Ivan Yin Lee ( – 4 March 2020) was an Australian Anglican bishop. He was an assistant bishop in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney, serving from 2003 to 2019 as the Bishop of the Western Region. and then until early 2020, as bishop undertaking a role working on strengthening church growth within the Diocese. Lee was appointed in 2002 to replace Bishop Brian King. He was the first Anglican bishop in Australia to have a Chinese ethnic background.

Early life and education

Lee's parents immigrated to Australia from Guangzhou province, China, in the 1950s. Lee describes his family as having been culturally Buddhist; he was excused from mandatory Christian religious instruction at James Cook Boys high school along with other non-Christian students. Lee converted to Christianity at a church-run summer camp and later "horrified" his immigrant parents by taking a year off from medical school at the

University of New South Wales The University of New South Wales (UNSW), also known as UNSW Sydney, is a public research university based in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is one of the founding members of Group of Eight, a coalition of Australian research-intensive ...

to study at

Moore Theological College Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia. The president of the Moore Theological College Council is ''ex officio'' t ...

. He completed a theology degree instead of returning to medical school.

Parish ministry

Lee served as a presbyter in Manly,

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and

Merrylands Merrylands is a suburb in Western Sydney, Australia. Merrylands is located 25 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district and is in the local government area of the Cumberland City Council. History Merrylands was named after the for ...

. He worked for eight years as an assistant minister at St Jude's, Carlton, in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, then became rector of St Aidan's Church in

Hurstville Grove Hurstville Grove is a suburb in southern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 19 kilometres south of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the Georges River Council, in the S ...

Episcopal ministry

Lee was elected as bishop of the Western Region in December 2002 by the Diocese of Sydney's standing committee, and was consecrated as bishop on 20 December 2002. As bishop, Lee took a traditionalist position on the question of women preaching, and on same-sex marriages, stating that, "We don't hold this position as a matter of mere tradition but as the scriptures dictate." Lee was part of the leadership of

GAFCON The Global Fellowship of Confessing Anglicans (branded as GAFCON or Gafcon) is a global network of conservative Anglicanism, Anglican churches that formed in 2008 in response to an ongoing theological crisis in the worldwide Anglican Communion. ...

. Lee also took public positions opposing racism and, in particular, criticising the anti-immigration positions taken by

Drew Fraser Andrew William Fraser (also known as Drew Fraser, born 1944) is a Canadian-born academic and was an associate professor in the Department of Public Law at Macquarie University in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Fraser holds a BA (Hons) an ...

, citing the Bible as his authority that "there is equality between all people". Lee died on 4 March 2020 after having

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

for the previous four years.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Ivan Yin 1950s births 2020 deaths 21st-century Anglican bishops in Australia Australian people of Chinese descent Assistant bishops in the Anglican Diocese of Sydney Deaths from pancreatic cancer Moore Theological College alumni Converts to Anglicanism from Buddhism Converts to Protestantism from Buddhism Evangelical Anglican bishops