Bishop Pushpala
Nandyal Diocese is a diocese in the Church of South India (CSI), located within the state of Andhra Pradesh. The Church of South India was inaugurated in September 1947 and is an ecumenical Church uniting the Anglican, Methodist, Congregational, Presbyterian,
and Reformed churches.
Members of Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service (WFCS) in the Church of South India are affiliated to the global Mothers’ Union.
2013 was a momentous year for the diocese with the election of the Revd Pushpalalitha Eggoni as the new Bishop of Nandyal.
Bishop Pushpala is the first female bishop in the Church of South India, and indeed in Asia. Bishop Pushpala was born in Diguvappad village in the Kurnool district of AndhraPradesh in Southern India. Educated at Andhra Christian Theological College, she was ordained a priest in 1984. A Telugu speaker, she ministered in several villages before serving as the director of Vishranthi Nilayam in Bangalore and as the administrative head of the CSI’s Women’s Fellowship for Christian Service.
Among her priorities in the diocese is the empowerment of women. In an interview at
the time of her enthronement she commented: “Be it any institution, women are always
given second-rung treatment. We need to change that by promoting values that teach
us to not to discriminate and treat all humans the same.”
As well as the empowerment of women, Nandyal diocese is also active in environmental
protect work and awareness-raising. They have formed a partnership with the Anglican
Church of Korea in planting coconut trees.
Taste and see that the LORD is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in him. Psalm 34:8