Bishop Joins St. Andrew's as New Pastor

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The Rt. Rev. George Ninan has been called to serve St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Brewster as pastor. He will be with St. Andrew's on Sundays to lead Holy Eucharist and hold adult education classes and for spiritual counseling.

"I feel extremely happy to be here," said Bishop Ninan. "This is a lively congregation with a lot of children." He added that he was pleased with the warm reception he has received since his first service as pastor at St. Andrew's in early December.

Bishop Ninan comes to St. Andrew's most recently from St. Mary's Episcopal Church in Scarborough, where he served as interim pastor, and earlier from All Saints Episcopal Church in Valley Cottage, where he served as vicar. Before that, he has served in many capacities in the Anglican Communion--the global denomination of which the Episcopal Church belongs--in India, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, and Canada.

Born in Kerala,  India, Bishop Ninan was raised as an Anglican and was ordained as an Anglican priest on 1964. In 1970, the Anglican churches in northern India helped form the Church  of North India, another province of the Anglican Communion.  He became the Bishop of Nasik, one of the dioceses in the Church of North India, in 1994.

Bishop Ninan and his wife, Rachel, first came to the United States in the 1970s, when he studied for a doctoral degree at Phillips University in Oklahoma. They came to the United States again in 2004, to be near their three adult children and their grandchildren, all of whom live here. The couple recently celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

St. Andrew's Episcopal Church has been a part of Brewster for more than 130 years. The church's grey stone building is a local landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is home to the St. Andrew's Nursery School, the Brewster Theater Company, and the Brewster Community Food Pantry.

The regular Sunday service at St. Andrew's is at 10 a.m. This year, the church will hold a Christmas Eve service of Holy Eucharist at 5 p.m., with its Children's Christmas Pageant. There will be no service on Christmas Day.