The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (abbreviated SKH), also known as the Hong Kong Anglican Church (Episcopal), is the Anglican church in Hong Kong and Macao. It is the 38th Province 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. 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 Archbishop of Hong Kong, and is elected from the diocesan bishops of the province.

Andrew Chan Andrew Chan (; 12 January 1984 – 29 April 2015) was an Australian man who was convicted and executed in Indonesia for drug trafficking as a member of the Bali Nine. In 2005, Chan was arrested at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Denpasar. ...

is the current Archbishop and Primate and

Bishop of Western Kowloon The Diocese of Western Kowloon is one of the three dioceses under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Its territory covers most of western Kowloon and the western New Territories (excluding the outlying islands of Hong Kong). All Saints' Church, then c ...

. Timothy Kwok is

Bishop of Eastern Kowloon The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon is one of the three dioceses under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Its territory covers most part of eastern Kowloon and eastern New Territories. Holy Trinity Cathedral, cathedral of the diocese, was established in ...

and

Matthias Der Matthias Clement Tze-Wo Der (; born 14 August 1964) is an Anglican bishop from Hong Kong. He has served as Bishop of Hong Kong Island since January 2021. Prior to his episcopacy, he served as the dean of St John's Cathedral, Hong Kong from July ...

Bishop of Hong Kong Island The Diocese of Hong Kong Island is one of the three dioceses under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, a ecclesiastical province, province of the Anglican Communion. Its territory covers Hong Kong Island and the Outlying Islands, Hong Kong, outlying is ...

. The church has approximately 29,000 members.

Anglican Communion

The Anglican Communion is a global family and a fellowship of churches which trace their roots to the Church of England, with a province being a basic autonomous unit. There are presently 41 independent and self-governing provinces spanning over 160 countries. With well over 100 million members, the Anglican Communion is the third largest church in the world, after the Roman Catholic Church and the

Eastern Orthodox Churches The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops via ...

. In the Anglican Communion, there is no central governing authority. Churches uphold and proclaim the Catholic and Apostolic faith. The front-line unit of Church is the " parish". Parishes of similar vicinity are then grouped together to form a " diocese". Dioceses sharing similar cultural and national background would unite and form a "province", participating in the Anglican Communion under the leadership and jurisdiction of an

archbishop In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdi ...

. The Four Instruments of Unity for the Anglican Communion:Guide to Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui

Anglican faith

The Anglican faith is based on the belief that the Bible, the Holy Scriptures of the

Old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and the

New New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

Testaments, "contain all things necessary to salvation". Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui further maintains the ministry of the Church which it has received through the Episcopacy in the three orders of Bishops, Priests, and Deacons.

History and origin

Sheng Kung Hui was founded in

British Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the Briti ...

in 1843, following the Treaty of Nanking. The first colonial chaplain was

Vincent John Stanton Vincent John Stanton (; 1817 – 16 May 1891) was an English missionary of the Church Missionary Society to Hong Kong. He served as the first colonial chaplain of Hong Kong, and founded St. John's Cathedral and St. Paul's College in Hong Kong. B ...

. The first Chinese church, St. Stephen's Church, was founded in 1865. From then onwards, in the course of development of the Anglican Church in Hong Kong and Macao, churches continued to grow and witnessed the establishment of the Diocese of Victoria () in 1849 under the See of Canterbury; the establishment of the Kong Yuet Diocese () under the Province of the

Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui (CHSKH, zh, t=中華聖公會), known in English as the Holy Catholic Church in China or Anglican-Episcopal Province of China, was the name of the Anglican Church in China from 1912 until about 1958. History The Chung ...

() in 1913, which ran in parallel with the Diocese of Victoria, until it resolved in 1951; and the birth of the Diocese of Hong Kong and Macao () in 1951, which was subsequently completely separated from the national Chung Hua Sheng Kung Hui. In the 40th

Synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

of the Diocese held in December 1991, it was resolved that steps were to be taken to expand the Diocese into a province and eventually in 1998, the Province of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui was established.

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) *

(2021–present)

Bishop of Hong Kong Island

Peter Kwong Kong-kit Peter Kwong Kong-kit (; born 28 February 1936) was the first Primate of the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (i.e. the Anglican Church), Archbishop of Hong Kong and Bishop of the Diocese of Hong Kong Island following the establishment of the Anglican ...

(1998–2007) * Paul Kwong (2007–2020) *

(2021–present)

Bishop of Western Kowloon

Thomas Soo Thomas Soo Yee-Po JP ( born 2 March 1941) was the first Bishop of the Diocese of Western Kowloon in the Hong Kong Anglican Church and was succeeded by Andrew Chan in 2012. He was consecrated a bishop on 30 November 1995 at St John's Cathed ...

(1998–2012) *Andrew Chan (2012–present)

Bishop of Eastern Kowloon

Louis Tsui The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon is one of the three dioceses under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Its territory covers most part of eastern Kowloon and eastern New Territories. Holy Trinity Cathedral, cathedral of the diocese, was established in ...

(1998–2013) *

Timothy Kwok Timothy Kwok Chi-Pei (; born 28 March 1959) is a Hong Kong-born Anglican bishop who is serving as Bishop of Eastern Kowloon (diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Eastern Kowloon, Hong Kong) since November 2014. Early life Kwok Chi-Pei was born in ...

(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: * The Diocese of Hong Kong Island (香港島教區) * The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon (東九龍教區) * The Diocese of Western Kowloon (西九龍教區) ''(The Diocese of Eastern Kowloon and the Diocese of Western Kowloon are divided 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 composedConstitution of the Province of the House of Bishop, the House of Clegy and the House of

Laity In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

. Members come from the Diocese of Hong Kong Island, the Diocese of Eastern Kowloon, the

Diocese of Western Kowloon The Diocese of Western Kowloon is one of the three dioceses under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui. Its territory covers most of western Kowloon and the western New Territories (excluding the outlying islands of Hong Kong). All Saints' Church, then c ...

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 Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

, other

Asians Asian people (or Asians, sometimes referred to as Asiatic people)United States National Library of Medicine. Medical Subject Headings. 2004. November 17, 200Nlm.nih.gov: ''Asian Continental Ancestry Group'' is also used for categorical purpos ...

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 __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

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. ; Religious Education : Religious education of parishes are carried out by

Sunday School A Sunday school is an educational institution, usually (but not always) Christian in character. Other religions including Buddhism, Islam, and Judaism have also organised Sunday schools in their temples and mosques, particularly in the West. Su ...

s, seminars, disciple training courses and

catechism A catechism (; from grc, κατηχέω, "to teach orally") is a summary or exposition of doctrine and serves as a learning introduction to the Sacraments traditionally used in catechesis, or Christian religious teaching of children and adult c ...

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 In religious organizations, the laity () consists of all members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-ordained members of religious orders, e.g. a nun or a lay brother. In both religious and wider secular usage, a layperson ...

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. 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.

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. Churches in Hong Kong and "Christian clerics are often divided on topics such as... gay rights". In 2007, the former primate, Archbishop Peter Kwong, stated that "Anglicanism is inclusive...so why shouldn't we find a common ground on homosexuality?". 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. 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. Later, in 2015,

Peter Douglas Koon Peter Douglas Koon Ho-ming, (; born 1966) is the provincial secretary general of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (HKSKH) and a chaplain of HKSKH St John's Cathedral. He is also a member of the Election Committee and 13th Beijing Municipal Committee of ...

, 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.

Education

There are altogether 33 secondary schools sponsored by Sheng Kung Hui in the territory,Website of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui
link
/ref> 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 Sheng may refer to: * Sheng (instrument) (笙), a Chinese wind instrument * Sheng (surname) (盛), a Chinese surname * Sheng (Chinese opera), a major role in Chinese opera * Sheng (升), ancient Chinese unit of volume, approximately 1 liter * Shen ...

Secondary schools

* Diocesan Boys' School * Diocesan Girls' School * Heep Yunn School *

Holy Trinity Church Secondary School Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ...

* 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 Co-educational College (), (often abbreviated as St. Paul's, St. Paul's Co-ed., Co-ed. or SPCC) is an Anglican secondary school located at 33 MacDonnell Road, Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. Founded in 1915, it was a girls-only college un ...

* St. Paul's College * St. Stephen's College *

St. Stephen's Girls' College St Stephen's Girls' College (SSGC) () is a grant school in Hong Kong under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui (Anglican Church). Established in 1906, SSGC is a top girls' school and among the oldest schools in Hong Kong. It is managed by the St. Step ...

Education reform controversy

Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, with its sponsored primary and secondary schools, were embroiled in the

School-Based Management Policy The School-Based Management Policy is an education policy within the Education Ordinance of the Education Bureau in Hong Kong. The policy was made law when The "Education (Amendment) Ordinance 2004" bill was passed by Legco in July 2004. Under ...

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 Ronald Owen Hall (; Cantonese: ''Ho Ming Wah''; 22 July 1895 in Newcastle upon Tyne – 22 April 1975 in Lewknor, Oxfordshire) was an Anglican missionary bishop in Hong Kong and China in the mid 20th century. As an emergency measure during th ...

. 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. The College’s broader identity, now as in 1947, is to encourage active participation in the thoughtful life of the Church. By providing high quality theological programmes, the College has always encouraged members of the Anglican Church to explore deeper understandings of their faith. Additionally, the strong fellowships founded in mutual respect, support, assistance, understanding and tolerance between all members, helps the study of theology at Ming Hua to move beyond the College and into the wider reaches of our communities. Much like the local societies of Hong Kong, Kowloon, and Macao, Ming Hua embraces local, national, and international perspectives. Visiting professors and overseas scholars are frequent guests at the College, exchanging and sharing with local members of the Church. The College is also closely involved with its ecumenical partners in the territory, and the Three Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Churches in China.

References

External links

*
SKH Ming Hua Theological College

SKH Religious Education Resource Center

Anglican Communion
{{Authority control Christian organizations established in 1951 Anglican Communion church bodies Christianity in Macau 1951 establishments in Hong Kong