Indian Missionaries solving Britain's Priest Shortage

A shortage of priests in Britain has led to a new wave of clergymen being drafted in from India. The latest Indian priest to be brought to Britain's shores is Rev Kesari Godfrey, who has been appointed curate at the Priory Church in Bridlington, Yorkshire.

It is not only Indian priests who are coming to serve in British churches, but there has also been a steady increase in the number of Christian migrants, particularly from Kerala, coming to Britain and boosting dwindling congregations.

The Asian Age publication in India has explained how Indians are returning the work of British missionaries who travelled to remote tribal areas throughout the 19th century to convert tribes to follow Jesus Christ.

Rev Godfrey, 34, is a member of the Church in South India, and will carry out his curacy for three to four years in Yorkshire.

Prior to taking up this position, Rev Godfrey studied for his PhD at the University of Birmingham, and was later licensed by the Archbishop of York, Dr John Sentamu, who is originally from Uganda, to assist at St George's Church in Edgbaston as a preacher and teacher.

Rev Godfrey said: "I want to share my experience of God and encourage more people into the church."

One of the first Indian priests to arrive in Britain to preach Christianity, The Asian Age reports, was Rev Hmar Sangkhuma, from the Diocese of Mizoram in north-eastern India. Mizoram has a majority Christian population that was initially converted by missionaries from Wales between 1840 and 1960.

Rev Sangkhuma has felt the call to return to what is in essence his "spiritual homeland", to offer guidance to the local Welsh population in Maesteg, near Bridgend.