Cherakarottu Korula Jacob was Bishop of Travancore and Cochin in the mid twentieth century (1945-1957). He was the 6th bishop of the diocese and the first native bishop and the first bishop of the

Madhya Kerala Diocese of the Church of South India The Madhya Kerala Diocese is one of the twenty-four dioceses of the Church of South India (commonly referred to as CSI) (successor of the Church of England) covering the central part of Kerala. When the Church of South India was formed on 27 Se ...

. Jacob was born in Pallom in 1886 to T Korula Ashan. He was educated at the

University of Madras The University of Madras (informally known as Madras University) is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and among the most prestigiou ...

and joined the CMS College High School as teacher. Later he studied theology at the Cambridge Nicholson Institute.

Ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the denominational hierarchy composed of other clergy) to perform va ...

as an Anglican priest in 1914, he served in

Melukavu Melukavu (Melukavumattom) is a village in the eastern part of Meenachil Taluk in Kottayam District of Kerala state, India. Tourism The place is a major tourist attraction for nature lovers with beautiful hills, streams and rubber plantations t ...

until 1919. For the next twenty years he was Principal of the Cambridge Nicholson Institute at

Kottayam Kottayam () is a municipal town in the Indian state of Kerala. Flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-we ...

. He then went to

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

for higher education and was appointed the

Archdeacon An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...

Mavelikkara Mavelikkara is a taluk and municipality in the ''Onattukara'' region of Alappuzha district in the Indian state of Kerala. Located in the southern part of the district on the banks of the Achankovil River. Etymology The name Mavelikara ...

. He was also served as the Principal of the

Bishop's College, Calcutta Bishop's College, Calcutta is an Anglican educational establishment founded on 15th December 1820 at Sibpur by Thomas Fanshawe Middleton the first bishop of the Anglican diocese of Calcutta. The College was started in Shibpur, on the west bank ...

. Jacob was consecrated a bishop on 6 May 1945 at St George's Cathedral, Madras; he was the first Indian to be elected to a diocesan See, and he was native to his own diocese. On 27 September 1947, he presided over the inaugural service of the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of mainline Protestant denominations in South India after independence. The Church of South India is the successor of a number of Pr ...

, the successor to the Anglican Church in South India, after Indian independence. He was also the first moderator of the

. In acknowledgement of his contributions to the formation of the

, he was presented an honorary doctorate by the

Wycliffe College Wycliffe College () is an evangelical graduate school of theology at the University of Toronto. Founded in 1877 as an evangelical seminary in the Anglican tradition, Wycliffe College today attracts students from many Christian denominations from ...

, in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

. Because of his deep Bible knowledge, he used to be called the “Bible Dictionary”. He retired from office in 1957 and died on the 17 December 1957. He is buried at the CSI Holy Trinity Cathedral,

Notes

University of Madras alumni Anglican archdeacons in India Anglican bishops of Travancore and Cochin 1886 births 1957 deaths {{Anglican-bishop-stub