The Most Rev. Paul Sishir Sarker, Moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and Bishop in Dhaka.
Reared as a High Church Anglican, Bishop Sarker began his university studies at the University of Dhaka with the intention of becoming a professor of Bengali Literature. While in university he felt the call to the ordained ministry and after earning his degree trained for the ministry at Bishop’s College, Calcutta and then earned a Master of Divinity degree from Louisville Presbyterian Seminary in Kentucky. He was elected bishop in 2002 and appointed Bishop in Kushtia in January 2003 following the translation of the diocese’s bishop Michael Baroi to Dhaka following the retirement of the church’s first Bangladeshi bishop, Barnabas Mondial. In 2007 he was elected moderator of the Church of Bangladesh and upon the retirement of Bishop Baroi in 2009 was translated to Dhaka.
Originally part of the Diocese of Calcutta, the Diocese of Dhaka was formed in 1952 as part of the Church of North India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon. In 1970 it joined the newly created United Church of Pakistan and merged with local Presbyterian churches. Following the independence of Bangladesh it withdrew from the Church of Pakistan and in 1974 became its own province. The province currently has two dioceses, Dhaka and Kushtia with a third in formation, Barisal. The church has 34 active and 7 retired priests, two active and two retired bishops, and several dozen catechists. It numbers approximately 10,000 members. As a United Church, its leader is called a moderator, not archbishop, and its bishops are styled “Bishop in” rather than “Bishop of” XXX.
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