
Lesa Scholl
9 January 2025
When she left her family in India as a teenager to study in Australia, Reverend Lydia Thangadurai never imagined that she would be ordained, let alone become Australia’s first-ever Succentor.
More common in English cathedrals, the Succentor is the Precentor’s deputy and assists with liturgy and worship. Ms Thangadurai was installed into this role at St Paul’s Cathedral on Advent Sunday last year.
Ms Thangadurai’s path to leadership and ordination was not straightforward. She said there were many factors that initially made her hesitate.
“I’m from a foreign country, I don’t have my family here and being a woman of a different colour…I thought it was only for people who are very knowledgeable and can present everything in a perfect way,” she said.
Read more: The international student who relied only on God
Ms Thangadurai’s story is one of determination, resilience and faith through generations, and of hardship and uncertainty overcome by the grace of God.
During the 1983–2009 Sri Lankan civil war, Ms Thangadurai’s grandparents moved their family to Tamil Nadu in India. Later her parents moved to Karnataka.
Ms Thangadurai’s decision to move to Australia was motivated by her desire to support her family and help her siblings be educated when her father fell ill.
“The purpose of me coming to Australia was to help my family,” she said.
Visa uncertainties and exploitative work environments made Ms Thangadurai’s first decade in Australia challenging, but her connection to her church family at St Paul’s gave her strength and support.
She said that being a migrant, she had no idea what the Fair Work ombudsman was, but the cathedral congregation helped her a lot.
She said that returning now to serve the community that had helped her so much was humbling.
Ms Thangadurai recalled her first years as a regular worshipper at St Paul’s when she would sit in the last pew and leave as soon as the service was over because she was too nervous to talk to anyone.
Gradually she began to connect with people through morning tea, leading bible studies, and then as a verger, reader and intercessor.
Ms Thangadurai attributed her faith and determination to the way her parents and grandparents raised their family.
Her parents brought her up to rely on God more than she relied on them, she said.
“Even though my parents couldn’t financially support me, I was strong in myself that if God has brought me here, there is a purpose, and God’s not going to let me down,” she said.
A special moment for Ms Thangadurai was when her parents were first able to visit her in Australia two years ago for her ordination as a priest.
“I always wanted my family [there] because we are close-knit,” she said. “And by God’s grace I was able to bring them…to witness my ordination.”
Read more: ‘It is Christ who has called you’: Eighteen new priests ordained
Ms Thangadurai paid tribute to her mother, who taught all seven children the bible from a young age.
“What she has given us, given me, has made me strong, and I am grateful for that foundation,” she said. “What she gave is what I am reaping today in the work I am doing.”
Ms Thangadurai has a heart for people with disability because her brother has cerebral palsy.
“Having grown up with him has widened my thinking that God is for all people, and God cares about all people. They are also meant to be in the Church and do something for God,” she said.
Before returning to St Paul’s, Ms Thangadurai served as curate at St John’s, Toorak. She said that being back was both daunting and humbling.
For more faith news, follow The Melbourne Anglican on Facebook, Instagram, X, or subscribe to our weekly emails.