Rev. Fr. Bijoy Sakhariah

Our Previous Vicar

Rev. Fr. Bijoy Sakhariah was born and raised in Hyderabad, India. His family are members of St. Gregorios Orthodox Cathedral, Gandhinagar. He completed his Bachelor of Commerce from Osmania University, Hyderabad; Bachelor of Divinity and graduate of sacred studies from St. Thomas Orthodox Theological Seminary, Nagpur and was ordained as a priest on June 30th, 2012 by His Grace Dr. Abraham Mar Seraphim.

Rev. Fr. Bijoy Sakhariah initially served as the Director of Andhra Mission, Eluru and vicar of St. George Orthodox Church, Vijayawada, Andhra Pradesh. He served as the Aramana manager of the Bangalore Diocese from 2014-2016. For the next two years, he served as the vicar of St. Gregorios Orthodox Church, Tumkur, Karnataka.

In 2016, he completed an M.Sc. in Counseling & Psychology and moved to the U.S. in 2017 to pursue an M.A. in Theology from the University of St. Thomas, Houston. Rev. Fr. Bijoy Sakhariah currently serves as the Aramana manager of the Diocese of South-West America and also the vicar of St. Mary's Orthodox Church, San Antonio, Texas. He completed M.A. in Theology and is currently pursuing Doctor of Ministry.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian C. Puthiyottil

Our Resident Priest

Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian Puthiyottil was born in Chengaroor, Pathanamthitta Dist, Kerala, India. He graduated in 1967 from Orthodox Theological Seminary Kottayam. From 1980 to 1981, he did special studies in Germany, Britain, and in the United States in the areas of pastoral counseling, writings of Syrian fathers in their original languages, patristic, and liturgy. He was awarded a D.Min degree in 1988. Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian Puthiyottil is one of the few international scholars in the Aramaic language.

He was an active and important member of the Orthodox church in India. From 1970 to 1980, he served as assistant to the bishop of the Malankara Orthodox church in Kottayam, India and he was the general secretary and director of the Christian Student Movement of India from 1971 to 1980, chaplain of the Kottayam Medical College, staff of the Orthodox Theological College, and vicar and administrator of the Thazhathangadi Church. In 1981 he became the vicar and pastoral Counselor of the St. Gregorios Orthodox church in London, England.

In 1982 Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian Puthiyottil joined the staff of Central Lutheran Church, Minneapolis, Minnesota. His primary responsibility was social ministry and neighborhood development. Further, he authored in 1991 a book, Welcoming Strangers to a New Land: A Model for Successful Refugee Sponsorship, and in 2001 he authored the book, Our Neighbors: An Introduction to Cultural Diversity and World Religions. On January 6, 2000, Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian Puthiyottil was installed as pastor-director of the Multicultural Mission Center, an AGORA (marketplace) ministry of the Minneapolis Area Synod, intended to strengthen the ministries of existing white and ethnic congregations.

Rev. Fr. Dr. Cherian Puthiyottil was an integral part of the ecumenical Kerala Christian community, and served the spiritual needs of the Kerala Syrian Orthodox families in Minnesota for the last 2 decades.