Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (abbreviated SKH), also

Hong Kong Sheng Kung
known as the Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal), is the
Anglican church in Hong Kong and Macao. It is the 38th Province Hui
of the Anglican Communion. It is also one of the major
denominations in Hong Kong and the first in the Anglican
Communion to ordain a female priest.[1]

The Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui is divided into three
dioceses in Hong Kong and one missionary area in Macau. Each
diocese is led by a bishop and the missionary area is directly led by
the Archbishop.

The primate of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui holds the title of Abbreviation HKSKH
Archbishop of Hong Kong, and is elected from the diocesan Classification Protestant (with
bishops of the province. Andrew Chan is the current Archbishop various
and Primate and Bishop of Western Kowloon. Timothy Kwok is theological and
Bishop of Eastern Kowloon and Matthias Der is Bishop of Hong doctrinal
Kong Island.[2] Peter Douglas Koon is the provincial secretary identities,
general. The church has approximately 29,000 members.[3]
including Anglo-
Catholic, Liberal
Anglican Communion and Evangelical)
Orientation Anglican
The Anglican Communion is a global family and a fellowship of
churches which trace their roots to the Church of England, with a Scripture Holy Bible
province being a basic autonomous unit. There are presently 41 Theology Anglican doctrine
independent and self-governing provinces spanning over 160
Polity Episcopal
countries. With well over 100 million members, the Anglican
Communion is the third largest church in the world, after the Primate Archbishop
Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Churches. Andrew Chan
Associations Anglican
In the Anglican Communion, there is no central governing
Communion
authority. Churches uphold and proclaim the Catholic and
Hong Kong
Apostolic faith. The front-line unit of Church is the "parish".
Parishes of similar vicinity are then grouped together to form a Christian Council
"diocese". Dioceses sharing similar cultural and national Headquarters 1 Lower Albert
background would unite and form a "province", participating in Road, Central,
the Anglican Communion under the leadership and jurisdiction of Hong Kong
an archbishop.
Territory Hong Kong
The Four Instruments of Unity for the Anglican Macao
Communion:[4] Origin 1843
(Appointment of
1. The Archbishop of Canterbury, first Colonial
2. The Anglican Consultative Council, which is organized Chaplain)
once every three years, 25 October 1998
 3. Lambeth Conference, a global Anglican bishops' (Establishment of
meeting which is held once every ten years, and the Province)
4. Primates' Meeting, the meeting of the most senior Other name(s) Hong Kong
leaders of the church, which is held at least on an
Anglican Church
annual basis.
(Episcopal)
Official website www.hkskh.org
Anglican faith (http://www.hksk
h.org)
The Anglican faith is based on the belief that the Bible, the Holy
Scriptures of the Old and the New Testaments, "contain[s] all
Hong Kong Sheng Kung
things necessary to salvation". Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
further maintains the ministry of the Church which it has received Hui
through the Episcopacy in the three orders of Bishops, Priests, Traditional Chinese 香港聖公會
and Deacons.[4][5] Simplified Chinese 香港圣公会
Transcriptions
History and origin Standard Mandarin

Sheng Kung Hui was founded in British Hong Kong in 1843, Hanyu Pinyin Xiānggǎng
following the Treaty of Nanking.[6] The first colonial chaplain Shènggōnghuì
was Vincent John Stanton.[7] The first Chinese church, St. Bopomofo ㄒㄧㄤ ㄍㄤˇ ㄕㄥˋ ㄍ
Stephen's Church, was founded in 1865. From then onwards, in ㄨㄥ ㄏㄨㄟˋ
the course of development of the Anglican Church in Hong Wade–Giles Hsiang1-kang3
Kong and Macao, churches continued to grow and witnessed the
establishment of the Diocese of Victoria (Chinese: 維多利亞教 Sheng4-kung1-hui4

區 ) in 1849 under the See of Canterbury; the establishment of the Yale Syānggǎng
Kong Yuet Diocese (Chinese: 港粵教區 ) under the Province of Romanization Shèngūnghwèi
the Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (Chinese: 中華聖公會 ) in IPA [ɕjáŋkàŋ ʂə̂ŋkʊ́ŋxwêɪ]
1913, which ran in parallel with the Diocese of Victoria, until it
Yue: Cantonese
resolved in 1951; and the birth of the Diocese of Hong Kong and
Macao (Chinese: 港澳教區 ) in 1951, which was subsequently Yale Heūnggóng
completely separated from the national Chung Hua Sheng Kung Romanization Singgōngwuì
Hui.[8] Jyutping hoeng1 gong2 sing3
gong1 wui2
In the 40th Synod of the Diocese held in December 1991, it was
resolved that steps were to be taken to expand the Diocese into a IPA Cantonese
province and eventually in 1998, the Province of Hong Kong pronunciation:
Sheng Kung Hui was established.[5] [hœ́ ŋkɔ̌ːŋ.ɕɪ̄ŋkɔ́ːŋwǔːi]

Bishops

Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao

Ronald Owen Hall (1951–1966)
Gilbert Baker (1966–1980)
 Peter Kwong Kong-kit (1980–1998)

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

Archbishop and Primate of Hong Kong

Peter Kwong Kong-kit (1998–2006)
Paul Kwong (2007–2021)
Andrew Chan (2021–present)

Bishop of Hong Kong Island

Peter Kwong Kong-kit (1998–2007) Paul Kwong, Primate and
Paul Kwong (2007–2020) Archbishop of Hong Kong
Matthias Der (2021–present)

Bishop of Western Kowloon

Thomas Soo (1998–2012)

Andrew Chan (2012–present)

Bishop of Eastern Kowloon

Louis Tsui (1998–2013)
Timothy Kwok (2014–present)

Structure

Dioceses and Missionary Area

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui consists of three dioceses and one
missionary area. There is a bishop in each diocese. The dioceses
are:

香港島教區)
The Diocese of Hong Kong Island (
The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon (東九龍教區)
The Diocese of Western Kowloon (西九龍教區)
Three dioceses of HKSKH (the
(The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon and the Diocese of Western Missionary Area of Macau is not
Kowloon are divided by the geographical constituencies of the shown)
Legislative Council in the New Territories, and along the
Kowloon-Canton Railway in Kowloon and New Kowloon.)

The missionary area is:

 The Missionary Area of Macao ( 澳門傳道地區)
Parishes and churches

General synod

The Provincial General Synod is composed[5] of the House of

Bishop, the House of Clegy and the House of Laity. Members St. Stephen's Church in Macau
come from the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, the Diocese of
Eastern Kowloon, the Diocese of Western Kowloon and the
Missionary Area of Macao. Under the General Synod, there are different Commissions responsible for
different areas of ministry.

Mission and pastoral work

The Church is a community with no boundaries in age, social or ethnic status. Members include Chinese,
other Asians and Westerners from all over the world. The worship in Churches features English, Filipino,
Cantonese Chinese and Mandarin Chinese.

Pastoral Care
On the parish level, pastoral care is given through fellowships for children, youth, adults,
women, elderly and other related groups to cater to the different needs of people of various
age groups and background. Retreats, silent meditation, pilgrimage and tours to Palestine
are often arranged. Caring for the elderly, family counseling service, spiritual support in
hospitals, pastoral care in correctional institutes, mission to Seafarers and religious
service at the Airport are some of the Church's services.[4]

Religious Education
Religious education of parishes are carried out by Sunday Schools, seminars, disciple
training courses and catechism class, among others. The whole Church relies on the
Religious Education and Resource Centre to co-ordinate religious education research,
provision of religious education curriculum and promotion of religious education. Besides
training ordinands, Ming Hua Theological College also provides multi-faceted
theological, spiritual and biblical studies for laity.[4]

Social service
Social service of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui started in mid 18th Century. At present, many social
service organizations and social service models in Hong Kong were those initiated and promoted by the
Church. Services provided by the Church are multi-faceted, including services for family and child-care,
children and youth, the elderly, rehabilitation service, community development service and other supportive
services. There are more than 230 units providing social service run by Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui at
present.[4]
In January 2010, the Inland Revenue Department began to pursue the SKH for unpaid taxes in the amount
of HK$180 million, relating to a parcel of land in Tai Po which originally housed an orphanage. In 1993,
after the closure of the orphanage, the SKH let Cheung Kong Holdings develop luxury apartments on the
site, and were estimated to have made profits of HK$450 million in cash, in addition to receiving 120
apartments for free.[9]

Social issues
On women's ordination, the church was the first in the Anglican Communion to ordain women to the
priesthood: Florence Li Tim-Oi in 1944 and another in 1971.[10] Churches in Hong Kong and "Christian
clerics are often divided on topics such as... gay rights".[11] In 2007, the former primate, Archbishop Peter
Kwong, stated that "Anglicanism is inclusive...so why shouldn't we find a common ground on
homosexuality?".[12] Beginning in 2013, some leaders in the Hong Kong Anglican Church endorsed social
and civil rights legislation under the auspice of providing protection for LGBT citizens from employment
and other varieties of discrimination.[13][14] The Equal Opportunity Commission chair, York Chow Yat-
ngok, who is Anglican, said that gay "people should not be discriminated against" regardless of religious
views.[15] Later, in 2015, Peter Douglas Koon, the Anglican province's secretary general, denounced
conservative schools' policies against LGBT relationships as discrimination and reassured the public that
Anglican educational institutions would welcome LGBT faculty and students.[16]

Education
There are altogether 33 secondary schools sponsored by Sheng Kung Hui in the territory,[17] amongst
which namely:

Primary schools
Sheng Kung Hui Chu Oi Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Chu Oi Primary School (Lei Muk Shue)
Sheng Kung Hui Ho Chak Wan Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Kei Oi Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Tsing Yi Estate Ho Chak Wan Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Tsing Yi Chu Yan Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Holy Spirit Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui MOS Holy Spirit Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui Holy Trinity Primary School
Sheng Kung Hui St Clement's Primary School

Secondary schools
Diocesan Boys' School
Diocesan Girls' School
Heep Yunn School
Holy Trinity Church Secondary School
Lam Woo Memorial Secondary School
Chan Young Secondary School
 Tang Shiu Kin Secondary School
St. Mark's School
Bishop Mok Sau Tseng Secondary School
St. Paul's Co-educational College
St. Paul's College
St. Stephen's College
St. Stephen's Girls' College

Education reform controversy

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, with its sponsored primary and secondary schools, were embroiled in the
School-Based Management Policy controversy with the government in 2002, five years after the handover.

SKH Ming Hua Theological College

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui runs its own theological college: Ming Hua Theological College, named
after Bishop Ronald Owen Hall. Ming Hua College was established in 1947 by Bishop R.O. Hall in what
was then the Church of England’s Diocese of Victoria. It was at first dedicated to the education of Chinese
lay Christians, particularly from disadvantaged backgrounds. In 1996, now part of the Diocese of Hong
Kong and Macao, the College was renamed Sheng Kung Hui ("Holy Catholic Church") Ming Hua
Theological College and given the responsibility of training priests for full-time ministry in the Church.
This work continues today as part of the Anglican Province of Hong Kong and Macao, with Ming Hua
being the Provincial training centre for clergy and laity.

See also
Christianity portal

Hong Kong portal

Acts of Supremacy
English Reformation
Dissolution of the Monasteries
Ritualism in the Church of England
Apostolicae curae
Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui
Christianity in Hong Kong
Roman Catholic Diocese of Hong Kong

References
1. Moira., Chan-Yeung (December 2015). The practical prophet : Bishop Ronald O. Hall of
Hong Kong and his legacies. Hong Kong. ISBN 9789888208777. OCLC 956622938 (https://
www.worldcat.org/oclc/956622938).
2. "Bishop who spoke out on Hong Kong protests picked as city's next Anglican leader" (https://
www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3106035/bishop-who-spoke-out-hong-kong-
protests-elected-citys-next). South China Morning Post. 2020-10-18. Retrieved 2020-12-05.
 3. "Church Society - Issues - Anglican Communion - How Big?" (https://web.archive.org/web/2
0190107025844/http://churchsociety.org/issues_new/communion/iss_communion_howbig.a
sp). churchsociety.org. Archived from the original (http://churchsociety.org/issues_new/comm
union/iss_communion_howbig.asp) on 2019-01-07. Retrieved 2016-05-02.
4. Guide to Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
5. Constitution of the Province
6. "Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui - Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui - A Brief Introduction" (http://ww
w.hkskh.org/content.aspx?id=10&lang=1).
7. The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to the Anglican Communion. Hawkins, J. Barney (James
Barney). Chichester, West Sussex, UK. 28 May 2013. ISBN 9780470656341.
OCLC 827852606 (https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/827852606).
8. Kwong, Paul (2011). Identity in community : towards a theological agenda for the Hong
Kong SAR. Berlin: Lit. ISBN 9783643900784. OCLC 751746914 (https://www.worldcat.org/o
clc/751746914).
9. Moy, Patsy (2010-01-21), "Taxman chases church for $180m owing on land deal" (http://ww
w.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=30&art_id=93436&sid=26772524&con_typ
e=1), The Standard, retrieved 2010-01-21
10. "First English woman to become an Anglican priest dies aged 92" (https://www.independent.
co.uk/news/uk/home-news/inspirational-first-english-woman-to-become-an-anglican-priest-d
ies-aged-92-10386482.html). The Independent. 2015-07-13. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
11. "Handle with care: Pastor says proper debate can heal Hong Kong's political divide" (http://
www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/1862238/handle-care-pastor-says-proper-de
bate-can-heal-hong-kongs). South China Morning Post. 29 September 2015. Retrieved
2016-05-23.
12. "Hong Kong Anglican leader: Dialogue on Sexuality" (https://web.archive.org/web/20190402
181546/https://www.speroforum.com/a/7313/Hong-Kong-Anglican-leader-Dialogue-on-Sexu
ality#.V0K7nrQ-CT8). www.speroforum.com. Archived from the original (http://www.speroforu
m.com/a/7313/Hong-Kong-Anglican-leader-Dialogue-on-Sexuality#.V0K7nrQ-CT8) on
2019-04-02. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
13. Conger, George (13 April 2013). "Hong Kong push for gay civil rights" (https://geoconger.wor
dpress.com/2013/04/13/hong-kong-push-for-gay-civil-rights-the-church-of-england-newspap
er-april-14-2013-p-7/). geoconger.wordpress.com. The Church of England Newspaper.
Retrieved January 25, 2016.
14. "Fridae | Hong Kong gays and lesbians hold first gay rights rally" (http://www.fridae.asia/gay-
news/printable.php?articleid=1421). www.fridae.asia. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
15. "Sunday Examiner" (https://web.archive.org/web/20160611212300/https://sundayex.catholi
c.org.hk/node/1254?page=1). Sunday Examiner. Archived from the original (https://sundaye
x.catholic.org.hk/node/1254?page=1) on 2016-06-11. Retrieved 2016-05-23.
16. Conant, Ariel; So, Melory (21 September 2015). "HK's closet mindset on LGBT issues" (htt
p://yp.scmp.com/news/features/article/99069/hks-closet-mindset-lgbt-issues). yp.scmp.com.
youngpost. Retrieved January 25, 2016.
17. Website of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, link (http://www.hkskh.org/)

External links
Official website (http://www.hkskh.org/)
SKH Ming Hua Theological College (http://www.minghua.org.hk/)
SKH Religious Education Resource Center (http://www.rerc.org.hk/)
Anglican Communion (http://www.anglicancommunion.org/)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hong_Kong_Sheng_Kung_Hui&oldid=1178695794"