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Navamani Elia Peter (born 6 April 1933)[8] 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,[1] World Methodist Council,[8] World Day of Prayer International Committee[10] and Christian Conference of Asia.[8]
Navamani-Elia Peter, MCI | |
|---|---|
| Born | Govada Navamani Kamalaratnam 6 April 1933 |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Education | |
| Alma mater |
|
| Years active | 1980–Present |
| Known for | Espousing women's leadership and mentoring youth |
| Religion | Christianity |
| Church | Methodist Church in India (MCI)[4] |
| Ordained | 12 January 1986[1] |
| Writings | |
Congregations served | MCI-Indiranagar Methodist Church, Bangalore[1] |
| Title | Deaconess[1] |
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]
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Navamani was born in the port town of Machilipatnam in Northern Circars (Madras Presidency) in Colonial India.[8] 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.[8]
During the 1980s, she enrolled at United Theological College, Bangalore for spiritual studies leading to B.D..[3] It was here that she was exposed to learned faculty comprising[3] 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,[3] awarded her a B. D. degree.
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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)[8]
- All India Council of Christian Women[1] (1982–1986)
- World Family Life Committee of World Methodist Council (1986–1991)[8]
- 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)[8]
- Executive ccommittee member
- Evangelism Committee of Christian Conference of Asia (1982–1986)[8]
- The Fellowship of the Least Coin (1990–1999)[8]
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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[6] 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.'.
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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.[2]
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