Santosh Kumar Marray (born 1957) is the eleventh and current bishop of the

Episcopal Diocese of Easton The Episcopal Diocese of Easton is a diocese of the Episcopal Church in the United States of America that comprises the nine counties that make up the Eastern Shore of Maryland. It is in Province 3 of the Episcopal Church in the United States of ...

. Before this, he served as assistant bishop for both the Diocese of Alabama (2012-2016) and the Diocese of East Carolina (2009-2012). Prior to that, he was

Bishop of Seychelles The Church of the Province of the Indian Ocean is a province of the Anglican Communion. It covers the islands of Madagascar, Mauritius and the Seychelles. The current Archbishop and Primate is James Wong, Bishop of Seychelles. Anglican realign ...

. He was ordained as a priest in 1981, and served in this capacity in Florida, Guyana, and the Bahamas before being consecrated as bishop.

Biography

Bishop Marray is the third of six children born to the late Gurdat and Chandrawati Marray in

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...

. He was reared as a

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

, the traditional religion of his parents and ancestors, and converted to

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

when he was 16 years old while attending a small, rural Anglican church. He earned a B.A. in theology from the University of West Indies, and a diploma in pastoral studies from

Codrington College Codrington College is an Anglican theological college in St. John, Barbados now affiliated with the University of the West Indies at Cave Hill. It is one of the oldest Anglican theological colleges in the Americas. It was affiliated to the U ...

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate). ...

. At Codrington, he was awarded the Bishop Coleridge Prize for the best graduating student in

theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...

. He earned his D.Min. degree from

Colgate Rochester Divinity School Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School is a Baptist seminary in Rochester, New York It is affiliated with the American Baptist Churches USA. History 1820s-1960: Early history Four Baptist institutions merged over the course of the 19th and 20t ...

/ Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary in

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

, and went on to earn his Master of Laws in

canon law Canon law (from grc, κανών, , a 'straight measuring rod, ruler') is a set of ordinances and regulations made by ecclesiastical authority (church leadership) for the government of a Christian organization or church and its members. It is th ...

from the

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

Centre for Law and Religion in the United Kingdom. He also holds a master's in

sacred theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the s ...

from

General Theological Seminary The General Theological Seminary of the Episcopal Church (GTS) is an Episcopal seminary in New York City. Founded in 1817, GTS is the oldest seminary of the Episcopal Church and the longest continuously operating Seminary in the Anglican Communi ...

in New York. In September 2008, the board of governors of Bexley Hall Episcopal Seminary in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

, awarded Marray the degree of Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa) in recognition of his contribution to the church in various parts of the worldwide

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is the third largest Christian communion after the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. Founded in 1867 in London, the communion has more than 85 million members within the Church of England and other ...

. Marray was ordained as deacon at St. George's Cathedral in

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

, in January 1981 and, eleven months later, as priest of All Saints’ Church in New Amsterdam, Guyana. He has since served parishes in Guyana, in the Bahamas, Florida and the Seychelles, where he was ordained Bishop of Seychelles. He was a member of the Anglican Communion Covenant Design Group, charged by the Archbishop of Canterbury to develop and draft an Anglican Covenant for the communion, and he serves the wider Anglican Communion as a pastoral visitor for the Archbishop of Canterbury. In September, 2012, Bishop Marray accepted the call to the position of Assistant Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, under the Right Reverend John McKee Sloan. Marray is married to Nalini, a former schoolteacher; the couple live in Easton. They have two adult children, a daughter, Amanda, and a son, Ingram, who is married to Tenille Barton.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marray, Santosh Kumar University of the West Indies alumni Anglican bishops of Seychelles Living people Colgate Rochester Crozer Divinity School alumni 1957 births Converts to Anglicanism from Hinduism American Episcopal clergy Guyanese Anglican priests 21st-century Anglican bishops in the United States Episcopal bishops of Easton

Biography

See also

References