New Bishop of Liverpool
Downing Street has announced that the Ninth Bishop of Liverpool is to be the Right Reverend Doctor John Perumbalath. Bishop John is currently in the the Diocese of Chelmsford, where he has served as Bishop of Bradwell since 2018. He follows Bishop Paul Bayes who retired in February 2022. He will be the 8th successor to the late JC Ryle.
Bishop John comes from the ancient Christian community in Kerala, South India and was ordained into the Church of North India in 1994. He moved to the UK in 2001 taking up positions in the Diocese of Rochester. Bishop John then served as Archdeacon of Barking before becoming the Bishop of Bradwell in 2018.
Amongst other roles, Bishop John is the Chair of Churches Refugee Network of Churches Together in Britain and Ireland. He is the Church of England’s Lead Bishop on Churches Together in Britain and Ireland relations and a trustee of CTBI. He chairs Christians Aware, an educational charity and serves on the Anglican Communion-wide Advisory Group of USPG, an Anglican mission society. The Bishop lectures widely on faith and social engagement and in Biblical theology.
Bishop John demonstrates the influence of the evangelical, Anglo-Catholic and Oriental Orthodox traditions that shaped his theology and contributed to his formation and follows a Benedictine framework of spirituality. He has served in catholic and evangelical parishes and has been known as a unifying leader in situations of conflict.
Bishop John is married, with one adult daughter. He is a keen walker and enjoys reading poetry and novels from various parts of the world.
