I'm Father Jayan Koshy, a priest of the Episcopal Diocese of Minnesota, currently living in Saint Paul with my husband, Benji, and our Goldendoodle, Granger.
Priestly Ministry
I trained for ordination at Saint John’s School of Theology & Seminary, attached to Saint John’s Abbey in Collegeville, Minnesota (where I am also an oblate). I received my MDiv and was ordained to the priesthood in 2023, serving my first call as Associate Rector of the Church of the Ascension (Stillwater, MN). During my tenure there, I gained significant experience in church administration, ministry redevelopment, and change management, augmented by my training as part of the 2024 cohort of Trinity Leadership Fellows. In my day-to-day work, I am particularly passionate about faith formation for all ages, pastoral care, and preaching. My ministry style also continues to be shaped by the values of Benedictine monasticism, emphasizing collaborative leadership, contextual discernment, and liturgical spirituality.
Academic Work
In 2025, I decided to transition to half-time parish ministry in order to pursue a PhD in Theology & Religion from Durham University. My thesis (provisionally titled ‘Ecclesial Learning and the Limits of Kenosis in the Life of Doctrine’) offers a constructive critique of modern kenotic ecclesiology, drawing on the Christology of Hans Urs von Balthasar and pragmatic-idealist epistemology to reframe the relationship between ecclesial learning and magisterial authority. My research interests extend to ecumenical ecclesiology more broadly, as well as models of ministerial leadership and pedagogy in patristic and early monastic theology.
In addition to my theological training, I have a previous academic background in political theory, focused on moral discourse and practices of knowledge, authority, and resistance in global politics. I hold a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and Chinese from Ohio State University and completed graduate coursework in political theory at both Ohio State and the University of Minnesota prior to pursuing ordained ministry.
Religious Background
Although my family have historically been Saint Thomas Christians and Danish Lutherans, I was raised in a fundamentalist Neo-Calvinist household in West Virginia. After being traumatically alienated from Christianity as a teenager, I wandered through various religious traditions (including Hinduism and Islam), trying to find a spiritual home. Getting sober in my early 20s prompted me to radically reorganize my life and ultimately led me back into Christianity via the Episcopal Church. Since my return to the Church, monastic spirituality (particularly Benedictinism) and the catholic tradition within Anglicanism have been central to my Christian formation.