We are pleased to announce that we have a new Minister in charge at Davenport Methodist Church. Lindsay Kemp has now retired and her place has been taken by Dr. Raj Patta. Here are some details of his profile.
Raj is married to Shiny and they have two teenage sons Jubi & Jaiho. Raj's interests include playing badminton, cricket and watching football. He loves watching films and loves spending his time with the family in making music. Till recently, I have been a minister with a pastoral oversight of Heaton Moor, Heaton Mersey and Edgeley Community Church. My calling involves working with people on the margins, working for migrant & racial justice and engaging in translating faith relevant to the context using Bible studies and other public mission engagements.
Raj Bharat Patta, celebrates his identity in multiple
belongings, which include Dalit, Christian, Asian, (Im)migrant, theology, ministry,
Lutheran, Methodist, India, British, church,
academy, postcolonial, public sphere,
husband, father and friend. Though a Lutheran minister from India, he currently serves as a recognised and
regarded minister of the Methodist Church
in Britain at the United Stockport Circuit. He completed his PhD from the University of Manchester. He is a member of
the Interfaith theological advisory group of the
Churches Together in Britain and Ireland
(CTBI).
Raj
also serves as the lead for Stockport Multi-Faith Network, serves on the Greater Manchester Faith & Belief Panel of the
GMCA. He is involved with the Stockport
Race and Equality Partnership, with the Belonging Together group of the Methodist Church and with the
Asian Theologians Group in the UK. He has
also pioneered a Telugu Christian Methodist fellowship in Manchester in Sale circuit, serving the migrant communities in the region.
His
passion involves seeking the role and relevance of faith in the public sphere, with a preferential option for the
margins. His writings include political
theological commentaries on contemporary issues using scriptures, creative liberational liturgical resources
and multi-faith statements on public
issues. His recent publication is a book titled, Subaltern Public Theology: Dalits and the Indian Public Sphere (Palgrave
Macmillan: 2023) Having been engaging the
spiritualties of life and liberation with
his inter-cultural and decolonial experiences, he is gifted with theological, pastoral, ecumenical and
missional offerings.
To contact Raj, please go via the "Contact Us" tab at the top of the page.
