The Jacobite Syrian Christian Church, dates back to the very dawn of Christianity, was founded by the apostle St. Thomas who came to India in A.D. 52. It is an integral part of the Universal Syriac Orthodox Church under the ecclesiastical authority of the Patriarch of Antioch and all the East, His Holiness Moran Mor Ignatius Aphrem II. The regional head of the Church in India is the Catholicose, His Beatitude Aboon Mor Baselios Thomas I Ankamaly Diocese, the largest diocese of the Church, was divided into three regions during 1990's, namely, High Range, Kothamangalam and Ankamaly. The Bishop's House, Koinonia was founded as the office of the Ankamaly Region. Later, when the diocese was again divided into four by instituting the new region of Perumbavoor, Koinonia has become the office of the new region. Even though the diocese started functioning of another region called Muvattupuzha in 2014 by comprising some churches from Perumbavoor and Kothamangalam regions, Koinonia still functions as the office of the Perumbavoor Region as well as the abode of her present bishop, His Grace Mor Aphrem Mathews.
