Bishop of Kuching
| Bishop of Kuching | |
|---|---|
| Bishopric | |
| anglican | |
|
Incumbent: Bolly Lapok | |
| Province | South East Asia |
| Diocese | Kuching |
| Cathedral | St. Thomas' Cathedral |
| First incumbent | Francis Thomas McDougall |
| Formation | 1855, current establishment in 1962 |
The Bishop of Kuching is the ordinary of the Anglican Diocese of Kuching in the Church of the Province of South East Asia. The bishop exercises episcopal authority over Anglican churches in the Malaysian state of Sarawak and in the independent nation of Brunei Darussalam.[1]
The see is in the city of Kuching where the seat of the bishop is located at St. Thomas' Cathedral, originally built in 1848 and consecrated in 1851 as the home church and base for the Borneo Church Mission in Sarawak.[2] The first Bishop of Kuching to be styled as such was appointed in 1962.[3]
In 1968, the Right Reverend Datuk Basil Temenggong was appointed the bishop of the diocese, becoming the first native Malaysian and Sarawakian to be appointed to the seat.[4] The current bishop is the Most Reverend Datuk Bolly Lapok who is also concurrently the Archbishop of South East Asia.[5]
The bishop's residence is in The Bishop's House on a small hill in Kuching known as College Hill within the compound of the Cathedral. Initially constructed in 1849 as The Mission House and served as the first dispensary in Kuching.[6]
History
Anglican missions to the Kingdom of Sarawak began in 1848 under the auspices of the Borneo Church Mission. Episcopal authority of the mission was placed with the Diocese of Calcutta. Initiatives were made to create a separate diocese for the mission with the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel supporting the move and contributing a sum of £5,000 towards the endowment.[7]
Unfortunately political conventions of the day did not allow for an Anglican diocese to be created outside territories administered directly by the British Crown and Sarawak was technically an independent kingdom under British protection. This difficulty was overcome when a letters patent was made in 1855 erecting the Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak based in the British Crown Colony of Labuan.[7] This diocese covered a large geographical area including Sarawak, British North Borneo, and the Strait Settlements. In 1909, the Diocese of Singapore was separated from the diocese and the diocese reverted to the name Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak.[8] In 1949, the diocese was again renamed as the Diocese of Borneo.[9]
This arrangement continued until the division of the Diocese of Borneo into the Diocese of Kuching and the Diocese of Jesselton (renamed the Diocese of Sabah in 1968).[4][10]
List of bishops
| Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1856 | 1869 | Francis Thomas McDougall | ||
| Bishops of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore | ||||
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1869 | 1881 | Walter Chambers | Churches in the Straits Settlements separated from the Diocese of Calcutta and placed under the Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. Diocese renamed Diocese of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore. | |
| 1882 | 1908 | George Frederick Hose | ||
| Bishops of Labuan and Sarawak | ||||
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1909 | 1916 | William Robert Rupert Mounsey | Churches in Singapore were separated from the Diocese to form its own Diocese of Singapore. The Diocese reverted to the name of Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. | |
| 1917 | 1931 | Ernest Denny Logie Danson | ||
| 1932 | 1937 | Noel Baring Hudson | ||
| 1938 | 1948 | Francis Septimus Hollis | ||
| Bishop of Borneo | ||||
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1948 | 1962 | Nigel Edmund Cornwall | The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Borneo and included Anglican missions in Kalimantan. | |
| Bishops of Kuching | ||||
| From | Until | Incumbent | Notes | |
| 1963 | 1968 | David Howard Nicholas Allenby | The diocese was separated into the Diocese of Kuching and the Diocese of Jesselton. | |
| 1968 | 1984 | Basil Temenggong | The first native Malaysian and Sarawakian to be appointed as bishop. | |
| 1985 | 1995 | John Leong Chee Yun | ||
| 1996 | 2007 | Made Katib | ||
| 2007 | present | Bolly Lapok | Elected the Archbishop of South East Asia in 2011. | |
| Sources: [3][9][10][11][12][13][14] | ||||
See also
- Diocese of Kuching
- Diocese of Sabah
- Anglican Diocese of Singapore
- Diocese of West Malaysia
- Church of the Province of South East Asia
External links
References
- ↑ "Diocese of Kuching - Our Location" (PDF). Diocese of Kuching. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ "Diocese of Kuching - St. Thomas' Cathedral". Diocese of Kuching. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- 1 2 "Installed Bishop". The Straits Times. 15 January 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- 1 2 Peter, Varney (July–December 1969). "Iban Leaders in the Anglican Church 1848-1968". Sarawak Museum Journal. XVII (34-35). Retrieved 6 March 2012.
Basil Temenggong, the first Sarawakian, consecrated and enthroned the Bishop of Kuching. The Diocese of Jesselton changed to the Diocese of Sabah.
- ↑ Ten, Marilyn (12 February 2012). "Historic installation today". Borneo Post. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
- ↑ "Bishop's House - a state heritage". mysarawak.org. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- 1 2 "Diocese of Kuching - About Us". Diocese of Kuching. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ "Diocese of Singapore - History". Diocese of Singapore. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- 1 2 "Cornwall; Nigel Edmund (1903-1984); Bishop of Borneo". National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives. Lambeth Palace Library. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- 1 2 Hall, R. O. (1966). The First Years - Being the early history of The Council of the Church in South East Aisa (PDF). Hong Kong: The Anglican Literature Society. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ Green, Eda (c. 1909). "Borneo: The Land of River and Palm". Borneo Mission Society. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ "Allenby; David Howard Nicholas (1909-1995); bishop of Kuching". National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives. Lambeth Palace Library. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ "Diocese of Kuching - Bishops of the Diocese" (PDF). Diocese of Kuching. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
- ↑ Poon, Michael. "CSCA Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Archives on Borneo Mission. A Guide.". The Centre for the Study of Christianity in Asia. Retrieved 6 March 2012.