Bishop of Kuching

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]

Bishop of Kuching
Bishopric
anglican
Incumbent:
Danald Jute @ Donald Alvin Jute Aheng
Location
Ecclesiastical provinceSouth East Asia
Information
First holderFrancis Thomas McDougall
Established1855, current establishment in 1962
DioceseKuching
CathedralSt. Thomas' Cathedral

The see is in the city of Kuching where the seat of the bishop is located at the St. Thomas' Cathedral in Jalan McDougall, Kuching,

St. Thomas Cathedral - Kuching, Sarawak - 1851

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, 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 Danald Jute who was appointed after the retirement of the former bishop, Bolly Lapok.

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.[5]

History
Main article: Diocese of Kuching

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.[6]

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.[6] 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.[7] In 1949, the diocese was again renamed as the Diocese of Borneo.[8]

This arrangement continued until the 1962 division of the Diocese of Borneo into the Diocese of Kuching and the Diocese of Jesselton (renamed the Diocese of Sabah in 1968).[4][9] James C. L. Wong, consecrated Assistant Bishop of Borneo in 1960, became diocesan bishop of Jesselton.

List of bishops
Bishop of Labuan and Sarawak
From Until Incumbent Notes
1856 1869 Francis 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 Hose
Bishops of Labuan and Sarawak
From Until Incumbent Notes
1909 1916 Robert 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 Logie Danson Returned to England as Assistant Bishop of Carlisle; later Bishop of Edinburgh and Primus
1932 1937 Noel Hudson
1938 1948 Francis Hollis Returned to England as Assistant Bishop of Leicester
Bishop of Borneo
From Until Incumbent Notes
1948 1962 Nigel Cornwall The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Borneo and included Anglican missions in Kalimantan.
Bishops of Kuching
From Until Incumbent Notes
1963 1968 Nicholas Allenby The diocese was separated into the Diocese of Kuching and the Diocese of Jesselton (later renamed the Diocese of Sabah); David Howard Nicholas Allenby was consecrated bishop 30 November 1962 by Michael Ramsey, Archbishop of Canterbury, at Southwark Cathedral;[10] later Assistant Bishop of Worcester[11]
1968 1984 Basil Temenggong The first native Malaysian and Sarawakian to be appointed as bishop. After Temenggong died suddenly, the former Assistant Bishop of Kuching, Peter Howes, returned to be the acting Bishop.[12]
1985 1995 John Leong Chee Yun
1996 2007 Made Katib
2007 2017 Bolly Lapok Archbishop of South East Asia, 2012–2016
2017 present Danald Jute Current incumbent since 2017.
Sources: [3][8][9][13][14][15][16]

See also

References
  1. "Diocese of Kuching - Our Location" (PDF). Diocese of Kuching. Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  2. "Diocese of Kuching - St. Thomas' Cathedral". Diocese of Kuching. Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  3. "Installed Bishop". The Straits Times. 15 January 1963. p. 9. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  4. 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.
  5. "Bishop's House - a state heritage". mysarawak.org. Archived from the original on 7 November 2009. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  6. "Diocese of Kuching - About Us". Diocese of Kuching. Archived from the original on 25 July 2011. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  7. "Diocese of Singapore - History". Diocese of Singapore. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  8. "Cornwall; Nigel Edmund (1903-1984); Bishop of Borneo". National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives. Lambeth Palace Library. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  9. 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  10. "picture caption". Church Times. No. 5208. 7 December 1962. p. 1. ISSN 0009-658X. Retrieved 17 June 2019 – via UK Press Online archives.
  11. "Allenby, David Howard Nicholas". Who's Who. A & C Black. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  12. "Church Times: "Obituaries – The Rt Revd Peter Howes", 30 May 2003, p 20". Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  13. Green, Eda (c. 1909). "Borneo: The Land of River and Palm". Borneo Mission Society. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  14. "Allenby; David Howard Nicholas (1909-1995); bishop of Kuching". National Church Institutions Database of Manuscripts and Archives. Lambeth Palace Library. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  15. "Diocese of Kuching - Bishops of the Diocese" (PDF). Diocese of Kuching. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 February 2015. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  16. 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. Archived from the original on 4 February 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
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