Sudarshana ‘Suda’ Devadhar. (Photo: Courtesy, www.umc.org)

A Methodist minister, hailing from Karnataka in India, has been appointed bishop of Greater New Jersey Conference (diocese) of the United Methodist Church. Bishop Sudarshana ‘Suda’ Devadhar is the second Indian to receive this honor in the United States. The first was Johncy Itty, who took the oath of bishop at the Oregon Diocese last year.

The United Methodist Church, with 8.5 million members, is the nation’s second largest Protestant denomination.

The United Methodist Church was formed in 1968 when the Evangelical United Brethren and Methodist churches merged.

Devadhar served as a minister in India before coming to the U.S. in the late 1970’s. He was the pastor of several churches in northern New York State in the 80s and 90s, including six years in Canton.

The bishop, who is on the board of the United Methodist Church’s General Commission on Christian Unity and Interreligious Concerns, has been active in ecumenism. He received the Ecumenical Service Award from the New York State Council of Churches.

For Devadhar, this profession appears to be an almost natural choice. Both his father and uncle were in the same profession.

He became a priest of the Church of South India, which is part of the Anglican Communion. In 1980, the bishop headed to the U.S. to do a Ph.D. Today, he is one of the 50 bishops leading the United Methodist Church in the United States.