Navamani Elia Peter

Deaconess^[2]
Navamani-Elia Peter, MCI
D.D. *Honoris causa* (Serampore) (2000)^[7]
Deaconess Navamani-Elia Peter, MCI D.D. Honoris causa (Serampore) (2000)
Born	Govada Navamani Kamalaratnam; 6 April 1933 (age 91); Machilipatnam, Northern Circars (Madras Presidency)
Nationality	Indian
Education	BSc (Andhra); BEd (Andhra); B. D. (Serampore);
Alma mater	Lady Amphtill Government School, Machilipatnam; Hindu College, Machilipatnam; St. Joseph's College of Education for Women, Guntur; United Theological College, Bangalore;
Years active	1980–Present
Known for	Espousing women's leadership and mentoring youth
Religion	Christianity
Church	Methodist Church in India (MCI)
Ordained	12 January 1986
Writings	1989, Bible study: Practical exhortation: Hebrews 3:7–15; 1996, A Christian View of the Family; 1998, Biblical Paradigms for Women's Ministry in Asia; 1999, Woman! Reclaim your image!;
Congregations served	MCI-Indiranagar Methodist Church, Bangalore
Title	Deaconess

Navamani Elia Peter (born 6 April 1933)^[6] is a Deaconess, espousing women's leadership in the Church, focusing on Ordination of women in Christianity. She was in the forefront of the movement for gender equality since the eighties. Navamani held key positions of leadership globally.^[9] She was at the helm of leadership in multifaced Church-based organisations, notably the National Council of Churches in India,^[2] World Methodist Council,^[6] World Day of Prayer International Committee^[10] and Christian Conference of Asia.^[6]

In 2007 she was elected as President of The India Bible Society Trust Association, a first woman to be hold the position since the inception of the trust in 1811. She held the position in Bangalore from 2007^[11] through 2013. Navamani has been member of the Association of Theologically Trained Women of India and held the elected post of President for two bienniums.^[12]

Since 2020,^[13] she spends her time writing motivational articles for the young generation^[14] to lead meaningful and better lives through The Upper Room.^[15]

Early life and education

Navamani was born in the port town of Machilipatnam in Northern Circars (Madras Presidency) in Colonial India.^[6] She did her schooling from Lady Ampthill Government School, Machilipatnam. For Undergraduate education, she studied at The Hindu College, taking a BSc degree, also in Machilipatnam. She also did her specialization in education from JMJ-St. Joseph's College of Education for Women in Guntur leading to BEd.^[6]

During the 1980s, she enrolled at United Theological College, Bangalore for spiritual studies leading to B.D..^[8] It was here that she was exposed to learned faculty comprising^[8] Joshua Russell Chandran, CSI, E. C. John, CSI, G. D. Melanchthon, AELC, Theodore N. Swanson, ELCA. The Cultural diversity at the campus enriched her learning experience. The presence of Carmelite Church Fathers among the college faculty, also provided her with an ecumenical exposure.^[16] After completion of her studies, The Senate of Serampore College (University), led by Registrar D. S. Satyaranjan, IPC,^[8] awarded her a B. D. degree.

Career

Navamani began her career as a Teacher in MCI–Stanley Girls High School, Hyderabad, beginning in the 1950s. Since the 1980s, her leadership in the Church made her take up greater assignments both nationally and globally.

Navamani participated in a number of local^[17] and international institutional leadership and management meetings, notably the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians sponsored national consultation on women's perspectives held in India in 1984,^[18] the World Council of Churches Assembly held in Australia in 1991^[19] and the World Methodist Conference held in Brazil in 1996.^[20] She was also at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) at its forty-ninth session held in Switzerland in 1997.^[21]

Offices held

During the course of participation in international institutional meetings, Navamani had been elected to the leadership of many global organisations worldwide.

President/Chairperson
- All India Women's Society of Christian Service (1980–1984)^[6]
- All India Council of Christian Women^[2] (1982–1986)
- World Family Life Committee of World Methodist Council (1986–1991)^[6]
- Association of Theologically Trained Women of India (1990–1997)^[12]
- World Day of Prayer International Committee (1990–1999)^[22]^[10]
- The India Bible Society Trust Association^[9] (2007–2013)
Vice-president
- World Federation of Methodist Women (1986–1991)^[23]
- Asian Church Women's Conference (1990–1994)^[6]
Executive ccommittee member
- Evangelism Committee of Christian Conference of Asia (1982–1986)^[6]
- The Fellowship of the Least Coin (1990–1999)^[6]

Writings

The writings of Navamani have been acknowledged by both Theologians and other Scholars. Paul Arasu Selvanathan as a 2017 doctoral student at the Comillas Pontifical University in Spain defines an Indian Family^[24] on the basis of Navamani's^[4] article. Pushpa Samuel of Fuller Theological Seminary, United States espouses for ordination of women in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church through a 2020 article, citing the work of Navamani.^[25] Praisy David, a 2020 student of Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar^[14] takes a cue from Navamani on espousing Gender equality, she quotes,

As Navamani E. Peter, in the introduction of the book Jesus Talks to Women writes that,^[14] Jesus saw women as intelligent, thinking humans, equal with men. His attitude with women was remarkable in a day when men thought women were a lower grade than themselves.

In theological matters, Sirirat Pusurinkham of the Presbyterian Church of Thailand was critical of Navamani's observation of a love story in the episode of Levite's concubine.^[26] Navamani's writings appeared in the public domain since the 1980s. She continues to write articles through The Upper Room.

E. Peter, Navamani (October 1989). "Bible study: Practical exhortation: Hebrews 3:7–15". Asian Journal of Theology. 3 (2): 576–581.
E. Peter, Navamani (September 1996). "A Christian View of the Family" (PDF). National Council of Churches Review: 258–ff.
E. Peter, Navamani (June 1998). "Biblical Paradigms for Women's Ministry in Asia". Theology of Our Times (5): 99–101.
E. Peter, Navamani (1999). "Woman! Reclaim your image!". In Kumari, Prasanna (ed.). Women in Church and Society: Essays in Honour of Florence Robinson. GLTC, Chennai. pp. 155–'ff.'.

Honours

In 2000, in recognition of women's leadership, the nation's first^[27] University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) conferred upon Navamani an honorary Doctor of Divinity.^[7]

Honorary titles
Preceded by K. J. Samuel 2000–2006^[11]	President, Bible Society of India 2007–2013	Succeeded by P. N. S. Chandra Bose 2014^[28]–2019
Preceded by Padmasani Gallup 1987–1990^[12]	President, Association of Theologically Trained Women of India 1990–1997	Succeeded by Jessie Nesakumar 1997–2002

References

^ Norma Daly Obituary, 2010
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Navamani Peter Ordained, National Council of Churches Review, Volume 106, 1986, p.404.[1]
^ Asian Journal of Theology, 1989, pp.576–581
^ ^a ^b [2] National Council of Churches Review, 1996
^ Theology for our times, Number 5, June 1998
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k Prasanna Kumar (Edited), Women in Church and Society, Department of Women Studies, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, 1999.[3] [4] [5]
^ ^a ^b List of the Recipients of the Degree of Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa)[6]
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1997. Past students of the college diploma course.
^ ^a ^b BSI Executive Committee Members visit Mizoram, Government of Mizoram press release, 4 November 2011.[7]
^ ^a ^b Whoʼs who in International Organizations: A Biographical Encyclopedia of More Than 12,000 Leading Personalities, K.G. Saur, Germany, 1992, p.141.[8]
^ ^a ^b G. D. V. Prasad, Chiranjivi J. Nirmal, Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, The Bible Society of India 1811–2011, Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 2000, (revised edition 2011), p.115. [9]^{[dead link‍]}
^ ^a ^b ^c ATTWI Handbook
^ Elia Peter, Navamani (19 January 2023). "Meet Our Writers – Navamani Peter (Karnataka, India)" (video). youtube.com. The Upper Room.
^ ^a ^b ^c Praisy David, The Battle of Being a Christian Feminist: Reclaiming the Original Design, Campus Link, Volume 24, Number 4, July–August 2022.[10]
^ More From Navamani Peter, The Upper Room, December 15, 2022
^ Shared Search – Souvenir of the inauguration of the academic collaboration between the United Theological College, Bangalore and the Dharmaram College, Bangalore, 1975, Bangalore, available at the Archives in the library of Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore.[11]
^ Subject file of Roger Hedlund.[12]
^ Aruna Gnanadason, Theology of Humanhood: Women's Perspectives : Report of a national consultation, ISPCK, New Delhi, 1986, p.155.[Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians]
^ Signs of the Spirit – Official Report, Seventh Assembly, Canberra, Australia, 7–20 February 1991, World Council of Churches Assembly, 1991, p.313.[13]
^ World Methodist Conference, 1996
^ United Nations Commission on Human Rights (Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities), 1997, p.22.[14]
^ Yearbook of international organizations 1998/99, Volume 3, K.G. Saur, München, 1998, p.1530.[15]
^ Linda W. Kiester, Methodist Women elect American, Louisiana United Methodist, Volume 133, Number 9, 8 August 1986, p.3.[16]
^ Paul Arasu Selvanathan, Learn to Live with Others: A Spiritual Reading of the Story of Abraham-Lot (Gen 13: 1–12) in Relation to the Indian Family, Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, 2017, p.72.[17]
^ Pushpa Samuel, "Let Your Yes Be Yes": Progressing Toward Female Ordination in the Mar Thoma Church, Priscilla Papers, Volume 34, Number 1, Winter 2020, pp.20–25.[18]
^ Sirirat Pusurinkham, Oppressed Women in Scripture and in Contemporary Thailand in Meehyun Chung, Breaking Silence: Theology from Asian Women's Perspective, ISPCK/EATWOT, New Delhi, 2006, p.165.[19]
^ UNESCO Structures of University Education in India, 1952
^ The Bible Society of India, Office Bearers.Office Bearers