Presbyterian Church in Malaysia

The Presbyterian Church in Malaysia or GPM (Malay: Gereja

Presbyterian Church in
Presbyterian Malaysia) is a Christian church in Malaysia.
Established as an independent synod in 1974, it currently has Malaysia
approximately 7,000 members in 100 congregations nationwide.[1]

The current Moderator of the GPM is the Rev. Chua Hua Peng.

History
Logo of the Presbyterian Church in
The Presbyterian Church in Malaysia today is the result of the Malaysia
convergence of two parallel historical developments that shares Classification Protestant
common roots but diverged early in work and emphasis - the
English-speaking Synod of the English Presbytery and the Orientation Calvinist
Chinese-speaking Singapore Presbyterian Synod.[2] Polity Presbyterian
Moderator Rev. Chua Hua
Early developments Peng
Associations WARC, CWM,
The earliest contact with the Presbyterianism was through the CCM, CFM,
Dutch control of the Portuguese Malacca in 1641. The staunchly CCA, WCC
Reformed Protestant Dutch banned the practice of Roman
Region Malaysia
Catholicism in Malacca and converted all existing churches in
Malacca for Dutch Reformed use. The main church used was the Origin 1974
old St. Paul's Church (renamed as the Bovenkerk by the Dutch) Branched from Presbyterian
built by the Portuguese in 1521 as the Nosa Senhora (Portuguese: Church in
Our Lady of the Hill) chapel on the summit of St. Paul's Hill.
Singapore and
Construction of a new church started in 1741 to replace the ageing Malaysia
Bovenkerk and was completed in 1753. This church reflects Congregations 100
distinctive Dutch Presbyterian traditions within its interior
Members 7,000
architecture [3] and continues to be used for Christian worship
today. Primary schools 2

When control of Malacca passed on to the British as a result of the Anglo-Dutch Treaty of 1824, the church
was re-consecrated according to the rites of the Church of England by the Anglican Bishop of Calcutta in
1838 and renamed Christ Church.[4]

Pioneering work

Many early missionaries from the London Missionary Society (LMS) such as William Milne who arrived in
Malacca in 1815 were from Presbyterian or Reformed backgrounds and many LMS missionaries assisted in
the providing spiritual nurture to the Scots community in Penang and Singapore along with chaplains of the
East India Company who conducted worship for Church of England members.
One of the early missionaries was Benjamin Keasberry of the LMS who arrived in Singapore in 1839
while en route to China. Seeing the potential of Malay language work, he opted to stay in Singapore
engaging the noted teacher, Munshi Abdullah, to assist him in improving his Malay linguistic skills.[5] He
started Malay language services in the LMS Chapel at Bras Basah and in 1843 acquired a piece of land in
Kampong Bencoolen to build the Malay Mission Chapel. The chapel became popularly known as Gereja
Keasberry or "Keasberry's Church" [6] This eventually became the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church
when the English Presbyterian Mission bought over the property from the LMS.[7]

With the departure of LMS missionaries to China after the Treaty of Nanking in 1847 with the notable
exception of Keasberry, the local Scottish communities took steps to call their own ministers. This led to the
arrival of Charles Moir in Penang in 1851 followed by Thomas McKenzie Fraser in Singapore in 1856.
The Orchard Road Presbyterian Church in Singapore was established in 1856 to minister to the expatriates.

The expatriate churches

The Chinese mission

Ministering to the Chinese diaspora

Both Moir and Fraser attempted to extend work beyond the expatriate communities. Moir resigned in 1857
without much success although the congregation in Penang remains functioning, at times, for extended
periods without a minister. Fraser successfully recruited an ethnic Chinese catechist from south Fujian, Tan
See Boo, who was later ordained an elder in 1864. Unfortunately, Tan left on 1866 to join the Brethren.[8]

In 1881, the Orchard Road congregation finally succeeded in obtaining a full-time missionary to the
Chinese. The Rev. J.A.B. Cook, who was fluent in the Swatow and Southern Fujian dialects arrived in
Singapore in November 1881. The English Presbyterian Mission under the supervision of the Cook
organised the first Chinese congregation in Bukit Timah. It was the arrival of Cook that was eventually
chosen to mark the founding of the present Presbyterian Churches of Malaysia and Singapore.[8]

Mission expansion to Malaya

In 1886, Cook expanded the mission to the southern tip of Malaya in Johor Bahru to minister to the
Teochew Chinese community. This work was supported by a prominent Johor businessman and the son-in-
law of Keasberry, James Meldrum, who helped obtain a land grant for the church building from Sultan Abu
Bakar of Johor who was a former student of Keasberry.[9] Work was expanded to Muar in 1892 with the
Rev. Liau Thian Ek as the first pastor.

Work in Penang continued abreast especially after the arrival of William Murray in 1892 who helped put
Penang's congregation on a more solid footing. Pastoral responsibility of Penang's St. Andrew's
Presbyterian Church eventually extended beyond Penang to Province Wellesley, Kedah, northern Perak,
southern Thailand and North Sumatera.[8]

Consolidation
In 1884, Cook wrote that a presbytery had been formed with him as the moderator and three Chinese
elders. In January 1901, Cook convened a meeting of ministers and elders of the Chinese mission and the
Singapore Presbyterian Synod was formed.[10][11]

Beliefs and practices

Apostles Creed
Westminster Confession[12][13]

Affiliations
World Communion of Reformed Churches
Council for World Mission[12]

See also
City Discipleship Presbyterian Church [www.cdpc.org.my]
St Andrews Presbyterian Church in Kuala Lumpur [1] (http://standrewschurch.org.my)
Christianity in Malaysia
Christianity in Singapore

References
1. Council of Churches of Malaysia: Members - Presbyterian Church in Malaysia (http://www.cc
malaysia.org/about/members.htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20070601172319/h
ttp://www.ccmalaysia.org/about/members.htm) 1 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine
2. "Malaysia - About Our Work - Presbyterian Mission Agency" (http://www.presbyterianmissio
n.org/ministries/global/malaysia/).
3. Hunt, Robert; Lee Kam Hing; John Roxborogh (1992). Christianity in Malaysia - A
Denominational History. Kuala Lumpur: Pelanduk Publications. ISBN 978-967-978-407-7.
4. Sadayandy, Batumalai (2007). A Bicentenary History of the Anglican Church of the Diocese
of West Malaysia. Malaysia: S. Batumalai.
5. Sng, Bobby E.K. (2003). In His Good Time: The Story of the Church in Singapore 1819–
2002 (3rd ed. ed.). Singapore: Bible Society of Singapore. p. 337. ISBN 981-220-286-2
6. Buckley, Charles Burton (1965). An Anecdotal History of Old Times in Singapore 1819-
1867. Singapore: University of Malaya Press. pp. 320–322. ASIN B0016C71S0 (https://ww
w.amazon.com/dp/B0016C71S0).
7. "History of the Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church" (http://www.pspc.org.sg/ourchurch/about
us.htm). Prinsep Street Presbyterian Church. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
8. Hunt, John; Lee Kam Hing; John Roxborogh (1992). Christianity in Malaysia - A
Denominational History (http://roxborogh.com/REFORMED/malaysia.htm). Kuala Lumpur:
Pelanduk Publications. pp. 75–106. ISBN 978-967-978-407-7.
9. "Church History" (https://web.archive.org/web/20120426032342/http://church.org.my/hlcjb/?
page_id=41). Gereja Presbyterian Holy Light. Archived from the original (http://church.org.m
y/hlcjb/?page_id=41) on 26 April 2012. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
10. "History (1901)" (https://web.archive.org/web/20110430184007/http://gpm.org.my/about/190
0-1949/1901-2/). Presbyterian Church in Malaysia. Archived from the original (http://gpm.org.
my/about/1900-1949/1901-2/) on 30 April 2011. Retrieved 7 December 2011.
11. "History of PCS" (https://archive.today/20120908033631/http://www.presbyterian.org.sg/hom
e/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4&lang=en). Presbyterian
Church in Singapore. Archived from the original (http://www.presbyterian.org.sg/home/index.
php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4&Itemid=4&lang=en) on 8 September 2012.
Retrieved 7 December 2011.
12. Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions" (http://www.ref
ormiert-online.net/adressen/detail.php?id=13210&lg=eng). www.reformiert-online.net.
13. Fasse, Christoph. "Address data base of Reformed churches and institutions" (http://www.ref
ormiert-online.net/adressen/detail.php?lg=eng&id=13262). www.reformiert-online.net.

External links
Gereja Presbyterian Malaysia (http://www.gpm.org.my/)

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