Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha (born 1956) is the

Bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

of the Nandyal Diocese of the

Church of South India The Church of South India (CSI) is a united Protestant Church in India. It is the result of union of a number of Protestant denominations in South India that occurred after the independence of India. With a membership of over 4.5 million, it ...

. She is the first woman to become a

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

. The

, part of the

Anglican Communion The Anglican Communion is a Christian Full communion, communion consisting of the Church of England and other autocephalous national and regional churches in full communion. The archbishop of Canterbury in England acts as a focus of unity, ...

, created history when then Moderator, G. Devakadasham and Deputy Moderator G. Dyvasirvadam consecrated Pushpa Lalitha in 2013 making a woman

Reverend The Reverend (abbreviated as The Revd, The Rev'd or The Rev) is an honorific style (form of address), style given to certain (primarily Western Christian, Western) Christian clergy and Christian minister, ministers. There are sometimes differen ...

become a

. Pushpa Lalitha is a member of the CSI Order of Sisters headquartered in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

and although she is the first woman to be consecrated as

, the first woman to be consecrated

in any church in

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

was A. Katakshamma of the

Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church Good Samaritan Evangelical Lutheran Church is a Christian denomination in India. It has about 40,000 members. Its headquarters is in Bhadrachalam, Telangana. It has been founded in 1972. It is led by T. Esther Rani. The other churches belonging to ...

Bhadrachalam Bhadrachalam is a census town in Bhadradri Kothagudem district in the Indian state of Telangana. It is an important Hindu pilgrimage town with the Bhadrachalam Temple of Rama, situated on the banks of Godavari River. It is located east of sta ...

. The first ordained woman priest in India is Sr. Elizabeth Paul, also of the CSI Order of Sisters.

Early years

Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha was born to a family of agriculturists in Diguvapadu village in

Kurnool district Kurnool district is one of the eight districts in the Rayalaseema region of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh after the districts are reorganised in April 2022. It is located in the north western part of the state and is bounded by Nandyal d ...

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

. She acknowledges the influence of the

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

and

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

Missionaries who lead a selfless life and she very much wanted to lead such a life and became a member of the CSI Order of Sisters.Diocese of Oxford, God in the Life of Bishop of Nandyal
/ref>

Ministerial Formation

Pushpa Lalitha had her ministerial formation at the

Andhra Christian Theological College Andhra Christian Theological College (ACTC) is a seminary in Telangana which was founded in 1964. It is affiliated with India's first university, the Senate of Serampore College (University) (a university under section 2(f) of the University Gr ...

Secunderabad Secunderabad () is a twin cities, twin city of Hyderabad and one of the six zones of the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Telangana. It is the headquarters of the South ...

affiliated to the nation's firstUNESCO Structures of University Education in India, 1952
/ref> University, the

Senate of Serampore College (University) The Senate of Serampore College (University) is an ecumenical regulatory and affiliating body for Christian theological education, which works in partnership with Bible colleges, seminaries and theological research institutes in the Indian subco ...

where she studied from 1979-1982 during the period of the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

Scholars,

Victor Premasagar Victor Premasagar (1927–2005) was the fourth successor of Frank Whittaker as Bishop in Medak. He was an Indian churchman and Old Testament scholar who made major contributions to research on the Old Testament and to the field of theology. Prem ...

H. S. Wilson H. S. Wilson ''(born 1946)'' is the Executive Director of Foundation for Theological Education in the Southeast Asia based in Philadelphia. Wilson is widely known in India for his contribution to theological education as the Director (1980 thro ...

(Edited), ''The Church on the Move: Essays in honour of

'', Christian Literature Society,

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

, 1988, p.vi

/ref> Church of South India, CSI and G. Babu Rao, CBCNC. She later had an exposure in 1984–1985 at the

Selly Oak Colleges Selly Oak Colleges was a federation of educational facilities which in the 1970s and 1980s was at the forefront of debates about ecumenism - the coming together of Christian churches and the creation of new united churches such as the Church of S ...

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and at the United Church of Jamaica and Cayman Islands,

Kingston, Jamaica Kingston is the Capital (political), capital and largest city of Jamaica, located on the southeastern coast of the island. It faces a natural harbour protected by the Palisadoes, a long spit (landform), sand spit which connects the town of Por ...

. Pushpa Lalitha also studied advanced courses at Berkeley, California during 1993–1995 at the Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary.

Ordination and pastorship

Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha was ordained, as Deaconess in 1983 and as a priest on 1984. She held the post of Director of ''Vishranthi Nilayam'', the headquarters of the CSI Order of Sisters on Infantry road in

and the administrative head of the

women fellowship. She has also served as Chairperson of the Deanery committee.

Bishopric

Eggoni Pushpa Lalitha was appointed the

of Nandyal Diocese on 25 September 2013. She was consecrated as

on 29 September 2013 at the Church of South India, CSI-Holy Cross Cathedral in

Nandyal Nandyal, commonly called as Nandyala, is a city and the district headquarters of Nandyal district of the Indian state of the Andhra Pradesh. It is a Municipal corporation and the headquarters of Nandyal mandal in Nandyal revenue division. Dem ...

by Moderator G. Devakadasham and Deputy Moderator G. Dyvasirvadam.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lalitha, Pushpa 1956 births Living people People from Rayalaseema People from Kurnool district Anglican bishops of Nandyal Women Anglican bishops CSI Order of Sisters Telugu people Senate of Serampore College (University) alumni Church of South India clergy 21st-century Indian Anglican priests 20th-century Indian Anglican priests

Early years

Ministerial Formation

Ordination and pastorship

Bishopric

Further reading

References