William Powlas Peery

William Powlas Peery (May 21, 1922 - January 20, 2000) was a Pastor of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America/Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church who taught theology at ecumenical institutions, the Andhra Christian Theological College^[1] at its erstwhile location in Rajahmundry and also at the United Theological College, Bangalore^[6] both of which are affiliated to the nation's first University, the Senate of Serampore College (University), Serampore.

Peery was in India from 1945^[7] through 1987^[8] laying the foundation for ecumenical ventures, especially his role at the Andhra Christian Theological College in overseeing the merger of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary in 1967 as well as involving himself in the negotiations on Lutheran dialogue with the Church of South India.^[9] Peery was a member^[10] of the Church of South India-Lutheran Inter-Church Commission. During the third meeting of the Commission called for by the Chairmen, Rajah B. Manikam and Hospet Sumitra that was convened by the Secretary Joshua Russell Chandran on 8 and 9 January 1963^[10] at the United Theological College, Bangalore, Peery presented a comparative analysis of the constitutions of the Lutheran and the Church of South India Societies. After the conclusion of the third Inter-Church Commission, Peery was made Convenor^[10] of a Committee to come up with two drafts relating to the importance of episcopy, one on episcopal basis and the other partly-episcopal and partly non-episcopal.

Peery also took part in Lutheran-Orthodox negotiations^[5] where he came up with two papers on Lutheran perspectives entitled, A Lutheran Understanding of Worship and Liturgy: basic principles and present concerns^[5] and The place of Mary in the Lutheran Church.^[5]

Studies

Graduate studies

The autonomous college in Bengaluru where Peery taught in the later part of his ecclesiastical ministry. {Picture credit: Colette Cook}

Peery studied arts at the Newberry College,^[11] Newberry, South Carolina taking a graduate degree in arts leading to Bachelor of Arts^[11] (B. A.) in 1943.^[11] During his college days at Newberry, Peery seemed to be involved in organising Luther League^[12]

After discerning his avocation towards priesthood, he studied spirituality at the Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary^[11] in Columbia, South Carolina which in 1945^[11] awarded him a graduate degree in divinity, Bachelor of Divinity (B. D.).^[11]

Post-graduate studies

In 1957, Peery took study leave and studied for the postgraduate degree of Master of Arts (M. A.) specialising in Religions at the Vanderbilt University, Nashville where he submitted a thesis entitled The church and its ministry as seen by Lutherans and the Church of South India^[13] under the supervision of Professor J. Robert Nelson.

Doctoral studies

After Peery's stint as an Administrator at the ecumenical Inter-Church Service Agency, he enrolled as a doctoral candidate at the Duke University,^[1] Durham, North Carolina and submitted a dissertation entitled A Christian understanding of south Indian Vaishnavism^[14] enabling the University to award a Doctor of Philosophy degree in 1972.^[15]

Ecclesiastical career

Pastoral and Teaching

From 1945^[16] onwards, Peery was a Missionary^[17] and Member of the Council of India Mission of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. In 1946^[1] he was assigned the role of a Pastor to Tumrukota^[1] in Rentachintala Mandal of Guntur District where he served up to 1951. Peery was also involved in differently-abled development at Rentachintala where the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church Society established a school for the visually-impaired^[18] Peery was a member of the Committee for the Welfare of the Visually and the Hearing-Impaired under the auspices of the National Council of Churches in India (formerly the Christian Council of India and Pakistan).

Christ Church, Rajahmundry in the campus of Andhra Christian Theological College, Rajahmundry

Peery moved to Rajahmundry in East Godavari District and taught from 1952^[1] through 1964 at the Lutheran Theological College, Rajahmundry until its merger into the newly formed ecumenical Andhra Christian Theological College which comprised the following ecclesiastical seminaries:

• The Lutheran Theological College, Rajahmundry,
• The Baptist Theological Seminary, Kakinada, and
• The Andhra Union Theological College, Dornakal.

Peery was then reassigned to teach at the new College from 1964 onwards at the Andhra Christian Theological College^[1] (ACTC). It was Peery who oversaw the inclusion of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary into the ACTC in 1967 when an Act of Integration^[19] was performed in the presence of the President of the Ramayapatnam Baptist Theological Seminary, Louis F. Knoll.^[19]

In 1971,^[1] Peery took up a Professorship at the United Theological College, Bangalore where he taught Religions along with then Professor G. D. Melanchton. In 1985, Peery along with his other colleagues, Joshua Russell Chandran, J. G. F. Collison, R. Richer and Christopher Doraisingh presented a paper entitled The Concept of Baptism in the Judeo-Christian Tradition.^[20] After teaching Religions for nearly two decades at the United Theological College, Bangalore, Peery retired on account of superannuation in 1987.^[1]

Administrative

In 1969,^[1] Peery moved to Madras where he donned the mantle of an Administrator by taking up an administrative role at the ecumenical Inter Church Service Agency^[1] in Egmore, Madras where he served for a year before taking up doctoral studies at the Duke University.

Peery was a member of Council of India Mission^[21] of the United Lutheran Church in America and held the position as office bearer as Vice-President from 1953-1955^[21] and as President from 1959-1963,^[21] 1966-1969,^[21] and from 1973-1975.^[21]

Recognition and honours

In 1966,^[22] the Lenoir–Rhyne University, Hickory, North Carolina conferred an honorary doctorate degree on Peery along with William Richard Fritz, Lestor C. Gifford, Franklin Clark Fry and Lewis Arthur Larson.

Further reading

• Kolluri Luther Richardson (2003). "Towards Self-Reliance : A historical survey of the programmes and efforts of Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church from 1927–1969, Published by Christopher and Kanakaiah, Vijayawada". 
• Michael Bergunder (1999). "Die südindische Pfingstbewegung im 20. Jahrhundert: eine historische und systematische Untersuchung". 113. of Studien zur interkulturellen Geschichte des Christentums. ISBN 978-3-631-33771-4. 
• R. Joseph and B. Suneel Bhanu (1993). "Bibliography of Original Christian Writings in India in Telugu". 
• Martin Senftleben (1992). "Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati" (PDF) I. 
• _______________, (1992). "Influences of Hinduism on Christianity in Andhra Pradesh. Unpublished PhD thesis, Sri Venkateshwara University, Tirupati" (PDF) II. 
• M. Victor Paul (1990). "Parish Renewal in Reflections on Theology Today – Papers presented by the ACTC faculty during the academic year 1988–1989 on Theology and Mission and Ministry of the Church". 
• B. C. Paul (1984). "The Emergence of a Church in South India: A Study of the Growth and Development of the Andhra Evangelical Lutheran Church: 1905–1927. Unpublished Th. D. thesis submitted to the Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago.". 

References