St. Thomas Orthodox Church was the first Malankara Orthodox Church to be founded in Chicago. In 1971 Rev. Fr. Kurian Thottupuram began celebrating the liturgy at the Convent Chapel of St. Mary of the Lake on Sheridan Avenue. In 1972 the location was changed to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church on Belmont Avenue. In 1973, H. G. Mathews Mar Athanasius, Metropolitan of the Outside Kerala Diocese (later the Malankara Metropolitan and the Catholicose of the East) granted recognition to the parish as the St. Thomas Church of India, Chicago, and it was registered with the State of Illinois in 1976.
