John Perumbalath

John Perumbalath (born 1966) is a bishop in the Church of England who has served as Bishop of Liverpool since 2023. He had previously served as area Bishop of Bradwell (2018–2023) and Archdeacon of Barking (2013–2018), both in the Diocese of Chelmsford.

Early life and education
Perumbalath was born in Mananthavady in the south Indian state of Kerala and obtained his first university degree from Calicut University, studying at St Mary's College, Sulthan Bathery. He was a seminarian at the Union Biblical Seminary, Pune (Maharashtra) 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 King's College London and North-West University.

Career
Perumbalath worked among university students as a staff worker of the Evangelical Union for two years in his home state Kerala before training for ordination. He did 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 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. During this time he also served as the Chair of Church of England's Committee for Minority Ethnic Anglican Concerns(CMEC), Chair of London Churches Refugee Network and as a member of Mission and Public Affairs Council of the Church of England.

Episcopal ministry
On 9 March 2018, Perumbalath was announced as the next Bishop of Bradwell, a suffragan bishop in the Diocese of Chelmsford. 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.

On 18 October 2022, Perumbalath was announced as the next as Bishop of Liverpool. On 25 November 2022, he was elected by the College of Canons of Liverpool Cathedral to become the next Bishop of Liverpool. The confirmation of his election &mdash; by which he legally took up the See of Liverpool &mdash; was the 20 January 2023 at York Minster. He was enthroned in the Liverpool Cathedral on 22 April 2023.

Perumbalath Chairs the Council of the College of Resurrection, Mirfield and serves on the Clergy Discipline Commission of the Church of England. He also chairs the Churches Refugee Network for Britain and Ireland, CTBI. He is the Church of England's Lead Bishop for Porvoo Communion of Churches (group of Lutheran Churches in Europe), and serves on the Communon-Wide Advisory Group of the USPG, an Anglican mission society.

Theological positions
Perumbalath is influenced by Oriental Orthodox, evangelical and Anglo-Catholic traditions, and follows a Benedictine framework for spirituality. He was born in the ancient Syrian Christian community in Kerala and trained for ordination at Union Biblical Seminary, a leading evangelical training college in India.

Perumbalath affirms the ordained ministry of women in the Church. In November 2023, he was one of 44 Church of England bishops who signed an open letter supporting the use of the Prayers of Love and Faith (i.e. blessings for same-sex couples) and called for "Guidance being issued without delay that includes the removal of all restrictions on clergy entering same-sex civil marriages, and on bishops ordaining and licensing such clergy".

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 teacher in Mathematics, and they have one daughter.