The Rev. Dr. J. Jayakiran Sebastian is a Presbyter of the Church of South India, and currently Dean and H. George Anderson Professor of Mission and Cultures at the United Lutheran Seminary.
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He has been Professor in the Department of Theology and Ethics at the United Theological College, Bengaluru, India, where he has served as Chairperson of the Department and also as Dean of Doctoral Studies at the College. He comes from Bengaluru and following his theological training at the United Theological College, he served both rural and urban pastorates of the Karnataka Central Diocese of the Church of South India, and even after becoming a theological teacher continued to be associated with the pastoral ministry by serving as an Associate Presbyter in churches where the Diocese needed him. This engagement continues in the United States through regular preaching and presiding at worship services in congregations in the greater Philadelphia area and beyond.

He is a Member of the Center of Theological Inquiry, Princeton, NJ, and was in residence there from August 2003 to May 2004. He is a also a member of the North American Patristics Society, the International Association of Patristic Studies, International Association of Mission Studies, and the American Academy of Religion. He has been the Associate Editor and now Contributing Editor of the journal, Mission Studies.