John Perumbalath

John Perumbalath[1] (born 1966)[2] is a bishop in the Church of England. He has been Bishop of Bradwell in the Diocese of Chelmsford, since 3 July 2018.[3] He had previously been Archdeacon of Barking[4] in the same Diocese from 2013 to 2018.[5] Perumbalath was born and brought up in the ancient Syrian Christian community in Kerala, South India. He moved to north India for higher studies and then teaching. He was ordained in the Church of North India in 1994.

The Right Reverend Doctor John Perumbalath
Bishop of Bradwell
Perumbalath in 2018
Church	Church of England
Diocese	Diocese of Chelmsford
In office	2018–present
Predecessor	John Wraw
Other posts	Proctor in Convocation (2010–2013 & 2015–2018) Chairman, Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC 2015-2018) Archdeacon of Barking (2013–2018)
Orders
Ordination	1994 (deacon) 1995 (priest) by Dinesh Chandra Gorai
Consecration	3 July 2018 by Justin Welby
Personal details
Born	23 May 1966 Kerala, India
Nationality	British
Denomination	Anglican
Residence	Horndon-on-the-Hill
Education	B. A., Bachelor of Divinity B.D. M. A. M. Th., Ph. D.

Education

Perumbalath was educated at Calicut University, Chelari (Kerala), Osmania University, Hyderabad (Telangana) where he obtained his graduate and postgraduate degrees in political science and philosophy.

During his university days, Perumbalath was active in literary and debating areas. He won first prizes in short story, essay and poem writing at Calicut University arts festivals. He represented St Mary's College, Sulthan Bathery at various elocution and speech competitions in Kerala and won many prizes for the college. He also graduated with first rank in the university.

He was a seminarian at the Union Biblical Seminary,[6] Pune (Maharashtra)[7] and later at the North India Institute of Post Graduate Theological Studies, Calcutta/Serampore (West Bengal) where he pursued specialized postgraduate research in New Testament. He also pursued doctoral studies in hermeneutics at Kings College London and North-West University.[8]

Career

Perumbalath worked as a staff worker of the Union of Evangelical Students of India (Inter Varsity Christian Fellowship) for two years in his home state Kerala before doing his post-graduate research in theology at the North India Institute of Post Graduate Theological Studies, Calcutta / Serampore specializing in New Testament. Then he joined the faculty of Serampore College as Lecturer in New Testament. He was ordained deacon in 1994 and priest in 1995 in the diocese of Calcutta (Church of North India). After a short curacy at St John's Church, Calcutta, in 1995 he was appointed Vicar of St.James' Church, Kolkata. After moving to the UK in 2001, he served at Beckenham St George's as Associate Rector, at Rosherville St Mark's as Priest-in-Charge/Team Vicar and at Northfleet All Saints (all in the Diocese of Rochester) as Vicar before his appointment[9] as Archdeacon of Barking, a newly created post.[10] He was the chair of North Kent Council for Inter-faith Relations from 2008 to 2013. From 2008 to 2013, he was also the Diocese of Rochester's Urban Adviser and Link Officer for the Church Urban Fund. He was collated as Archdeacon of Barking on 15 September 2013 with the oversight of the Anglican churches in the London Boroughs of Barking & Dagenham and Havering. He was consecrated as bishop by Archbishop Justin Welby on 3 July 2018 at St Paul's Cathedral and was installed at Chelmsford Cathedral on 22 July. As Bishop of Bradwell he has oversight of 175 churches in an area covering mid and south Essex consisting of six boroughs/District Councils (Brentwood, Basildon, Rochford, Castle Point, Chelmsford, and Maldon) and two unitary authorities (Thurrock and Southend).

Perumbalath was a Proctor in Convocation (member of the House of Clergy) of the General Synod of the Church of England: for the Diocese of Rochester, elected in 2010 and serving until his move to Barking in 2013;[11] and for the Diocese of Chelmsford from the 2015 election[12] until his consecration. He was a trustee of USPG, an international charity of the Church of England, from 2009 to 2014. He was the chair of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and sat on the Appointment Committee of the Church of England. He was also a member of the Mission and Public Affairs Council of the Church of England. Perumbalath also chaired the London Churches Refugee Network, the ecumenical body that brings together various Christian responses supporting refugees and their rights. He also served on the Methodist Anglican Panel for Mission and Unity (MAPUM) and London Faith Sector Panel. Currently he is one of the lead bishops of the Church of England on migration and refugee issues and serves as the Chair of Churches Refugee Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. He is also a trustee of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland (CTBI) and Church of England's lead bishop on CTBI relations. He chairs the educational charity, Christians Aware. Perumbalath holds the interfaith, ecumenical and lay ministry portfolios in his diocese. He lectures widely on Faith and social engagement and in Biblical theology.

Theological position

Perumbalath is broadly within the open Catholic tradition with an evangelical passion. He follows a Benedictine framework of spirituality and supports the ministry of women in the church at all levels. He acknowledges the influence of the evangelical, Anglo-Catholic and Oriental Orthodox traditions in shaping his theology. He trained for ordination at the Union Biblical Seminary in Pune () which is the leading evangelical theological college in India. He has served in open Catholic, open evangelical and conservative Catholic parishes and has been known as a unifying leader in situations of conflict. Theologically he belongs to the Post-Critical tradition and is influenced by George Lindbeck, Walter Brueggemann and Richard B. Hays.

Styles and titles

• The Reverend John Perumbalath (1994–2007)
• The Reverend Doctor John Perumbalath (2007–2013)
• The Venerable Doctor John Perumbalath (2013–2018)
• The Right Reverend Doctor John Perumbalath (2018–present)

Personal life

Perumbalath is married to Jessy, a mathematics teacher. They have one daughter, Anugraha, a medical doctor.

References

1. "First Indian to Hold a Senior Post in Church of England |". www.britishsouthindians.co.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
2. "John Perumbalath". Crockford's Clerical Directory (online ed.). Church House Publishing. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
3. Diocese of Chelmsford web-site
4. Diocese of Chelmsford web-site Archived 2015-06-01 at the Wayback Machine
5. Alwakeel, Ramzy. "Rev Dr John Perumbalath appointed first Archdeacon of Barking, covering Havering and Barking and Dagenham". Romford Recorder. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
6. Daily Pioneer, Indian-origin archdeacon appointed Bishop of Bradwell in UK, Sunday, 11 March 2018 | PTI | London
7. ‘PERUMBALATH, John’, Who's Who 2014, A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2014; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2014 ; online edn, Nov 2014 accessed 30 May 2015
8. John Perumbalath, Confident and imaginative : scripture & hermeneutic in the Johannine passion narrative and today, NWU, 2007.
9. "Sermon for the Collation of Robin King, Mina Smallman and John Perumbalath as Archdeacons | Bishop Stephen". www.stephencottrell.org. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
10. "Three new Archdeacons appointed - St John's Church". www.stjohnsparishchurch.org. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
11. Peter Owen — General Synod List of Members 2010–2015 (Accessed 15 August 2016)
12. Peter Owen — General Synod List of Members — current (Accessed 15 August 2016)