Fatima Church hosts ecumenical Easter fellowship

KUALA LUMPUR: It was indeed a historical event for Christians around the Brickfields area when members from four Churches came together for the first Ecumenical Fellowship on Apr 19 held at the Church of Our Lady of Fatima. 

Located in close proximity to each other, the four churches were the Tamil Methodist Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church, St Mary’s Syrian Orthodox Church, and Church of Our Lady of Fatima met for the first time to celebrate the Lord's resurrection. 

Pastor David Diraviam & Pastor Balan Moses (Zion Lutheran Church), Fr Thomas Oomen (St Mary's Syrian Orthodox Church), Pastor Justin Clarence (Tamil Methodist Church), and Fr Clarence Devadass (Church of Our Lady of Fatima) together with members of their congregation joined in this Ecumenical fellowship.

Fr Clarence Devadass, the prime mover of this function, welcomed the participants to the Easter fellowship by recalling the words spoken by the Apostle Simon Peter at the Transfiguration, “It is wonderful for us to be here.” 

He hoped that at this gathering all the participants would experience the same wonderful feeling of sharing faith in Jesus and Easter is a good reason to come together in the spirit of Ecumenism. 

“We believe in Jesus Christ, we celebrate Easter, and we rejoice in the gift of life. We have come together to grow in greater friendship and fellowship, and share the great gift of faith in this Jesus. We should take this opportunity to reach out to meet people from other churches, and mix around and make new friends,” he added. 

The evening began with a session of praise and worship where all participants joined in with one heart and voice to praise God for the gift of Jesus.

Pastor Balan Moses, from the Evangelical Lutheran Church read the Scripture passage.
Then respective Pastors then gave a five-minute overview on their Churches and their mission work. It was truly enlightening to hear what each church was working towards building God’s kingdom.

This was followed by a tea break where participants were encouraged to mingle and get to know friends for the other churches. It was truly a moment of fellowship and friendship. 

One of the participants, Mr. George Thomas said, “I was very impressed with the Ecumenical Easter Fellowship. I hope that we can maintain the momentum, with all the other churches taking turns to host. Our four churches have lots of resources, which could be shared, just like the early 1st Century Christians did.

“We could organise many programmes on a joint basis for the mutual benefit of all Christian people in our area. Coming together in the spirit of Ecumenism is truly a wonderful concept and is powerful witnessing.” he elaborated.

After the sumptuous tea break, Pastor Justin Clarence of the Tamil Methodist Church announced that his church would like to host the next Ecumenical Fellowship in July 2009, in order to continue this wonderful beginning. The assembly welcomed this initiative and expressed the desire to continue this fellowship.

By Francis Magimay