is run by the Board of Trustees who are elected by the Church General Meeting. The Trustees manage the administrative as well as the financial affairs of the Church. The Trustees meet regularly to take decisions and monitor the activities. ## **The Parish and membership** During the report year, with the help of members, the Board of Trustees and the Vicar are to keep our Parish register up to date. As per the current parish register, our total membership is 40 families. ## **The Vicar** Rev Fr. Jebin Ipe is our Vicar. The Vicar’s spiritual leadership has had great influence on our families. The vicar’s capable leadership has helped tremendously in the running of spiritual organizations like Sunday school, women's association, and student’s movement in the Church. ## **General Body Meetings** The annual general body meeting (AGM) was held on 20[th] April 2024 to present and approve the annual report and accounts for the year 2023 - 2024. The general body approved the accounts with the audit report. ## **Report year Board of Trustees (Managing Committee)** |1.|Rev. Fr. Jebin Ipe|Vicar & President|Appointed| |---|---|---|---| |2.|Mr. Biju Baby|Secretary|Elected| |3.|Mr. Shebu V Kuriakose|Treasurer|Elected| |4.|Mr. Varghese George|Committee member|Elected| |5.|Mr. Wilson Mathai|Diocesan councilor|Elected| |6.|Mrs. Aby Baby|Committee member|Elected| |7.|Mrs. Nisha Varghese|Committee member|Elected| |8.|Mrs. Sheeja Sabu|Committee member|Elected| Mr. Jacob Eapen is the auditor for the report year. ## **Activities** Our Holy Services are on the First and Third Saturday morning of every month. After the period of COVID 19 restrictions we are now able to conduct the Holy Mass service face to face, we would like to thank all the Priests who conducted Holy Mass over the past years in our Church, all altar boys who helped in Church services and the choir members. We would like to express our sincere thanks to the Trustees of the Christ the Redeemer Methodist Church, Cambridge for providing Church premises for all our services. ## **Parish Day & Annual Feast (St. Ignatius Day)** Annual day of the Church celebrations were held on 2[nd] and 3rd February 2024. Services were led by Rev. Fr. Akhil Joy On Friday 2[nd] Feb 2024, Parish Day proceedings started with flag hosting, evening prayer followed by Gospel preaching, Sunday School pupils Culture program and Benediction. On Saturday 3[rd] Feb 2024, on the main feast day, proceedings started with morning prayer followed by special Holy Mass. The Chief celebrant was Rev Fr Akhil Joy and co celebrant was Vicar Rev. Fr. Jebin Ipe. Holy Mass was followed by a sermon by the Vicar which was a blessing to everyone who attended. There was Procession afterwards in the traditional way and cultural activities followed. Prizes were distributed for Sunday school children who won in the cultural competition which was held in the summer. Nercha (Ritual Food) and a traditional Kerala meal was given to all who attended the feast. ## **Great Lent and Passion Week** Our parish observed Great Lent was held face to face from 23[rd] March till 30[th] March 2024. The Services were led by Rev. Fr Abin Markose. ## **Church Kalolsavam (Art Festival)** We conducted our church Kalolsavam on Saturday 17[th] Feb 2024. The event included various competitions for children which were eagerly participated in by our Sunday school students. We would like to thank Sunday school teachers and parents for preparing kids for the event. First and second prize winners got qualified to represent our Church in the Central Zone Kalolsavam. ## Harvest and Food Festival Harvest and food festival was celebrated in our parish on Saturday,15[th] Oct 2023 at Christ the Redeemer Church. The day started with morning prayer followed by Holy Mass and then we auctioned the products brought by our church members and then everyone had the opportunity to taste the home delicacies cooked by Women’s association members which was the main highlight of the event. Thanks to our women’s association members for yet another successful celebration of harvest festival. ## **BBQ & Culture Programs** We conducted a BBQ Party for all parish members followed by morning prayer and Holy Mass. Everyone attended the party and cultural program and enjoyed it. ## **Onam Celebration (Traditional Kerala festival)** On September 3[rd] Saturday, after the morning prayer and Holy Mass we all had delicious Kerala traditional lunch. All the parish members attended, and it was an opportunity for the parish members to meet and greet each other. ## Carol Competition Our church choir team participated in Carol songs competition conducted by MSOC in December 2023. Christmas Carol & Special service To commemorate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ we were able to conduct home carols for our church members. It was held on 2[nd] Dec and 16[th] Dec 2023 followed by morning prayer and Holy Mass. Thanks to all members who participated in carols. ## House Blessing House Blessing During the report year, several of our members have acquired new homes and the Vicar conducted house blessing services at the new homes. ## Spiritual Organizations Sunday School “ _Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”_ - Matthew 7:24. Our Sunday school classes are conducted online. To educate our children spiritually and morally, in accordance with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the faith and traditions of the Syrian Orthodox Church and to develop our children the habit of attending church regularly, studying the Scriptures, and participating conscientiously in the worship and sacramental life of our Church. Sunday school annual exam was held face to face, which helped children to showcase the knowledge gained over the year. Our children are very talented, in addition to the Bible studies We gave importance to teaching extracurricular activities for youth development. The hard work of the head teacher and all other teachers is greatly appreciated. Women’s Association (Marth Mariam Vanitha Samajam): With the Motto of “Pray, Act and Illuminate”, the Women’s prayer group of the Church meets once a month online. Their activities are prayer, singing devotional songs, Bible reading, conducting bible quiz, Chain prayer, Bible classes and presentation etc. Parish members often send prayer requests to women’s association. The Women’s association is functioning under the able leadership of Rev Vicar and the secretary. ## Other activities Charity We donated £5500.37 to the family of our community member, late Ms. Tina Susan Thomas for the funeral and other expenses in March 2024. We also donated £250 for medical expenses to a family in Kerala, India in 2023. The Parish Facebook account which is regularly updated with useful information for our church members. Financial activities This year ( 2 7 / 0 4 / 2 0 2 3 t o 3 1 / 0 3 / 2 0 2 4 ) , total income from various incoming resources was £27594.00 and total expenses were £24158.00. By adding up the retained surpluses from the previous years of £14838.00, current total retained surplus for the period is £18274.00. Future Developments With the enormous support from our members, we would like to extend our activities which include that to find a permanent place for Worship. ## Conclusion By the grace of our heavenly Holy Father, our savior Lord Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit, we have com spiration and enlightening guidance for our parish. Let us continue the communion with them. May our Lord lead us in light to accomplish the best for the Church in the days to come. May the Lord Almighty bless our Parish to make all our efforts for the Glory of His Kingdom. ## Thank you On behalf of the Board of Trustees, -Sd- ## **Biju Baby** **(Secretary)** ## **Cambridge** Approval This report was approved by the Annual General Meeting on 20/04/2024. This is a true copy of St. Ignatius Elias Jacobite Syrian Orthodox Church, Cambridge Annual Report. CHARITY tOmMISS￿m S¢19n•￿$ EIL75 &Ko￿leSy1l*) Othdtsx Clvjrth. 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