Church of the Province of South East Asia

The Church of the Province of South East Asia is an

Church of the Province of
autonomous member of the Anglican Communion, created in 1996
with the four dioceses of Kuching, Sabah, Singapore and West Southeast Asia
Malaysia.

There are approximately 98,000 Anglicans within the province,

and the current Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the
Province is Melter Tais, Bishop of Sabah.

History Provincial Crest of the Province of

Anglican Church in South East Asia
Classification Protestant
Early developments
Orientation Anglican
Anglicanism was first introduced with the establishment of the Scripture Holy Bible
British East India Company's settlement of Penang Island in 1786. Theology Anglican doctrine
George Caunter, a local magistrate, was appointed as a Lay
Clerk/Acting Chaplain in 1799 under the jurisdiction of the See of Polity Episcopal
Calcutta. In 1819, the first Anglican church building, the Church Primate Melter Tais
of St. George the Martyr, was consecrated by the Bishop of Headquarters Singapore
Calcutta, Thomas Fanshawe Middleton.
Territory Malaysia,
In 1826, the Mission Chapel of the London Missionary Society Singapore, Brunei,
(LMS) started services in Singapore and the first church building Indonesia,
in Singapore was built in 1837. In 1842, a missionary of the LMS Thailand,
started the first girls school in Singapore, now known as St. Cambodia, Laos,
Margaret's School. The work in Borneo started in 1848 when a
Vietnam and
group of missionaries led by Francis Thomas McDougall was
Nepal
invited by James Brooke, the Rajah of Sarawak. In 1849, a
wooden church was built in Kuching. In 1851, this church was Independence 1996
consecrated by Daniel Wilson, Bishop of Calcutta in honour of St. Members 98,000
Thomas the Apostle.

Establishment of missionary dioceses

Letters patent was issued in 1855 to establish the Bishopric of Labuan and McDougall was appointed the
first Bishop of Labuan. McDougall was also appointed the Bishop of Sarawak by the Rajah of Sarawak
due to the political conventions of the day ruled that no Anglican Diocese might be created outside the
limits of the British Empire, and Sarawak was then technically an independent kingdom. This practice
prevailed until the Sarawak became a Crown Colony in 1946.

In 1867, The East India Company transferred Penang to the British Crown and with that ended the
chaplaincy of the Madras Presidency in Penang. The Anglican churches in Penang, Malacca and Singapore
were organised into the Church in the Straits Settlement while remaining under the jurisdiction of the See of
Calcutta.

The Church in the Straits Settlement was separated from the See of
Calcutta by an Act of Parliament in 1869 and placed under the
episcopal care of the Bishop of Labuan as the United Diocese of
Singapore, Labuan and Sarawak. In 1909, the United Diocese was
further divided into the Diocese of Singapore, the Diocese of
Labuan and the Bishopric of Sarawak. The 3 separate Dioceses
developed independently from then onwards until the creation of
the Province.

Anglican work in Malaya and Singapore

(1909–1996)

The period between the division of the United Diocese and the
James Brooke, Rajah of Sarawak
outbreak of the Second World War in the Pacific, missionary work
brought in missionaries in 1848.
continued with increasing ordination of local clergy and planting of
churches all throughout the Malaya and Singapore.

During the duration of the Second World War, most expatriate clergy and missionaries were interned by the
Japanese. Without the benefit of its expatriate clergy, the work of the church fell on the shoulders of local
clergy and church workers.

This development highlighted the urgent need for training local leaders for this developing part of the
Anglican Church and eventually led to the establishment of Singapore's Trinity Theological College in
1951.

Malaya gained her independence from British rule in 1957. Following this, in 1960, the Diocese was
renamed the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya. In 1970, the churches in West Malaysia were separated
from the Diocese and reconstituted as the Diocese of West Malaysia by an Act of Parliament and the
Diocese was renamed the Diocese of Singapore.

Anglican work in British Borneo (1909–1996)

Work in British Borneo after the division of the United Diocese until the outbreak of the Second World War
followed a similar pattern to the work in Malaya and Singapore. It was supported from 1909 by the Borneo
Mission Association. Anglican missionaries were however more successful than their counterparts in
Malaya and Singapore in evangelising the indigenous peoples.

Following the devastation of the Second World War, the Diocese of Labuan and the Bishopric of Sarawak
was joined together as the Diocese of Borneo and the first bishop, Nigel Cornwall, was consecrated in
1949. In 1962, the Diocese was again divided into the Diocese of Jesselton (later Diocese of Sabah) which
included Labuan, and the Diocese of Kuching which included Brunei.

Province of South East Asia

In 1996, autocephaly was attained when the Province of South East Asia consisting of the Dioceses of
West Malaysia, Singapore, Kuching and Sabah was established by the then-Archbishop of Canterbury,
George Carey. Moses Tay, Bishop of Singapore, was installed as the first Metropolitan Archbishop of the
Province the same year. The Province celebrated its 20th Anniversary in February 2016.

Membership
Today, there are at least 98,000 Anglicans out of an estimated population of 33.9 million.

Structure
The polity of the Church of the Province of South East Asia is Episcopalian church governance, which is
the same as other Anglican churches. The church maintains a system of geographical parishes organised
into dioceses. The Province is divided into four dioceses. Furthermore, the Dioceses of Kuching, West
Malaysia and Singapore are further subdivided into archdeaconries and deaneries.

The Diocese of Kuching

The Diocese of Sabah
The Diocese of Singapore
The Diocese of West Malaysia

Current diocesan bishops

Melter Tais – Archbishop of South East Asia and Bishop of Sabah
Steven Abbarow – Bishop of West Malaysia
Danald Jute – Bishop of Kuching
 Titus Chung – Bishop of Singapore

List of primates of South East Asia

Archbishops of South East Asia

From Until Incumbent Notes

1996 2000 Moses Tay b. 1934, also Bishop of Singapore from

1982–1999.
2000 2006[1] Yong Ping Chung PGDK b. 1941, also Bishop of Sabah from 1990-
2006.[2]
2006 12 John Chew b. 1947, retired after attaining clerical
February retirement age; also Bishop of Singapore
2012 from 2000-2012.

12 22 Bolly Lapok DPMS PGBK b. 1952, elected in September 2011;[3]

February February Installed on 12 February 2012. Also Bishop
2012 2016 of Kuching from 2007 to 2017.

22 9 Ng Moon Hing PJN b. 1955, elected in September 2015;[4]

February February Installed on 22 February 2016. Also Bishop
2016 2020 of West Malaysia since 2007.
9 February Melter Tais Elected in September 2019;[5] Installed on 9
February 2024 February 2020. Also Bishop of Sabah since
2020 2014.
February pending Titus Chung Elected in September 2023; will be install in
2024 February 2024. Also Bishop of Singapore
since 2020.

Worship and liturgy

The Church of the Province of South East Asia embraces three orders of ministry: deacon, priest, and
bishop. A local variant of the Book of Common Prayer is used.

Doctrine and practice

The center of the Church of the Province of South East Asia's
teaching is the life and resurrection of Jesus Christ. The basic
teachings of the church, or catechism, includes:

Jesus Christ is fully human and fully God. He died and

The Amoy Hymnal published by St.
Stephen's Parish, Manila, Philippines
Baptism and Holy Eucharist
was resurrected from the dead.
Jesus provides the way of eternal life for those who
believe.
The Old and New Testaments of the Bible were written
by people "under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit". The
Apocrypha are additional books that are used in
Christian worship, but not for the formation of doctrine.
The two great and necessary sacraments are Holy
 Other sacramental rites are confirmation, ordination, marriage, reconciliation of a penitent,
and unction.
Belief in heaven, hell, and Jesus's return in glory.

The threefold sources of authority in Anglicanism are scripture, tradition, and reason. These three sources
uphold and critique each other in a dynamic way. This balance of scripture, tradition and reason is traced to
the work of Richard Hooker, a sixteenth-century apologist. In Hooker's model, scripture is the primary
means of arriving at doctrine and things stated plainly in scripture are accepted as true. Issues that are
ambiguous are determined by tradition, which is checked by reason.[6]

Ecumenical relations

The dioceses of the Church of the Province of South East Asia participate in the ecumenical World Council
of Churches via their respective national church councils:

Council of Churches of Malaysia[7]

Diocese of Kuching and Brunei
Diocese of Sabah
Diocese of West Malaysia
National Council of Churches of Singapore[8]
Diocese of Singapore

However, unlike many other Anglican churches, the Church of the Province of South East Asia is not a
member of the World Council of Churches in its own right.[9]

Anglican realignment
Together with the Church of the Province of Rwanda, the Church of the Province of South East Asia
maintained a missionary organisation, the Anglican Mission in the Americas, in the United States and
Canada, from 2000 to 2011. The Church of the Province of South East Asia has been active in the
Anglican realignment, as member of the Global South and the Global Anglican Future Conference.

The province was represented at the GAFCON III, held on 17–22 June 2018, in Jerusalem, by a 18
members delegation, coming from Malaysia, Singapore and Cambodia.[10]

See also
Christianity in Malaysia
Christianity in Singapore
Status of religious freedom in Malaysia

References
1. Anglican Communion News Service – Biography of the New Archbishop of South East Asia
(2000) (http://www.anglicancommunion.org/acns/news.cfm/2000/2/24/ACNS2044)
2. Who's Who in the Anglican Mission in America (http://communityofacts.tripod.com/id8.html)
 3. Anglican Communion News Service – Fourth Archbishop... (http://www.anglicancommunion.
org/acns/news.cfm/2011/9/22/ACNS4943)
4. ACNS Datuk Ng Moon Hing elected Primate of South East Asia (http://www.anglicannews.or
g/news/2015/09/datuk-ng-moon-hing-elected-primate-of-south-east-asia.aspx)
5. "Rector Writes" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160131112849/http://hoprayer.org/Rector%2
0Writes.html). www.hoprayer.org. Archived from the original (http://www.hoprayer.org/Recto
r%20Writes.html) on 31 January 2016.
6. Anglican Listening (http://www.anglicanlistening.org/anglican_listening_61766_ENG_HTM.
htm) Archived (https://web.archive.org/web/20080705192528/http://www.anglicanlistening.or
g/anglican_listening_61766_ENG_HTM.htm) 5 July 2008 at the Wayback Machine Detail on
how scripture, tradition, and reason work to "uphold and critique each other in a dynamic
way".
7. "Council of Churches of Malaysia" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080522125256/http://ww
w.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/malaysia/ccm.html). Archived from the
original (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/malaysia/ccm.html)
on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008. Council of Churches of Malaysia
8. "National Council of Churches of Singapore" (https://web.archive.org/web/2008051401415
4/http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/singapore/nccs.html).
Archived from the original (http://www.oikoumene.org/en/member-churches/regions/asia/sin
gapore/nccs.html) on 14 May 2008. Retrieved 23 May 2008. National Council of Churches of
Singapore
9. http://www.oikoumene.org/?id=3587 World Council of Churches
10. GAFCON III largest pan-Anglican gathering since Toronto Congress of 1963, Anglican Ink,
20 June 2018 (http://anglican.ink/2018/06/20/gafcon-iii-largest-pan-anglican-gathering-since
-toronto-congress-of-1963/)

Further reading
Neill, Stephen. Anglicanism. Harmondsworth, 1965.

External links
Diocese of West Malaysia (https://web.archive.org/web/20090430152023/http://www.anglica
nwestmalaysia.org.my/) – official website
Diocese of Singapore (http://www.anglican.org.sg/) – official website
Diocese of Kuching (http://kuching.anglican.org/) – official website
Diocese of Sabah (http://www.anglicansabah.org/) – official website
Historical documents on Anglicanism in Borneo/Sarawak (http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sar
awak/index.html)
Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Archives on Borneo Mission (https://web.archive.or
g/web/20120204204905/http://www.ttc.edu.sg/csca/rart_doc/ang/spg.html) – Centre for the
Study of Christianity in Asia

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