St. John the Baptist Church is a Syro Malabar Catholic Parish Situated in the small village of Moonumury in the Thrissur District in Kerala. This parish is functioning under the diocese of Irinjalakuda and presently it includes 1140 families in 27 family units. The saintly life and zeal of the brave martyr, St. John the Baptis, who came with the message of humility, proclaiming the lamp og God, still inspire and enlightens the minds of parishioners.

The History of the parish begins in 1923, the year in which the parish was established. Earlier, the village areas of Moonumury and surrounding villages were included in the parish Perambra. People from these areas had to travel a long distance for going to church at those times when transportation facilities were very limited. And therefore, the parish of Moonumury was the fruit of prayers and cry of our forefathers who wished for getting a parish church nearby. Considering the needs of the people of God, the Bishop of Thrissur, Mar Francis Vazhapilly gave his consent to establish a parish in Moonumury in 1923 with Fr. John Ambooken as the Vicar. 

The local People here depended mainly on agriculture for their livelihood. Agriculture in the hilly region was a constant battle with natural calamities and wildlife. And it is believed that it was the reason for choosing an ascetic St. John the Baptist as the Patron of the church.

1n 1935, a presbytery was built close to the church. In 1942, the church was enlarged and built; in 1969 the façade of the church was raised and built. In 1982, the church was renovated and in the same year parish celebrated its 60’s anniversary. The presbytery was renovated in 1998. In 1999 the parish was allotted the service of an assistant vicar. On 2002 January 26, the altar of the church was renovated and blesses. In 2003, parish celebrated its 80th anniversary. In 2013, the church was demolished and 2014; the foundation stone for the new church was laid. And on 2017 January 22, the blessing of newly built church took place.

A U.P School named after St. Joseph is functioning under the parish in Moonumury. It was established in 1948. In 2008, it was renovated. There also exist two halls under the control of the church. They are the Baptist Hall and the St. Joseph’s Hall in Moonumury. Baptist Hall was built in 2011 and the latter was built in 2014. There is also a cemetery along with the church. In 1982, a chapel was built in the cemetery. The cell model cemetery was built in 1991.

There are six chapels established in the parish with St. Sebastian, St. Antony, Blessed Virgin Mary, St. George, St. Joseph and St. John the Baptist as the Patrons in Kodaly, Chungal (1944) , Ombathungal (2000), Chembuchira (2005) and the rest two in Moonumury (1986 & 2016) respectively. The Chapels in Kodaly, Chungal and Ombathungal were renovated in 1986, 2005, and 2017 respectively. St. Joseph’s chapel in Moonumury was also renovated in 2017. There is also a ‘kurishupalli’ in Mankuttipadam named after Blessed Virgin Mary functioning under the parish.