Navamani Elia Peter (6 April 1933 – 29 June 2025) was an Indian deaconess, who espoused women's leadership in the church, focusing on Ordination of women in Christianity. She was in the forefront of the movement for gender equality since the eighties. Navamani held key positions of leadership globally. Peter was at the helm of leadership in multifaced Church-based organisations, notably the National Council of Churches in India, World Methodist Council, World Day of Prayer International Committee and Christian Conference of Asia.
In 2007 she was elected as President of The India Bible Society Trust Association, the first woman to hold the position since the inception of the trust in 1811. She held the position in Bangalore from 2007G. D. V. Prasad, Chiranjivi J. Nirmal, Imaging the Word: A Twenty-First Century Perspective, The Bible Society of India 1811–2011, Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 2000, (revised edition 2011), p.115. through 2013. Navamani has been member of the Association of Theologically Trained Women of India and held the elected post of President for two bienniums.
From 2020, she spent her time writing motivational articles for the young generationPraisy David, The Battle of Being a Christian Feminist: Reclaiming the Original Design, Campus Link, Volume 24, Number 4, July–August 2022. to lead meaningful and better lives through The Upper Room.More From Navamani Peter, The Upper Room, December 15, 2022
Early life and education Peter was born in the port town of Machilipatnam in Northern Circars (Madras Presidency) in Colonial India on 6 April 1944. She did her schooling from Lady Ampthill Government School, Machilipatnam. For Undergraduate education, she studied at The Hindu College, taking a BSc degree, also in Machilipatnam. She also did her specialization in education from JMJ-St. Joseph's College of Education for Women in Guntur leading to BEd.
During the 1980s, she enrolled at United Theological College, Bangalore for spiritual studies leading to B.D.K. M. Hiwale (Compiled), Directory of the United Theological College 1910–1997, Bangalore, 1997. Past students of the college diploma course. It was here that she was exposed to learned faculty comprising Joshua Russell Chandran, CSI, E. C. John, CSI, G. D. Melanchthon, AELC, Theodore N. Swanson, ELCA. The Cultural diversity at the campus enriched her learning experience. The presence of Carmelite Church Fathers among the college faculty, also provided her with an ecumenical exposure.Shared Search – Souvenir of the inauguration of the academic collaboration between the United Theological College, Bangalore and the Dharmaram College, Bangalore, 1975, Bangalore, available at the Archives in the library of Karnataka Theological College, Mangalore. After completion of her studies, The Senate of Serampore College (University), led by Registrar D. S. Satyaranjan, IPC, awarded her a B. D. degree.
Career Peter began her career as a Teacher in MCI–Stanley Girls High School, Hyderabad, beginning in the 1950s. Since the 1980s, her leadership in the Church made her take up greater assignments both nationally and globally.
Peter participated in a number of localSubject file of Roger Hedlund and international institutional leadership and management meetings, notably the Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians sponsored national consultation on women's perspectives held in India in 1984,Aruna Gnanadason, Theology of Humanhood: Women's Perspectives : Report of a national consultation, ISPCK, New Delhi, 1986, p.155.[Ecumenical Association of Third World Theologians] the World Council of Churches Assembly held in Australia in 1991Signs of the Spirit – Official Report, Seventh Assembly, Canberra, Australia, 7–20 February 1991, World Council of Churches Assembly, 1991, p.313. and the World Methodist Conference held in Brazil in 1996.World Methodist Conference, 1996 She was also at the United Nations Commission on Human Rights (Sub-Commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities) at its forty-ninth session held in Switzerland in 1997.United Nations Commission on Human Rights (Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities), 1997, p.22.
Offices held During the course of participation in international institutional meetings, Peter had been elected to the leadership of many global organisations worldwide. President/Chairperson All India Women's Society of Christian Service Prasanna Kumar (Edited), Women in Church and Society, Department of Women Studies, Gurukul Lutheran Theological College, Chennai, 1999. All India Council of Christian Women World Family Life Committee of World Methodist Council Association of Theologically Trained Women of India World Day of Prayer International Committee Yearbook of international organizations 1998/99, Volume 3, K.G. Saur, München, 1998, p.1530.Whoʼs who in International Organizations: A Biographical Encyclopedia of More Than 12,000 Leading Personalities, K.G. Saur, Germany, 1992, p.141. The India Bible Society Trust AssociationBSI Executive Committee Members visit Mizoram, Government of Mizoram press release, 4 November 2011. Vice-president World Federation of Methodist Women Linda W. Kiester, Methodist Women elect American, Louisiana United Methodist, Volume 133, Number 9, 8 August 1986, p.3. Asian Church Women's Conference Executive committee member Evangelism Committee of Christian Conference of Asia The Fellowship of the Least Coin
Writings The writings of Peter have been acknowledged by both Theologians and other Scholars. Paul Arasu Selvanathan as a 2017 doctoral student at the Comillas Pontifical University in Spain defines an Indian FamilyPaul Arasu Selvanathan, Learn to Live with Others: A Spiritual Reading of the Story of Abraham-Lot (Gen 13: 1–12) in Relation to the Indian Family, Comillas Pontifical University, Madrid, 2017, p.72. on the basis of Navamani's article. Pushpa Samuel of Fuller Theological Seminary, United States espouses ordination of women in the Mar Thoma Syrian Church through a 2020 article, citing the work of Navamani.Pushpa Samuel, "Let Your Yes Be Yes": Progressing Toward Female Ordination in the Mar Thoma Church, Priscilla Papers, Volume 34, Number 1, Winter 2020, pp.20–25. Praisy David, a 2020 student of Indian Institute of Technology, Gandhinagar takes a cue from Navamani on espousing Gender equality, she quotes,
In theological matters, Sirirat Pusurinkham of the Presbyterian Church of Thailand was critical of Navamani's observation of a love story in the episode of Levite's concubine.Sirirat Pusurinkham, Oppressed Women in Scripture and in Contemporary Thailand in Meehyun Chung, Breaking Silence: Theology from Asian Women's Perspective, ISPCK/EATWOT, New Delhi, 2006, p.165. Navamani's writings appeared in the public domain since the 1980s. She continued to write articles through The Upper Room.
Death Peter died on 29 June 2025, at the age of 92.
Honours In 2000, in recognition of women's leadership, the nation's firstUNESCO Structures of University Education in India, 1952 University, the Senate of Serampore College (University) conferred upon Navamani an honorary Doctor of Divinity.List of the Recipients of the Degree of Doctor of Divinity (Honoris Causa)
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