This lecture by Dr. Jaisy Joseph was recorded on June 6, 2025, at Seven Mile Road Church in Philadelphia, PA, at the conference "Our Story, Our Faith: South Asian American Christian Histories and Futures" (June 6–7, 2025). You can learn more about this conference here: https://ourstoriesourfaith.org/philly25/.

Plenary description: Prominent historian Placid J. Podipara, CMI is often credited with the most succinct description of the identity of Thomas Christians as Christian in religion, Oriental in worship, and Indian in culture. Countering post-independence claims that Christianity was simply a tool of Western colonialism, Podipara emphasized that this ancient Christian community was not a product of Westernization, but rather as old as Christianity itself and as indigenous to the Indian soil as other religions in Kerala. My talk explores this narrative of origins and what it means for those in the diaspora who are rediscovering their ancient roots today.

Jaisy A. Joseph is an Assistant Professor of Ecclesiology and Theology of Ministry at Villanova University. She received her PhD in Systematic Theology from Boston College in 2019. Aside from the academy, she is very involved in the lay ministry of the SyroMalabar Catholic Eparchy of Chicago. Her primary concern is to work with the emerging second generation of this immigrant community, particularly regarding issues of identity, domestic violence, and intergenerational healing.

Photo by Wietse Jongsma on Unsplash