Bishop of West Malaysia

The Bishop of West Malaysia is an Anglican prelate who oversees the Diocese of West Malaysia in the Church of the Province of South East Asia. The current bishop is the 5th Bishop of the Diocese since its creation in 1970. His seat is St. Mary's Cathedral, Kuala Lumpur.[1]

Bishop of West Malaysia
Bishopric
Anglican
Incumbent:
Rt Rev Dr Stevan Abbarow
Location
CountryMalaysia
TerritoryPeninsular Malaysia
Ecclesiastical provinceChurch of the Province of South East Asia
Information
First holderFrancis Thomas McDougall
Established1814, current establishment in 1970
DioceseWest Malaysia
CathedralSt. Mary's Cathedral
Website

History
Main article: Diocese of West Malaysia

Anglicanism came to the Malay Peninsula following the establishment of the British East India Company's administered settlement on Penang island in 1786. The local magistrate, George Caunter, was appointed a Lay Clerk/Acting Chaplain to provide spiritual ministry to the settlers. Under his ministry the first entry into the Church Register was made in 1799. The Diocese of Calcutta provided episcopal supervision for the chaplaincy work on Penang island and the first Anglican Church building, the Church of St. George the Martyr, was built and consecrated in 1819.

In 1867, the administration of the Straits Settlements passed from the hands of the East India Company to the British Crown and in 1869, Anglican churches in the Straits Settlements was placed under the episcopal supervision of the Bishop of Labuan and her Dependencies with the diocese expanded and renamed as the Diocese of Labuan, Sarawak and Singapore.[2]

In 1909, the Straits Settlements was separated to form its own diocese, the Diocese of Singapore. With the Independence of Malaya in 1957 and by 1960, the diocese was renamed the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya.[3] After the Independence of Singapore in 1965, Singapore was separated from the diocese and in 1970, the Diocese of West Malaysia was established with the former Bishop of Sabah, Roland Koh, being appointed as the first Bishop of West Malaysia.[2]

In 2015, a decision was made by the Diocesan Synod to further divide the diocese into three separate dioceses[4] and in 2016, two area dioceses were created, the Area Diocese of the Northern Peninsula and the Area Diocese of the Southern Peninsula, in preparation and two suffragan bishops were licensed to oversee the area dioceses.[5] Provisional approval of the Provincial Synod for the creation of the new dioceses by 2020 has since been obtained.[6]

List of Bishops
Bishop of Calcutta
From Until Incumbent Notes
1814 1823 Thomas Middleton
1823 1827 Reginald Heber
1827 1829 Thomas James
1829 1832 John Turner
1832 1858 Daniel Wilson
1858 1867 George Cotton
Bishop 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 on 8 August 1855.
1882 1908 George Hose
Bishop of Singapore
From Until Incumbent Notes
1909 1927 Charles Ferguson-Davie Churches in Malaya (including Singapore) were separated from the Diocese to form its own Diocese of Singapore on 24 August 1909.
1927 1940 Basil Roberts
1941 1949 Leonard Wilson
1949 1960 Henry Baines
Bishop of Singapore and Malaya
From Until Incumbent Notes
1960 1966 Kenneth Sansbury The diocese was renamed the Diocese of Singapore and Malaya on 6 February 1960.
1966 1970 Chiu Ban It First local to be consecrated Anglican Bishop.
Bishops of West Malaysia
From Until Incumbent Notes
1970 1972 Roland Koh Peck-Chiang The diocese was separated into the Diocese of West Malaysia and the Diocese of Singapore; translated from Sabah
1972 1994 Rt Rev John Savarimuthu
1995 2006 Tan Sri Lim Cheng Ean
2007 2020 Rt Rev Datuk Ng Moon Hing Archbishop of South East Asia and Primate, 2016–2020
2021 present Rt Rev Dr D Steven Abbarrow
Sources:

[7][8] [9][10][11]

References
  1. Home
  2. "History of the Diocese". Diocese of West Malaysia. Archived from the original on 12 March 2008. Retrieved 19 April 2019.
  3. "Diocese of Singapore - History". Diocese of Singapore. Archived from the original on 6 March 2012. Retrieved 6 March 2012.
  4. Richards, Esther (December 2015). "Synod 2015" (PDF). Anglican Messenger. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Anglican Messenger. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 April 2016. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  5. Murphy, Vincent (December 2016). "A Memorable Ordination Service" (PDF). Anglican Messenger. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Anglican Messenger. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  6. Richards, Esther (December 2017). "Synod 2017" (PDF). Anglican Messenger. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Anglican Messenger. Retrieved 20 April 2019.
  7. "The See of Singapore". The Straits Times. Singapore. 26 April 1909. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  8. "It's Now Diocese of S'pore and Malaya". The Singapore Free Press. Singapore. 6 February 1960. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  9. "Past Bishops - Anglican Diocese of West Malaysia". Archived from the original on 2010-12-04. Retrieved 2019-04-15.
  10. "Singapore, West Malaysia to have separate dioceses". The Straits Times. Singapore. 8 January 1970. Retrieved 16 April 2019.
  11. "Datuk Ng Moon Hing elected Primate of South East Asia". Anglican Communion News Service. London. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 20 April 2019.


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