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Believers Eastern Church adheres to the episcopal governance and structure embodied in Scripture and followed by the Orthodox Fathers. We believe in the priesthood of all believers, yet we also believe that God is a God of order who establishes lines of authority to strengthen the Church in serving Him and humanity.
We believe that each part of God's Church should be autonomous, meaning: self-governing, self-supporting and self-propagating. Believers Eastern Church is led by its own Metropolitan, The Synod, Conference of Bishops and General Assembly. We function according to a well-defined constitution and have a Canon Law for the governance of the church. On every level, we follow the biblical model of multiplicity in leadership, ensuring that no one makes unilateral decisions for the church.
Believers Eastern Church has its administration in conformity with the teachings of St. Ignatius of Antioch (35-108 A.D.) and Cyprian of Carthage (200-258 A.D.) They taught, "As the Lord did nothing without the Father, being united to Him, neither by Himself nor by the apostles, so neither do you anything without the bishop and clergy" (The Epistle of St. Ignatius to the Magnesians, ch. 7).
The central administration of the church is backed by the dioceses. Each diocese consists of a geographical grouping of churches and is led by an episcopa. Each one has its own council and assembly.
The head of Believers Eastern Church is given the title of Metropolitan. He is appointed by and from among the duly consecrated bishops of the church. The Metropolitan is responsible for the overall leadership of the church. However, Believers Eastern Church follows the traditional and Orthodox practice of multiplicity in leadership, which means the Metropolitan leads as the first among equals. The present Metropolitan of Believers Eastern Church is Moran Mor Athanasius Yohan I Metropolitan.
The Holy Episcopal Synod is the chief governing body of Believers Eastern Church. It consists of senior episcopas appointed by the Metropolitan from among the senior and experienced episcopas of the Conference of Bishops to assist him in the governance of Believers Eastern Church worldwide. Ordinarily, The Holy Episcopal Synod meets two to three times each year.
The day-to-day administrative responsibility of the church and its ministry is mostly delegated to the Holy Episcopal Synod Working Committee which is appointed by the Holy Episcopal Synod. This committee meets on a regular basis.
The Conference of Bishops is a council consisting of all episcopas actively serving in an office of the church and provides leadership for all spiritual and temporal matters of the church. The Metropolitan is the President of the Conference of Bishops. Various boards, councils and commissions, both permanent and temporary, are appointed to assist the Conference of Bishops.
EpiscopasThe Synod Secretariat is the coordinating office of Believers Eastern Church situated in the St. Thomas Community, located in Tiruvalla, Kerala, India. It functions as the headquarters of the Church worldwide, both for ministry and general administration. It also houses the Office of the Metropolitan and the administrative offices of all the boards and ministries.
contact our officesThe Secretary General, also referred to as the Sabha Secretary, is an episcopa or senior clergy member appointed by the Metropolitan in consultation with The Synod. He is the administrative leader of Believers Eastern Church at the Synod Secretariat. His primary role is to coordinate, communicate and execute all the decisions of the Metropolitan and The Synod, as well as any related ecclesiastical matters as may be entrusted to him from time to time by the Metropolitan.
An Archdiocese is an ecclesiastical region comprising multiple dioceses over which a senior Episcopa is appointed to provide ecclesiastical and administrative leadership.
The spiritual oversight, administration and ministries of the church are organized by dioceses, which consist of multiple parishes in a specific geographic location. An Episcopa gives spiritual and temporal oversight to a diocese. The Vicar General, the Diocesan Executive Council and the Diocesan Council serve by assisting the Episcopa with the administration and functions of a diocese.
Larger Dioceses are divided into a number of smaller divisions called Mission Provinces which are led by Provincial Vicars.
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