E. Pushpa Lalitha | |
|---|---|
| Bishop – in – Nandyal | |
| Church | Church of South India (A Uniting church comprising Wesleyan Methodist, Congregational, Calvinist and Anglican missionary societies – SPG, WMMS, LMS, Basel Mission, CMS, and the Church of England) |
| Diocese | Nandyal Diocese |
| Elected | 2013 |
| In office | 2013–present |
| Predecessor | P. J. Lawrence |
| Successor | Incumbent |
| Orders | |
| Ordination | As Deaconess on 17 July 1983,[2] As Presbyter on 8 April 1984[2][3] by Bishop L. V. Azaraiah,[3] CSI |
| Consecration | 29 September 2013[2] by G. Devakadasham, Moderator (Principal Consecrator), and Govada Dyvasirvadam, Deputy Moderator (Co-consecrator) |
| Rank | Bishop |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha 22 November 1956[2] Diguvapadu,[3] Kurnool district |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Denomination | Christianity |
| Residence | Nandyal |
| Occupation | Priesthood |
| Education | B. A.,[2] B. D.[2] (Serampore) |
| Alma mater | |
Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha (born 1956)[1] is the Bishop of the Nandyal Diocese of the Church of South India. She is the first woman to become a bishop in Church of South India.[4]
The Church of South India, part of the Anglican Communion,[5] created history when then Moderator, G. Devakadasham and Deputy Moderator G. Dyvasirvadam consecrated Pushpa Lalitha in 2013[6] making a woman Reverend become a bishop. Pushpa Lalitha is a member of the CSI Order of Sisters headquartered in Bangalore and although she is the first woman to be consecrated as Bishop of Church of South India, the first woman to be consecrated Bishop in any church in Asia was A. Katakshamma[7] of the Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church, Bhadrachalam. The first ordained woman priest in India is Sr. Elizabeth Paul, also of the CSI Order of Sisters.
- ^ a b c Elizabeth Gillan Muir, Women's History of the Christian Church: Two Thousand Years of Female Leadership, Toronto University Press, Toronto, 2019, p.355.[1]
- ^ a b c d e f Church of South India Synod, Nandyal Diocese Ministerial details.[2]
- ^ a b c d E. Pushpa Lalitha, Women’s Leadership in the Church of South India in Feminist Theology, Volume 26(1), 2017, pp.80–89.[3]
- ^ "CSI appoints woman as a bishop". The Hindu. 28 September 2013.
- ^ Colin Buchanan, Historical Dictionary of Anglicanism, Rowman and Littlefield, London, 2015, p.548.[4]
- ^ Grace Davie, Religion in Britain: A Persistent Paradox, Blackwell Publishers, Sussex, 2015, p.127.[5]
- ^ Nikhila Henry, India gets first woman Anglican bishop from Andhra.