John Sharat Chandra Banerjee (22 June 1873 – ?) was an

Anglican Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christianity, Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the ...

assistant bishop An assistant bishop in the Anglican Communion is a bishop appointed to assist a diocesan bishop. Church of England In the established Church of England, assistant bishops are usually retired (diocesan or suffragan bishop, suffragan) bishops – in ...

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

. He was the second non-European bishop of the

Church of India, Burma and Ceylon The Church of India, Burma and Ceylon (CIBC) was the autonomous ecclesiastical province of the Anglican Communion, associated with the Church of England, in British India. The first Anglican diocese in India was established in 1813, the Dioces ...

Early life and career

Banerjee was born in

Allahabad Prayagraj (, ; ISO 15919, ISO: ), formerly and colloquially known as Allahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi, Varanasi (Benar ...

. He was the son of a

Brahmin Brahmin (; ) is a ''Varna (Hinduism), varna'' (theoretical social classes) within Hindu society. The other three varnas are the ''Kshatriya'' (rulers and warriors), ''Vaishya'' (traders, merchants, and farmers), and ''Shudra'' (labourers). Th ...

convert to Christianity from Bengal, Janki Nath Banerjee. He attended St. John's College in Agra and graduated from

Allahabad University The University of Allahabad is a Central University located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. It was established on 23 September 1887 by an act of Parliament and is recognised as an Institute of National Importance (INI). It is the 4th oldest mode ...

with a B.A. in 1900. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

a deacon in 1902 and a priest in 1904. Banerjee served as a

Church Mission Society The Church Mission Society (CMS), formerly known as the Church Missionary Society, is a British Anglican mission society working with Christians around the world. Founded in 1799, CMS has attracted over nine thousand men and women to serve as ...

missionary in

Lucknow Lucknow () is the List of state and union territory capitals in India, capital and the largest city of the List of state and union territory capitals in India, Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is the administrative headquarters of the epon ...

from 1902 through 1931. He was made a canon of Lucknow in 1920.

Bishop

On 25 October 1931, Canon Banerjee was consecrated a bishop at the Cathedral Church of the Resurrection, Lahore to serve there as assistant bishop. The consecrators were the Bishop of Calcutta, the Bishop of Lahore and the Bishop of Lucknow. Bishop Banerjee was the second non-European bishop consecrated for the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance in South Asia. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one form or another ...

, after Bishop Azariah. Bishop Banerjee visited Australia in 1936 on the occasion of the centennial of Bishop Broughton where he was presented as Metropolitan of India and delivered a series of notable speeches. A photographic portrait of Bishop Banerjee is in the collection of the

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Personal life

Banerjee married in 1902. As of 1945, he had five sons and one daughter. His son John married Gwendolen Pearson, a Welsh missionary who had been a member of the Zenana Bible and Medical Mission.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjee, John Sharat Chandra 20th-century Anglican bishops in India 1873 births People from Lucknow University of Allahabad alumni Year of death missing