Revd Smitha will be consecrated as the new Bishop of Huddersfield on Thursday June 22nd

Taking up pioneering roles runs in the family for the Chaplain of St Albans, Copenhagen, who is set to become the first Indian woman bishop in the Church of England.

The Revd Canon Smitha Prasadam was recently appointed as the Bishop of Huddersfield. She says her mother, Canon Jemima Prasadam, paved the way for her, after she became the first Indian woman priest to be ordained in the Church of England in 1994.

“My mother was in the first cohort of women to be ordained priests and by a real ‘God-incidence’, I am now going to be the first Indian woman bishop. And the announcement of my appointment was made on International Womens’ Day… I stand on the shoulders of a giant who is four foot 10!”

Smitha said her mother remained an inspiration and was still involved in ministry in Richmond-on-Thames where she is a community priest, assisting in six different churches.

Smitha’s new role as an Area Bishop in the Diocese of Leeds, will take her back to Yorkshire where she studied English Literature and Linguistics at the College of Ripon and York St John, (University of Leeds).

“It will be interesting to go as a bishop to the place where I was a student. I remember joining a Midnight Mass at Ripon Cathedral when it was broadcast live on the BBC and I read one of the poems. It is extraordinary to think that all these years later, I go back there to serve as a bishop.”

When she heard the news of her appointment Smitha said she was delighted at first, but now feels slightly terrified.

“I realised that my ordination as bishop is on the 21st of June and just two days later, I will be ordaining priests in Huddersfield. That is a wakeup call about what the role is! The daunting thing is that it isn’t about one parish, one local setting, but about being available to the whole area, to love and to cherish all the efforts, all the people. It will be joyful, but it will also be challenging to have that wider perspective.”

“The bishop role is a calling to care and to bless,” Smitha said. “So, I am really looking forward to being a priest among the priests, caring for them, nurturing them. I think much of the bishop’s role is to cherish and to bless, and what an enormous privilege that is.”

She said one of the bishops in the Church of South India, Bishop Anand Rao Samuel, had been a particular inspiration to her when she was growing up. The Bishop’s wife was killed in a petrol attack on their car.

“It was very costly discipleship for him, and he was often under attack,” Smitha said. “For him to continue to minister with utter grace and forgiveness and to be true to his calling as bishop was the most inspiring for me as a child.”

Smitha said she had learned so much over the past five years in the diocese from both Bishop Robert and Bishop David. “Bishop Robert is so hard working, able to hold a diocese of 42 countries and jurisdictions. He is an extraordinary man and his strategic vision and leadership is exemplary.

“And I know nobody who has got the buoyancy and bubble of Bishop David and his utter care and wisdom. No one I have ever met does a confirmation service like him. He is the one who makes it real when we say, ‘you are cherished and beloved of God’, he makes it real for every person.”

Talking about her time in the diocese, Smitha said she would miss the strong bonds she had made with people across a whole range of countries.

“What I missed when I came from the UK to Denmark was the collegiality that I took for granted, because in the UK you always meet with clergy and they are just down the road. But here I am going to miss collegiality in a different way. In the Diocese in Europe, because we are living in different countries, we have valued those relationships in the diocese even more. I have valued being connected with people in Iceland, or Norway or Latvia, and also further away in southern France, in Greece and Crete. So, though we are far away geographically, in heart we’re together.”

Leaving the beautiful country of Denmark, Smitha said she feels privileged to have lived in a country so well served by its government and so well resourced. “It is one of the happiest countries and it is so beautiful, wherever you go it’s sea and woods. And of course, I will miss the flat as I return to the hills and dales of Yorkshire!”

Smitha also paid tribute to St Alban's Church in Copenhagen, where the congregation is made up of around 25 different nationalities. She said, “When Bishop Robert visited last year, he immediately commented that the congregation was younger and more diverse than when he had visited seven years ago. This is reflected at every level of church governance and participation. Young people lead, read, intercede, and the Church Council is representative of the many, rather than the few. We have adopted the ‘Rule of life’ – Knowing God, growing in Christ, building community and living beyond ourselves - and this permeates every aspect of our mission and ministry. Such transformation renders St Alban's a place of ‘disruptive grace’.”

"My ministry in parish, advocacy and advisory roles over 20 years is joy, justice and dreaming God’s dream anew. I hope to be instrumental in connecting people to God so that they can discover a sense of something wondrous, joyous and beautiful to develop and deepen a relationship with God, that is life giving and meaningful in today's challenging world."

Smitha, was born in India and was part of the Church of South India, where her parents were pioneer mission partners with the Church Missionary Society. The family moved to the UK

when Smitha was still at school. She was ordained in 2003 and served as Vicar of St Paul’s, Hamstead, and Curate of St Paul’s, Blackheath, both in the Diocese of Birmingham, before moving to her current role in Copenhagen.

Smitha initiated the Racial Justice Working Group in the diocese and serves as the Bishop’s racial justice adviser, vocations adviser and chair of the House of Clergy. She is a member of General Synod, the Liturgical Commission, and St John’s College Council Durham. She has also been a member of the Archbishop’s Transformations Steering Group, established in 2011 to ensure the “flourishing of women’s ministry”. Last year she was elected as the chair of the Anglican Minority Ethnic Network (AMEN).