On Thursday, April 25th, the Rt. Rev. Canon Dr. Anderson Jeremiah was consecrated as the new Bishop of Edmonton at Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, UK. Raised in Tamil Nadu, India, Bishop Jeremiah is the first Dalit person to be appointed Bishop in the Church of England. Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) Interim President the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas preached at the consecration, honoring Bishop Jeremiah’s historic appointment.
Bishop Anderson Jeremiah is known for playing a crucial role as an educator and advocate for racial justice within the Church of England , including having served as the first Bishop’s Advisor for Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic Affairs in the Diocese of Blackburn. Bishop Jeremiah has also worked closely with EDS: he taught a course titled “Anglican Missions and Social Justice” for EDS at Union and was a featured panelist for EDS’ recent seminar “James Cone in a Global Context.”
“I was humbled by the invitation to preach for the consecration of Bishop Jeremiah,” shared EDS Interim President the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas. “I have long respected his work as a theologian and priest. He has consistently lifted up the voices of the outcast and marginalized, holding the church accountable to the gospel message of love and justice. In so many respects, Bishop Jeremiah's very ministry provided the text for the sermon. The Church of England as well as the wider Anglican community will be enriched by his episcopacy. I look forward to our growing work together."
“The consecration of Rt. Revd. Dr. Anderson Jeremiah was a momentous event in the life of the Church of England and the wider Anglican Communion,” shared the Revd Shemil Mathew, Vice Dean of Emmanuel Theological College. “Bishop Anderson, a distinguished theologian with a liberation focus, is the first Dalit (outcaste) Christian to be consecrated in the Church of England. This significant ceremony was further enriched by a powerful sermon delivered by the Rev. Dr. Kelly Brown Douglas, which underscored the inherent sanctity of all individuals as children of God. Dr. Douglas urged a relinquishment of notions of superiority, advocating instead for an embrace of collective imperative to propagate the story of divine justice inherent within the gospel. Dr. Douglas urged that such an approach needs to be oriented towards those relegated to the margins of society and driven by the eschatological future where God’s justice is realized in all its fullness.”
The Rt. Rev. Rose Hudson-Wilkin, Bishop of Dover, also reflected on the significance of Bishop Jeremiah’s consecration. “How thrilled I was to witness Anderson Jeremiah’s consecration,” she shared. “His consecration tells the story of a church that has started a journey that it cannot go back on. Professor Kelly’s sermon was the icing on the cake! A sermon directing us to move to be a people eschatologically driven to the place of love.”
The full livestream of Bishop Jeremiah’s consecration can be viewed here. In June, EDS will release a podcast conversation between President Douglas and Bishop Jeremiah as part of its mini-series: Leading Voices: EDS at General Convention. Bishop Jeremiah’s episode will be the season finale, airing at the end of June 2024.
EDS extends a warm congratulations to Bishop Jeremiah and looks forward to continuing to foster strong relationships with the Church of England and broader Communion.
