Episcopal Church's order for women establishes in India

An Episcopal order of women who commit themselves to prayer and evangelism recently began its first chapter in India.

The Order of the Daughters of the King was instituted in the Church of North India's Diocese of Durgapur at the end of December, 2010.

Seven women took their vows at St. Michael's, an English-speaking church in the diocesan compound of The Rt. Rev. Probal Kanto Dutta.

The women became the first known Daughters of the King chapter to form in India in the Order's 126-year history.

The chapter originated in the companion relationship between the Diocese of Durgapur and the Diocese of Western North Carolina, US.

Shawnee Irwin, a Daughter from the St. Monica Chapter in Brevard, volunteered to travel to Durgapur in January 2010 and begin the 12-chapter study with the interested women at St. Michael's.

At the end of January Shawnee Irwin will present the Daughters of Faith charter to Bishop Dutta at the annual thanksgiving service of the Durgapur diocese, where attendance is expected to be over three thousand.

Founded in the year 1885, the Daughters of the King is a spiritual sisterhood of women "dedicated to a life of Prayer, Service and Evangelism".

More than 20,000 Daughters in the US and more than 2,500 in other countries have taken vows to follow a life-long program of prayer and service.

The membership of the Order includes women in the Anglican, Episcopal, Lutheran (ELCA) and Roman Catholic churches.