John Perumbalath

Updated on Feb 03, 2024

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Name John Perumbalath

Theological Society Lecture John Perumbalath

John Perumbalath (born 1966) is a senior Church of England priest and has been Archdeacon of Barking in the Diocese of Chelmsford since 2013. 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.

Education

Perumbalath was educated at Calicut University, Osmania University, Serampore Theological College, King's College London and the North-West University. He holds post-graduate degrees in philosophy and theology, and a doctoral degree in hermeneutics.

Career

Perumbalath worked as a staff worker of the Union of Evangelical Students of India for two years in his home state Kaerala before doing his post-graduate research in theology. Then he joined the faculty of Serampore Collega 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, Kolkata, in 1995 he was appointed Vicar of St James's 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 as Archdeacon of Barking, a newly created post. 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.

Perumbalath has been 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; and for the Diocese of Chelmsford since the 2015 election. He was a trustee of USPG), an international charity of the Church of England, from 2009 to 2014. He is the chair of the Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns (CMEAC) and sits on the Appointment Committee of the Church of England. He is also a member of the Mission and Public Affairs Council of the Church of England. Perumbalath currently chairs the London Churches Refugee Network, the ecumenical body that brings together various Christian responses supporting refugees and their rights. He also serves on the Methodist Anglican Panel for Mission and Unity (MAPUM) and London Faith Sector Panel. Perumbalath holds the interfaith, ecumenical and urban 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. 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 ((http://www.ubs.ac.in/)) 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.