Sebastians introduction….
The Bishop of Lincoln has announced the appointment of the Revd. Sebastian Mattapally as the new vicar of Scampton Church.
Sebastians introduction….
I was born in Kerala, South India, to a very devoted and good Catholic family of the Syro-Malabar tradition, Since then my life has taken a number of twists and turns in the wonderful mystery of God’s providential love! (Romans 11.33ff)
I left home early on and did my high school in Calcutta (renamed Kolkata nowadays), college and university in Darjeeling and theology in Bangalore, before being ordained as a priest in 1983. A year after my ordination, I left for Tanzania, East Africa, to be a missionary. I was only 28! That is where I learned to speak, write and preach in Kiswahili. There we founded and built a brand-new secondary school from scratch in the Mufindi district of the Southern Highlands of Tanzania. On Thursday afternoons we would take the entire school to a nearby village for social service and educational encounters. My weekends were invariably spent taking services and meeting people in far-flung villages, usually three villages every Sunday. A vivid experience that I will never forget is leading the people of a village to build their own village church. I remember Africa and the many good friends there with warm nostalgia!
After 10 wonderful years in Tanzania, I went to Rome, Italy, to study. Here, I learned Italian and completed a doctorate in theology at the Gregorian Univweristy. While I was in Italy I met my lovely wife, Alida, who hails from the Venice region of northern Italy – no wonder our home is quite international in a linguistic and culinary sense: English and Italian coupled with curry! It was also at this time that I made the momentous decision to join the Anglican Church, first in the Diocese of Europe and then in the Diocese of Chichester. We now look forward to joining the Diocese of Lincoln, and to serving God and his people in the Springline Parish.
God has been so faithful and so provident. His loving kindness has accompanied us all the way through. Having worked in various climes and countries and with various peoples and languages, my wife and I are eager to share our lives, our stories and our faith with you all. This is not something we ever imagined, even in our wildest dreams! But the Lord is always full of surprises for those who love him! (Romans 8.28). May He surprise us mightily in the Springline Parish!