The Bishop of Kuching is the

ordinary Ordinary or The Ordinary often refer to: Music * ''Ordinary'' (EP) (2015), by South Korean group Beast * ''Ordinary'' (Every Little Thing album) (2011) * "Ordinary" (Two Door Cinema Club song) (2016) * "Ordinary" (Wayne Brady song) (2008) * ...

of the

Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...

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. The

see See or SEE may refer to: * Sight - seeing Arts, entertainment, and media * Music: ** ''See'' (album), studio album by rock band The Rascals *** "See", song by The Rascals, on the album ''See'' ** "See" (Tycho song), song by Tycho * Television * ...

is in the city of

Kuching Kuching (), officially the City of Kuching, is the capital and the most populous city in the States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Sarawak in Malaysia. It is also the capital of Kuching Division. The city is on the Sarawak River ...

where the seat of the bishop is located at St. Thomas' Cathedral, originally built in 1848 and consecrated in 1851 as the home church and base for the Borneo Church Mission in Sarawak. The first Bishop of Kuching to be styled as such was appointed in 1962. In 1968,

Basil Temenggong Datuk Basil Temenggong (11 October 1918 – 22 September 1984) was a Malaysian clergyman in the Anglican Church. He was the second Bishop of Kuching from 1968 until his death in 1984, and the first indigenous Sarawakian bishop. Early life Tem ...

was appointed the bishop of the diocese, becoming the first native Malaysian and Sarawakian to be appointed to the seat. The current bishop is Danald Jute who was appointed after the retirement of the former bishop,

Bolly Lapok Bolly anak Lapok PGBK, DPMS (born 10 August 1952) was the fourth Metropolitan Archbishop and Primate of the Anglican Church of the Province of South East Asia as well as the Bishop of Kuching. An ethnic Iban, Bolly was the first Primate of ...

. 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.

History

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. Unfortunately political conventions of the day did not allow for an Anglican diocese to be created outside territories administered directly by the

British Crown The Crown is the state (polity), state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, British Overseas Territories, overseas territories, Provinces and territorie ...

and Sarawak was technically an independent kingdom under British protection. This difficulty was overcome when a

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

was made in 1855 erecting the Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak based in the British Crown Colony of Labuan. This diocese covered a large geographical area including Sarawak, British North Borneo, and the

Strait Settlements The Straits Settlements were a group of British territories located in Southeast Asia. Headquartered in Singapore for more than a century, it was originally established in 1826 as part of the territories controlled by the British East India Comp ...

. In 1909, the Diocese of Singapore was separated from the diocese and the diocese reverted to the name Diocese of Labuan and Sarawak. In 1949, the diocese was again renamed as the Diocese of Borneo. 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 The Diocese of Sabah is an Anglican diocese which covers Sabah and Labuan in Malaysia. Founded in 1962, the see was originally part of the much larger Diocese of Labuan and its Dependencies which was established in 1855. Following the carving ou ...

in 1968).

James C. L. Wong James Chang-Ling Wong (; 17 February 190027 April 1970) was Chinese Anglican (Episcopalian) bishop who served as Bishop of Jesselton in Sarawak from 1962 to 1964 and then Bishop of Taiwan from 1965 until his death in 1970. Wong was consecrated a ...

, consecrated Assistant Bishop of Borneo in 1960, became diocesan bishop of Jesselton.

List of bishops

External links

Diocese of Kuching

References

{{reflist, 2 Kuching, Bishop of Kuching, Bishop of Anglicanism in Malaysia Anglicanism in Singapore 1855 establishments in Sarawak

History

List of bishops

See also

External links

References