After returning from Bangalore, Rev. Dr. Gladstone was ordained as a priest of the Diocese of South Kerala of the Church of South India on 20 July 1975.[3]
The diocese designated him as Youth Pastor[4] and thereafter, Gladstone was assigned a teaching task at the Kerala United Theological Seminary,[5][KUTS – affiliated to the Senate of Serampore College] Thiruvananthapuram.
Research studies
Later in the year 1978,[4] Rev. Dr. Gladstone took study leave from KUTS and proceeded to the University of Hamburg in Germany for research studies in church history.
In 1983,[4] the University of Hamburg awarded him a Doctorate of Theology degree magna cum laude. His doctoral thesis was entitled Protestant Christianity and People's Movements in Kerala, 1850–1936 which was later published by the KUTS, Thiruvananthapuram in 1984.[6]
Return to KUTS
Subsequently, Rev. Dr. Gladstone returned to Thiruvananthapuram to resume his teaching responsibilities. In 1991 he became Principal of the KUTS, Thiruvananthapuram.[3]
Works
Church historian
Rev. Dr. Gladstone is a member of the Church History Association of India (CHAI), a body of church historians and has published more than 100 articles.[3]
Senate responsibilities
Rev. Dr. Gladstone served as the President of the Senate of Serampore College, India's first university, from 2000 to 2005[7]
Bishopric
On 16 September 1997, Rev. Dr. Gladstone was consecrated as the Bishop in South Kerala.[3]
Moderatorship
During the XXXI session of the synod of the CSI held in Visakhapatnam from 11–14 January 2008, Rev. Dr. Gladstone was elected as the Moderator of the CSI for a biennium.[8] He succeeded the Most Reverend B. P. Sugandhar (Bishop-in-Medak).
Memberships and honours
Memberships
Church History Association of India
Honours
In 2005, Rev. Vinod Victor and Rev. Gideon Sobhanam brought out a festschrift in honour of Gladstone entitled Shepherd of a Pilgrim People: Essays in Honour of Bishop J. W. Gladstone[9]
In 2008 Canterbury Christ Church University, (established in 1962 by the Church of England with degree granting authority), admitted Rev. Dr. Gladstone to its honorary fellowship at Canterbury Cathedral on 1 February.[4]
^Senate of Serampore College, Graduate and Post-graduate colleges affiliated [2]Archived 20 April 2008 at the Wayback Machine
^Cited in Susan Billington Harper's The Shadow of the Mahatma: Bishop V. S. Azaraiah and the travails of Christianity in British India, Eerdmans and Curzon Press, p. 182, [3]
^Senate of Serampore College (University), Presidents and Convenors of the Senate [4][permanent dead link]
^Asia Pacific Ecumenical News, 20 May 2008, Indian Protestant Church elects new Moderator. Internet, accessed 20 May 2008 [5]Archived 11 August 2011 at the Wayback Machine
^Vinod Victor, Gideon Sobhanam, et al., Shepherd of a Pilgrim People: Essays in Honour of Bishop J. W. Gladstone, Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, New Delhi, 2005. [6]
