The Diocese of Yangon (formerly Rangoon) is the Church of the Province of Myanmar (

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 ...

) jurisdiction in and around the old capital Yangon, and under the care of the Bishop of Yangon and Archbishop of Myanmar. The diocese (then called Rangoon) was in the Church of England province of Calcutta from 1877 to 1930, then the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon until 1970. Beforehand,

British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

, had come under the guidance of the Bishop of Calcutta,

Metropolitan Metropolitan may refer to: * Metropolitan area, a region consisting of a densely populated urban core and its less-populated surrounding territories * Metropolitan borough, a form of local government district in England * Metropolitan county, a typ ...

of India. In 1966, the last non-Burmese bishop was evicted by the Burmese authorities and in 1970 the Diocese of Rangoon became the Church of the Province of Burma, and the bishop was elevated to

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 ...

in that church.

Title

He was officially styled ''The Right Reverend Father in God, (Name), by Divine Providence Lord Bishop of Rangoon'', but this full title was rarely used, the majority of the time the bishop being addressed either ''Bishop'' or ''Lord Bishop of Rangoon''. In signing his name, the bishop's surname would be replaced by the name of his diocese. Therefore, ''J.O.E. Bloggs'' would become ''J.O.E. Rangoon'' in official correspondence.

Pay and residence

In 1884 the pay of the Bishop was the not insubstantial salary of £960 per annum. The official residence of the Bishop was throughout the existence of the diocese Bishop's Court in Rangoon.

History

The area today known as

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

was in 1877 part of the British Indian Empire, and known as Burma. It was decided that the area of Southern Burma required a more substantial ecclesiastical presence than the Bishop of Calcutta could provide. For decades the American baptist, Society for the Propagation of the Gospel (SPG) and Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK)

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

had been making inroads among the

Burmese Burmese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Myanmar, a country in Southeast Asia * Burmese people * Burmese language * Burmese alphabet * Burmese cuisine * Burmese culture Animals * Burmese cat * Burmese chicken * Burmese (hor ...

and Karenni peoples. In recognition of this, the Diocese of Winchester created an Endowment Fund for the establishment of a bishopric in Burma; the diocese itself contributed £10,000. The SPG, SPCK. and the Colonial Bishoprics' Fund together contributed £10,000 to the creation of the diocese. Therefore in 1877 the diocese of Rangoon, subject to the diocese of Calcutta was established by

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 ...

. Jonathan Holt Titcomb, a parish priest in Winchester diocese, was elected the first Bishop of Rangoon and so appointed on 17 December 1877. At first the diocese encompassed only the southern half of Burma, but was later extended to cover the whole of the country. The Bishop was formerly appointed by the monarch on the advice of the Secretary of State for India. However, in 1927 in response to growing agitation on the part of the bishops in India the British Parliament passed legislation to bring to an end the Church of England's jurisdiction over the church in India. Consequently, the Diocese of Rangoon became a major part of the new, autonomous Church of India, Burma and Ceylon. Covering the entirety of Burma, the diocese was in effect the Church of Burma. In Burma, the Bishop was permitted to title himself as head of the Church of Burma. The Bishop continued to assume his duties in Burma after the independence of that country in 1948. There were eight Bishops of Rangoon before the Church of Burma became autocephalous. However, in 1966 the Burmese government forced all Western missionaries to leave, including the then-bishop V.G. Shearburn. His assistant bishop, Francis Ah Mya was appointed Bishop in his place. In 1970, the Church of Burma, hitherto part of the Church of India, Pakistan, Burma and Ceylon (the then-current incarnation of the 1927 creation) became the Anglican Church of the Province of Burma (later of Myanmar), and the See of Rangoon was permanently attached to (and held ''ex officio'' with) the elected Primatial and Metropolitan archepiscopal See.

Bishops

:Bishops of Rangoon *1877–1882: Jonathan Titcomb *1882–1903: John Strachan *1903–1909: Arthur Knight *1910–1928: Rolleston Fyffe *1928–1934:

Norman Tubbs Norman Henry Tubbs (5 July 1879 – 2 September 1965) was an Anglican bishop in the 20th century. Biography Tubbs was educated at Highgate School and Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge. He was ordained in 1903 and was a curate at Whitechapel P ...

*1935–1954: George West **1941 (appointed): A. T. ( Alfred Thomas) "Tim" Houghton, assistant bishop-designate *1955–1966: Victor Shearburn **1949–1966:

Francis Ah Mya Francis Ah Mya was an Anglican Archbishop in India and Burma (now Myanmar) in the mid-20th century. He was educated at the Bishop's College in Calcutta and ordained in 1933. He was a tutor at the Divinity School, Rangoon from 1933 to 1940 and th ...

, assistant bishop **1949–1973:

John Aung Hla John Aung Hla was an eminent Anglican priest in the 20th century. He was ordained in 1939. He became Archdeacon of Mandalay in 1946 and an Assistant Bishop of Rangoon in 1949. He and Francis Ah Mya were the first native bishops in Calcutta. He w ...

, assistant bishop *28 August 1966''1970'': Francis Ah Mya :Bishops of Rangoon and Archbishops of Burma *''1970''–1973: Francis Ah Mya *1973–1979: John Aung Hla *6 October 19791987: Gregory Hla Kyaw *1988–''1989'': Andrew Mya Han **1988–1993: Samuel San Si Htay, assistant bishop :Bishops of Yangon and Archbishops of Myanmar *''1989''–2001: Andrew Mya Han **1993after 2007:Anglican Cycle of Prayer, 2007
(Accessed 21 May 2018) Joseph Than Pe, assistant bishop *2001–2008: Samuel San Si Htay *2008–present:

Stephen Than Myint Oo Stephen Than Myint Oo (born 1958) is a Burmese Anglican bishop. He has been the primate and archbishop of the Church of the Province of Myanmar and Bishop of Yangon since 2008. Ecclesiastical career He studied at the Trinity Theological College ...

Notes

References

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External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2019 Yangon

Rangoon Yangon ( my, ရန်ကုန်; ; ), formerly spelled as Rangoon, is the capital of the Yangon Region and the largest city of Myanmar (also known as Burma). Yangon served as the capital of Myanmar until 2006, when the military government ...

1877 establishments in Burma Religious organizations established in 1877 Church of India, Burma and Ceylon Yangon-related lists