Brian Melvin Marajh (born 2 April 1960) was the thirteenth and current Bishop of Kimberley & Kuruman in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

. He was previously the eighth bishop of George, before, on 19 September 2021, the Electoral College of Bishops elected to translate the Right Revd Brian Marajh of George to become Bishop of Kimberley & Kuruman.New Bishops elected for Kimberley & Kuruman and Lesotho
accessed 22 September2021 He was consecrated as bishop at St Mark's Cathedral, George, on 7 May 2011. Marajh was born in

Kimberley Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to: Places and historical events Australia * Kimberley (Western Australia) ** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley * Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania * Kimberley, Tasmania a small town * County of Kimberley, a ...

in the

Northern Cape The Northern Cape is the largest and most sparsely populated province of South Africa. It was created in 1994 when the Cape Province was split up. Its capital is Kimberley. It includes the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park, part of the Kgalagadi T ...

on 2 April 1960.

Early life and education

Marajh attended the Homevale Secondary School in Kimberley, where he matriculated in 1980. Initial university studies were at the

University of the Western Cape The University of the Western Cape (UWC) is a public research university in Bellville, near Cape Town, South Africa. The university was established in 1959 by the South African government as a university for Coloured people only. Other un ...

where Marajh graduated with a

Bachelor of Arts Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree. He was ordained a deacon in the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman The Diocese of Kimberley and Kuruman is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa, and encompasses the area around Kimberley and Kuruman and overlaps the Northern Cape Province and North West Province of South Africa. It is presided ov ...

in December 1986, and priest in December the following year.

Academic pursuits and clerical appointments

Marajh pursued post-graduate studies at Glasgow (

Master of Theology Master of Theology ( la, Theologiae Magister, abbreviated MTh, ThM, or MTheol) is a post-graduate degree offered by universities, divinity schools, and seminaries. It can serve as a transition degree for entrance into a PhD program or as a stand ...

) and the

University of KwaZulu-Natal The University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) is a university with five campuses in the province of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. It was formed on 1 January 2004 after the merger between the University of Natal and the University of Durban-Westville. ...

(

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

). He also holds a Certificate in Family and Marriage Counseling from

UNISA The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Australi ...

. Marajh was appointed Canon Theologian in the Anglican

Diocese of Mauritius The Bishop of Mauritius () has been the Ordinary of the Anglican Church in Mauritius in the Indian Ocean since its inception in 1854. The current bishop is Ian Ernest, who was also the Archbishop of the Indian Ocean until 2017. Bishops *1854 Vinc ...

in 2004, serving as Rector of

Curepipe Curepipe () also known as ''La Ville-Lumière'' (The City of Light), is a town in Mauritius, located in the Plaines Wilhems District, the eastern part also lies in the Moka District. The town is administered by the Municipal Council of Curepipe. ...

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, 2005–6. He was Director of the Diocesan Training Centre for Ministries. He returned to the

Church of the Province of Southern Africa The Anglican Church of Southern Africa, known until 2006 as the Church of the Province of Southern Africa, is the province of the Anglican Communion in the southern part of Africa. The church has twenty-five dioceses, of which twenty-one are loc ...

, to the

Diocese of George The Diocese of George is a diocese in the Anglican Church of Southern Africa. History The seat of the diocese is the Cathedral of St Mark in George in South Africa. List of Bishops * Henry Bindley Sidwell 1911-1936 * Herbert Linford Gwyer 193 ...

, in 2008, serving as Rector of All Saints,

Mossel Bay Mossel Bay ( af, Mosselbaai) is a harbour town of about 99,000 people on the Southern Cape (or Garden Route) of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province. Mossel Bay lies 400 kilometres east of the ...

Vicar general and election to the episcopate: Bishop of George

In August 2010 Marajh was appointed as

vicar general A vicar general (previously, archdeacon) is the principal deputy of the bishop of a diocese for the exercise of administrative authority and possesses the title of local ordinary. As vicar of the bishop, the vicar general exercises the bishop's ...

following the resignation of Donald Harker. He was elected as Harker's successor at the elective assembly in George on 20 January 2011.

Translation to the See of Kimberley and Kuruman

The Electoral College of Bishops elected to translate the Right Revd Brian Marajh of George to the vacant See of Kimberley and Kuruman, on 19 September 2021. He was enthroned as 13th Bishop of Kimberley & Kuruman in a service on 4 December 2021, presided over by the Archbishop of Cape Town, the Most Revd

Thabo Makgoba Thabo Cecil Makgoba KStJ (born 15 December 1960 in Alexandra, Johannesburg) is the South African Anglican archbishop of Cape Town. He had served before as bishop of Grahamstown. Biography Makgoba graduated from Orlando High, Soweto, and ...

Order of Service for the enthronement, Kimberley, 4 December 2021

References

21st-century Anglican Church of Southern Africa bishops Anglican bishops of George Living people 1960 births People from Kimberley, Northern Cape {{Africa-Anglican-bishop-stub