The Church of South India Appointed its First Female Bishop Last Year

The Revd Eggoni Pushpalalitha was ordained in 1983 and she was appointed Bishop in 2013. Until recently she has been a priest in the Diocese of Nadyal in Andhra Pradesh (India).

She was appointed Bishop shortly after the Church of Ireland elected its first woman bishop, the Revd Pat (Patricia) Storey as the new Bishop of Meath and Kildare.

The Provincial Secretary of the Church of South India, Mani M. Philip confirmed that Miss Pushpalalitha had been appointed by the Synod Selection Board.

"We have been ordaining women since 1976," he told ACNS, adding that in its constitution, the province mandates that at least 25 per cent of all statutory bodies should be women.

Bishop-designate Pushpalalitha was installed on Monday 30 September. One of the 38 Member Churches of the Anglican Communion, the Church of South India is a 'united' Church--the result of the union of churches of varying traditions Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Reformed. It was inaugurated in September 1947.

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