Dionysius IV of Cheppad

The relation between the missionaries who came from England was cordial during the first few years. But soon they began to interfere in the internal affairs of the church. They tried to change the liturgy and practices of the Malankara church to their system. Without permission, they began worshipping using Anglican liturgy in Old Seminary chapel. A letter from the bishop of Calcutta in 1835 suggested

1. to ordain only those who completed their studies from the Seminary and received the certificate from the Principal,
2. to raise a fund to increase the salary of the priests,
3. to submit the accounts of the Church every year to the British Resident for annual auditing and
4. to conduct the church services in vernacular, Malayalam.

The Metropolitan rejected all these suggestions outright.[2] Soon Dionysius convened a meeting of the representatives of the parishes at Mavelikara (16 January 1836) and officially rejected the suggestions of the Anglican Bishop, stating that decisions on such a matter pertaining to faith was within the ambit of the Patriarch of Antioch.[3] It has to be noted that even though the Association rejected those suggestions then, each of them was implemented in the Malankara Church in time. It can be concluded that the reason behind the rejection of the suggestions of the Anglican Bishop was that the Church was ready to accept timely changes only with the consent of an established authority & within a disciplined structure, and not simply based on a demanding letter from a Bishop of a foreign Church.

Soon the C.M.S. missionaries formed the C.M.S. Church. By a government award known as Cochin Award, they were given a few properties of the Malankara Church. The Association at Mavelikara gave official recognition to the Patriarch of Antioch as the spiritual head of the Malankara Church. Hence, it was at this time Malankara Church came to be referred to as Jacobite Church.

Dionysius IV did not support reformation movement initiated by Abraham Malpan and his supporters. Abraham Malpan did not attend the Mavelikara Synod of 1836. When Abraham Malpan used the revised liturgy and brought about changes in practices, that offended and disappointed Dionysius IV, and suspended Malpan from religious duties & refused priesthood to the deacons trained under him.[4] Dionysius remained staunch in his stand of upholding the traditional faith and liturgy of the Church.

Palakunnathu Deacon Mathews, a deacon trained under Abraham Malpan and was his nephew; through Malpan's encouragement and spiritual nurturing but without the permission of the Malankara Church and the Malankara Metropolitan, he went to Antioch. He was consecrated with the episcopal title Mathews Athanasius by Patriarch of Antioch, Ignatius Elias II (1838–47), in 1843.

In 1846, the Patriarch sent a Metropolitan Euyakim Kurilos to Malankara. In 1852 Dionysius IV abdicated due to poor health.[5] At this time it was necessary for the government to find the successor of Dionysius for the purpose of paying the interest to a fixed deposit (Vattipanam) with the government. Mathews Athanasius and Kurilos made claims. The Maharajah of Travancore appointed a committee of four senior government officers (known as Kollam Panchayat), They decided that a foreign bishop could not be regarded as the Malankara Metropolitan. So the Maharajah issued a proclamation in favour of Mathews Athanasius on 30 August 1852. Even though Athanasius lacked the support of the general assembly of the Church (Malankara Palli-Yogam), the fact that he was a native favoured him.