He was ordained as deacon of the Mar Thoma Church on 29 June 1957, and kasseessa (priest) on 18 October 1957. He then went on to study at the Protestant Episcopal Seminary in Virginia, USA. From there, he went to Canterbury and Oxford in England and obtained Master of Divinity (M.Div.) and Master of Sacred Theology (STM) degrees. He was later awarded an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree by the Virginia Seminary, where he studied.
